2008 homecomings
Area H.S. football: Week 8
Division I district tennis
Home > Blogs > Middletown School News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > April > 25 > Entry
Testing snafu for 4th and 6th grade students
I’m hearing today that a test booklet shortage for 4th and 6th grade Ohio Achievement Tests are causing some districts to delay testing for students with disabilities.
Here’s what happened: The test booklets come in several different “forms,” called A, B, C, etc. The “Form A” booklet is for students who will have a small group read aloud accommodation due to disabilities, as allowed by state and federal laws.
The Ohio Department of Education tried to communicate to districts that they needed to order enough “Form A” booklets for all their students who would be in the read aloud group, said spokeswoman Karla Carruthers.
“We now realize that despite those communications not every district understood the ordering instructions,” she said. “ODE is working with the testing company to solve this problem as quickly as possible and sincerely regrets any inconvenience it has caused districts.”
The testing company is working to produce the extra booklet copies and some orders have already been filled, said Carruthers.
Testing booklets for 3rd and 4th grade are scheduled to arrive by April 29; 6th and 7th grade booklets will arrive by May 1; and 5th and 8th grade booklets will arrive by May 3, he said.
The ODE recommended to districts that they start general population testing as scheduled and begin testing for students with disabilities when the booklets arrive.
Find out which local districts were affected after the jump.
Middletown: Has not received booklets as of Friday, April 25.
Franklin: Has not received booklets as of Friday, April 25.
Carlisle: Has not received booklets as of Friday, April 25.
Edgewood: Did not receive enough booklets, but was able to continue testing through adjustments.
Madison: Received testing booklets one day late, Tuesday, April 22.
Lebanon: Affected by shortage, unclear how.
It’s unclear if or how this might affect test scores this year.
I talked to a local mother today who was very upset. Her son has disabilities and she and his teachers have been trying to pump him up for the tests. She said it’s been frustrating sending him to school every day not knowing if he was going to have to take the test or not.
For students with disabilities, testing can be very stressful. I have a cousin who is a special education teacher in a Dayton suburb and she has told me that testing week is awful for her students.
What do you think of this? Do you think the delay could affect test scores?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Carlisle Local Schools, Franklin City Schools, Madison Local Schools, Middletown City Schools, Monroe Local Schools
Comments