Earlier this week, I blogged about two teachers in Washington who were suspended for refusing to give state assessments to students with severe cognitive disabilities.
Now, the state is forming an advisory group to look into the issue of state testing of students with disabilities, though it appears the recent suspension controversy wasn’t a direct factor in the formation of the group.
State Schools Superintendent Randy Dorn already is convening a special needs advisory committee to figure out what can be done to change the state assessment system while still complying with the federal No Child Left Behind law, said Chris Barron, assessment communications manager for the superintendent's office... "Because both Randy Dorn and the Legislature had interest in creating the committee, it went forward and I really feel like they were listening," said Veronica Cook, a special education teacher in the Shoreline School District who testified in Olympia earlier this year.
Perhaps some changes to the Washington Alternate Assessment System, the portfolio assessment that the two teachers refused to give, are coming.