Special Needs Teachers See Assessments As Irrelevant

The Twin Cities (MN) Daily Planet (12/9, Brown) reports on the use of standardized testing on special needs students, relating the story of a teacher who must spend time assuaging the concerns of parents who are dismayed by their children's low scores. "That standardized test scores flatten the incredible variety of circumstances kids bring to school is something that all teachers recognize, but the problem is amplified in special education programs. For students in special education, the potential is greater for the test to mislabel an excelling student as failing." The piece notes that many Minnesota special education teachers see standardized testing "as being irrelevant to instruction."