Council of
Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.
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The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national membership whose primary goal is to secure high quality educational services for children with disabilities, urges a NO vote on the Isakson Amendment because students with disabilities deserve access to the same education as other students! (see letter attached to Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi)
Senator Isakson
(R-GA) today offered an amendment that seeks to lift the cap on the 1% and 2%
regulations respectively. As a result, states would be allowed to administer
different assessments - either an alternate assessment based on alternate
academic achievement standards or an alternate assessment based on modified
academic achievement standards - to any number of, or possibly all, students
with disabilities.
Neither the data, which indicates that the students who benefit from an alternate assessment are far less than one percent, nor best practice would support placing more students into alternate assessments.
Neither the data, which indicates that the students who benefit from an alternate assessment are far less than one percent, nor best practice would support placing more students into alternate assessments.
The Isakson amendment would remove the
limits on how many students with disabilities can be counted as making adequate
results or sufficient progress using less challenging systems of standards and
assessments. This amendment would allow schools to take millions of students
with disabilities off track for a regular high school diploma as early as
3rd grade when assessment decisions are made in schools, relegating
them to lower career and college expectations—simply because they receive
special education services.
The Isakson amendment INCORRECTLY promotes that most students with disabilities can’t learn or achieve when most students with disabilities are able to learn and achieve, just like all other students, when provided appropriate services and supports.
The Isakson amendment promotes abuse and overuse of alternate assessments by allowing any student with a disability to be tested through these assessments.
The Isakson amendment will turn back the clock on the advances made in educating students with disabilities over the past 10 years.
Too many parents and students are not told, or may not fully understand, that when a student with a disability takes a different assessment than a student without a disability, there is no way to compare their performance, no way to accurately measure achievement gaps, and no way to know how well they have grasped the grade-level content. They are no longer on track for a high school diploma.
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CALL TODAY!!. Call your Senators 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904). If you do not know who they are, you can look them up at www.senate.gov. Ask for the staff member who handles education or disability. Tell them to vote NO on the Isakson Amendment
Send an email - You can email your Senators through a Web Form available on the Senate website, http://1.usa.gov/Senat
Want to make a bigger impact? Personalize your message.
Members of Congress pay particular attention to personalized messages from their constituents. Include a personal story about how your child has had academic success and has achieved in the regular classroom with his/her peers due to high expectations and appropriate services and support.
Message:
Vote NO on
Isakson amendment to lift caps on alternate assessments for students with
disabilities