High Stakes Testing Research Paper

In discussions of students with disabilities and their academic success, a controversial issue is weather or not students with identified learning disabilities should be required to participate in high stakes testing. While some argue that all students should be held to the same academic standards, regardless of their disability, others believe that these tests are too difficult for some students, namely – those with learning disabilities. Although it may not seem unfair to hold all students to the same academic standard, the reality is that not all students are exposed to the same content, that being the content that must be learned in order to pass most standardized tests. In an article published by Great Schools Staff they stated, “While every state is required to have high academic standards that are the same for every student, we know that many students with disabilities are not yet being taught to those standards.” In recent years, high stakes testing has become the most common form of assessment in public schools in the United States. “By 2010, 28 states had high school exit exams. In fact, these exit exams
The level of difficulty can be overwhelming for students with disabilities. Not to mention those trying to graduate from high school. “A serious concern for parents of students with disabilities was the difficulty that their children would almost surely have in qualifying for a diploma that required them to pass tests that spoke only to specific skills at levels beyond their reach. A committee of parents and educators worked with the Department of Education and Early Development to recommend accommodations for students with disabilities. Sadly, the accommodations were to be available to only 2% of the special education population” (McDermott & McDermott,