Testing

Public Elementary and High School Testing
For younger students, the issue of testing first comes up in connection with the administration of statewide exams. The policy of the New York State Education Department on testing accommodations can be found in their publication Test Access & Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. This lengthy (but well organized) document makes a distinction between test accommodations, such as extended time and test modifications, which affect the subject being tested. In general, accommodations which are needed to eliminate obstacles to the test taking process are permitted; modifications are not. Stricter standards apply to the ELA (English) and mathematics assessments given annually in 3rd – 8th grades than to other accommodations. Absent an emergency (such as a broken wrist) there can be no accommodations without highly specific provisions in your child’s IEP. It is worth looking at the State Education Department publication (updated in May, 2006) for specific information covering your child’s situation.

Testing Issues for Private School Students
The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) is a non-profit organization which administers the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE), used by most private schools in the New York City area and many schools nationally. The ERB has also developed widely used standardized achievement tests for independent and suburban public schools. The provisions for accommodations on ERB tests vary by test. For students taking ERB’s Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP 4) or Writing Assessment Program (WrAP), a decision on accommodations, such as extended time, is made by the individual school based upon such factors as a student’s IEP or Section 504 plan or recent psychological testing.

In the case of the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE), there is a separate procedure for parents to request accommodations. The families can download the Testing with Accommodations brochure or, they may e-mail a request to isee@erbtest.org or call the ISEE office at 1-800-989-3721, Ext. 313. Approval of the request for accommodations on the ISEE is made by ERB. There is no "flag" on any ERB score reports regarding non-standard administration.

Testing for the College Bound Student
The standardized college achievement tests, the SAT and ACT, can be a major hurdle for college bound students with learning differences. High school students and their parents should be aware that there are a growing number of colleges that do not require these tests, and a list of these has been compiled by the organization Fair Test.

However, these tests are still required by most college programs. The SAT examinations are given by the College Board, which has very strict guidelines about how the tests are to be administered. It is important to note that a student who has been granted testing accommodations by his or her local Committee on Special Education is not necessarily entitled to accommodations on the SATs.

There is also an interesting interview with the Executive Director of the College Board’s Services for Students with Disabilities, appearing in the newsletter of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

The ACT test has similar strict requirements for test accommodations.

One positive development in this area in the last few years is that both the SAT and ACT stopped providing information about accommodations on their score reports. For years, both organizations “flagged” the scores of students receiving accommodations. Now that this practice has stopped, no one but the student and the testing organization is aware of the circumstances under which the test was administered.