More Accommodations Than We Have Rooms
By DW Davis
@DWDavis (25797)
United States
May 16, 2017 5:41pm CST
This year for our End-of-Grade testing in Mathematics, because of Federally mandated accommodations, we have to have 50 different groups. Some are read-aloud all, some are read-aloud upon request, some are read-aloud to self, some are small group, some are one-on-one.
In order to test all these students we are using every available space in the school except the cafeteria and the gymnasium. Each of these groups, including the groups of one, require a certified teacher to administer the test and an adult proctor to watch the teacher administer the test.
That's 100 adults. Just to have enough certified teachers we've had to beg retirees and subs to come administer tests. We still don't have anywhere near the number of proctors we'll need.
Could there be a chance these Federal mandates have gotten out of hand? Is there a truly good reason for 23 math classes to be divided up into more than twice the number of groups to take one test?
7 people like this
9 responses
@responsiveme (22923)
• India
17 May 17
Something new here.Do the students get to choose what type of tests they can take?
2 people like this
@responsiveme (22923)
• India
18 May 17
@DWDavis if they are not read aloud tests then can't the students who do different tests be mixed up in the same room?
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
18 May 17
@responsiveme Some of the students who don't have read aloud do have to take the test as part of a small group of less than 15 students. I'm not exactly sure how being in a room with 12 other kids instead of 20 helps them do better on the test, but we have to provide it just the same.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
17 May 17
We have a large number of students who really don't need the accommodations but their moms insist because the moms gets a check from SSDI if the child is "learning disabled." It is a huge fraud that no one is addressing. When we teachers try, we get vilified.
2 people like this
@NJChicaa (127116)
• United States
17 May 17
@DWDavis NC is not really known for its stellar academic system. Still, as far as I know, special education students are only supposed to make up a certain percentage of the population. You shouldn't have that insane number of students will all of those accomodations.
1 person likes this
@prashu228 (37518)
• India
17 May 17
@DWDavis aww so parents are getting check so all this, so bad
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
17 May 17
Geez what a hassle! Can't you break it up over a period of a couple days?
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
17 May 17
In the UK the Sports Hall {your gymnasium} is always the first space to be used! We have a lot of students here who require either a small room, a reader, a scribe, their own room, a prompter, extra time and/or different coloured paper or a word processor. It makes it difficult when it's the national exams which are all taken at the same time, with every school and college in the country having to cater for all the sixteen year olds {plus the resit students and the adult learners} taking their Maths or English, etc.! Not to mention the invigilators! I wouldn't want to work in the exam department here!
It does make it difficult. I don't remember so many students needing access arrangements when I was teaching mainstream just ten years ago. I do think that we just pander to them, and as you say, we're not doing them any favours for their adult years. I'm afraid I'm a believer in half the students diagnosed with dyslexia simply having poor English skills. They jump on the dyslexia bandwagon and use that as their excuse to not bother anymore.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
17 May 17
Seems fairly inefficient to me.
1 person likes this
@prashu228 (37518)
• India
17 May 17
If they are taking huge such huge numbers, they have to provide all the necessary requirements, or else what is the use of taking them.
1 person likes this
@shivamani10 (11035)
• Hyderabad, India
16 May 17
In most of the schools, this special groups population is increasing. Even in India also they are following this which is not suitable at all
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
17 May 17
It sounds so confusing.
1 person likes this
