U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, introduced legislation this week that would ensure parents give fully informed consent before their children with significant cognitive disabilities are placed on alternative education tracks.
The bill, called the , is aimed at students who are held to 鈥渁lternate academic achievement standards鈥� because of the nature of their disability. Such alternate standards have less depth, breadth, and complexity than the regular standards. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states have been allowed to test up to 1 percent of all students鈥攐r about 10 percent of students with disabilities鈥攐n specially designed alternate-achievement tests and to have those students counted as proficient.
The Casey bill would require states to monitor, on a yearly, subject-by-subject basis, when a student鈥檚 disability merits an alternate-achievement test.
Parents would also have to be informed about how participation in alternate assessments might affect a student鈥檚 ability to earn a high school diploma. The bill also would promote the use of accommodations that might allow more students with disabilities to be tested against grade-level standards.
鈥淒eciding which educational track to place a child with a disability on is one of the most consequential decisions a parent can make,鈥� . 鈥淎s parents make these decisions, it鈥檚 critical that they have all the information necessary to make the best choice for their child.鈥�