You write about the reporting to parents of MCAS scores, and the practice is as you state it to be. Parents are indeed informed about how their child took the MCAS, including the use of nonstandard accommdations (NSAs). And, as you know, that is what the IEPs should have told them already!

My issue is the reporting to others, including for AYP (adequate yearly progress) purposes of the No Child Left Behind Act. As I understand it, scores of all students who take the MCAS–no matter how, including those who use NSAs–are reported together. That is the issue I discussed in the piece–the validity of test results.

As you probably know, the IDEA– Individuals with Disabilities Education Act– does not allow any use of NSAs (as, by definition, they alter test validity) for reports, as for AYP. In fact, under the law, if students take tests with NSAs, those students are not to be counted at all in having participated in the state test. So, under federal law, the fact that a few students may use NSAs on MCAS is not the operative issue. None should do so, if the state intends to have those scores and participation rates counted for AYP purposes.

Thank you for your comment. I hope this response clarifies the issue I focused on–validity in the reporting of test scores to others. If my information is incorrect, please let me know.

Regarding “reading a reading test to a student who can’t read or giving a calculator to a student who can’t add and subtract-and then reporting the tests as if they are valid”, the reality for Massachusetts statewide test (MCAS) tests is:

- Reading the ELA Reading Comprehension portion to a student and using a calculator are both NON-STANDARD accommodations (and are rarely used).

- Beginning in at least Spring 2010, MCAS test results booklets clearly indicate when a non-standard accommodation was used.

For ex., directly under the math score, it says “Information provided by the school indicates your child received a nonstandard accommodation (your child used a calculator for the non-calculator session of the Mathematics test) as required by his or her IEP or 504 Plan.”

Also, the MA Policy says: “Nonstandard accommodations are intended for use by a very small number of students who would not otherwise be able to access the test. Teams must exercise caution, therefore, in considering whether a student requires a nonstandard accommodation, and must carefully review the criteria described for each nonstandard accommodation on the list. Test results for a student who took the test using nonstandard accommodation(s) must be interpreted with caution by parents and schools.”

Individual test results do indeed indicate whenever the accommodations Ms. Freedman cites are used.

This misinformation can be damaging and is surprising to see in this publication.