Virginia moved on Thursday to phase out an alternative standardized test for students with disabilities, because of concerns it was overused.
The move likely will cause the pass rates of special needs students to decline. But advocates for the students praised the phase-out as a necessary step to ensure schools don’t push higher-potential students to take easier exams to boost statistics.
Use of the test — called the Virginia Grade Level Alternative, or VGLA — has jumped since 2007, when it was approved as an official measure to meet the standards of the federal No Child Left Behind law. With broader use came higher scores for schools’ special needs students, making districts appear more successful.
The test is not a traditional exam, but a collection of assessments showing that a student learned the required material at a given time. The style is acceptable for a small percentage of students with certain disabilities, but not demanding enough for many others, according to parents and educators.
“The VGLAs do enable districts to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind, but they don’t give high-functioning students the skills they need to do well on SATs and ACTs and get into college,” said David Mattoon, a junior at George Mason University who advocates for those with special needs. Mattoon has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.
The VGLAs will continue to be used for students at the lowest levels of English proficiency, but not for those with significant learning disabilities.
Instead, those students will be split into three groups, depending on their needs. One group will take a newly created online alternative, another will go back to the regular Standards of Learning exams, called SOLs, and a third, much smaller group will complete a different portfolio assessment.
“There will be strict criteria for the selection of students for the [online exams] and safeguards to prevent misuse,” said State Public Instruction Superintendent Patricia Wright.
The new online assessment will be paid for with federal funds set aside for special education, and will cost nearly $5 million through 2014. The math exam will begin next year, while the reading exam will begin in 2011-12. A timeline has not been set for the writing, history and science exams.
