As I am sure you have all heard by now, the TNReady standardized test had some issues yesterday, on day one of the testing window. Big enough issues that the education commissioner made the decision last night to no longer continue with the online platform and districts were instructed to go with paper/pencil tests. So what does that mean for our students that have IEP's of 504's based on SLD (specific learning disability) qualifications?
I spoke with an administrator with Knox County Schools this morning and I got some answers. We are still taking the TNReady test, it is the same test, it just won't be online. Any accommodations that were set on your child's IEP still remain, you will not have to have a meeting about this. Text to speech is called read-aloud again, but that only means instead of the computer reading it, a person is. There may be a letter that comes home to address this small detail, of text to speech becoming read aloud, but rest assured, the test is the same so there will be no violating of IEP's because the IEP says TNReady.
One thing I want to stress since there was a lot of confusion about text to speech and the TNReady is, it was an IEP TEAM decision on whether text to speech was given as an accommodation for the TNReady. You as a parent are a part of the team. I posted a few times on this blog about the text to speech accommodation and what you needed to know about the states recommendations about this. Please remember, if you do not agree, you do not have to sign. You can ask questions further up the chain before signing you agree or disagree. That is true of anything in regards to an IEP meeting. Remain calm, ask questions, and go from there.
This morning I woke up and questioned spelling though. Spell check was an allowable accommodation for all students taking the test, but now since it is still the same test, kids are writing their answers out. I was curious if they would be marked off for spelling and some grammar issues. (Ex. homonyms, which btw we all know spell check wouldn't have caught anyway, but are still words that dyslexics struggle with.) I promptly sent an email to the DOE supervisor who works with accommodations and I am waiting on a return email. Rest assured, as soon as I have a response, I will be sure to let all of you know.
I know there is a lot of information out there, and I know there are a lot of questions. My job is to keep parents informed with facts and I will continue to do that as soon as they come.
I spoke with an administrator with Knox County Schools this morning and I got some answers. We are still taking the TNReady test, it is the same test, it just won't be online. Any accommodations that were set on your child's IEP still remain, you will not have to have a meeting about this. Text to speech is called read-aloud again, but that only means instead of the computer reading it, a person is. There may be a letter that comes home to address this small detail, of text to speech becoming read aloud, but rest assured, the test is the same so there will be no violating of IEP's because the IEP says TNReady.
One thing I want to stress since there was a lot of confusion about text to speech and the TNReady is, it was an IEP TEAM decision on whether text to speech was given as an accommodation for the TNReady. You as a parent are a part of the team. I posted a few times on this blog about the text to speech accommodation and what you needed to know about the states recommendations about this. Please remember, if you do not agree, you do not have to sign. You can ask questions further up the chain before signing you agree or disagree. That is true of anything in regards to an IEP meeting. Remain calm, ask questions, and go from there.
This morning I woke up and questioned spelling though. Spell check was an allowable accommodation for all students taking the test, but now since it is still the same test, kids are writing their answers out. I was curious if they would be marked off for spelling and some grammar issues. (Ex. homonyms, which btw we all know spell check wouldn't have caught anyway, but are still words that dyslexics struggle with.) I promptly sent an email to the DOE supervisor who works with accommodations and I am waiting on a return email. Rest assured, as soon as I have a response, I will be sure to let all of you know.
I know there is a lot of information out there, and I know there are a lot of questions. My job is to keep parents informed with facts and I will continue to do that as soon as they come.
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