NCLB (No Child Left Behind), IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and High Stakes Test can make life very difficult for a child with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability and/or ADHD. The following comments are legitimate
No Child Left Behind and IDEA:
Task Force Questions Conflicting Provisions
25 February 2005
A bipartisan panel of state lawmakers have concluded that the No
Child Left Behind Act [NCLB] conflicts with provisions of the
Individuals with Disabilities in Education Law [IDEA] which required
individualized education plans for students with disabilities.
Under NCLB, a disabled eighth grader capable of working at a sixth
grade level must take examinations for eighth graders. The report said
the requirement of grade level testing contradicted the mandate of IDEA
that students be taught according to ability.
"Ignoring the contradictions between IDEA and No Child Left Behind
is one of the act's worst weakness," said Utah State Representative
Kory Holdaway, a member of the committee and a special education
teacher.
The task force also found that the requirements of NCLB requiring
that 90% of students with disabilities achieve grade level proficiency
by the school year 2013-2014 was not only unrealistic, but also
impossible in practice. By definition, students in special education
are generally functioning below grade level; when those students reach
grade level standards, they generally do not qualify for further
special education services and are thus not part of the subgroup being
tested.
The task force recommendations include:
- Give IDEA primacy over NCLB in cases of conflict.
- Provide states more flexibility in determining which special
education students should be tested according to ability rather than
grade level.
- Remove the one-size-fits-all method that measures student
performance and encourage more sophisticated and accurate systems that
gauge the growth of individual students and not just groups of students.
- Recognize
that some schools face special challenges, including adequately
teaching students with disabilities and English language learners. The
law also needs to recognize the differences among rural, suburban and
urban schools.
- Remove obstacles that stifle state innovations
and undermine state programs that were proving to work before passage
of the act. Federal waivers should be granted and publicized for
innovative programs.
- Fully fund the act and provide states the financial flexibility to
meet its goals. The federal government funds less than 8 percent of the
nation's education program.
For more information: National Conference of State Legislatures Press Release.
At 3D Learner, we take a far different position. While we agree that for the student with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability or ADHD, passing a high stakes test can be very difficult -- unless they take advantage of a Special Education Program like the 3D Learner Program (R).
As Special Education Advocates, we need to continue to battle for all children - for our clients, we need to give your children the tools to pass the bloody tests and to Beat Dyslexia -- ADHD - and Learning Disabilities
We see students with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability and/or ADHD as possibly being a bright right brained learner - who learns best when they seen and experience information