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Thirteen Core Principles to Ensure Fair Treatment of All Students with Regard to High Stakes Assessments

Endorsed by The International Dyslexia Association, National Center for Learning Disabilities and Learning Disabilities Association of America.

(In 2001, a blue ribbon panel of experts was put together by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) in order to review the Oregon Statewide Assessment System to ensure that students with learning disabilities will have equal opportunity to participate in and attain all the benefits the assessment program offers. Their report on the problems with the Oregon State Assessment System (OSAS) led to the publication of the report Do No Harm. DRA distilled the panel's report on the OSAS down to a set of core principles that, if followed, will ensure fair treatment of students with learning disabilities with regard to high stakes assessments.).

The needs and rights of students with learning disabilities must be vigorously protected to ensure that these students (a) have an equal opportunity to participate in and attain all of the benefits of high stakes assessment programs and (b) to ensure that they are not disadvantaged or discriminated against on the basis of disability with regard to such assessments.
Students identified as having learning disabilities must have access to the general education curriculum throughout their school years and to general education courses and curriculum in secondary school to ensure that they will be best able to demonstrate their intelligence, abilities, knowledge, and skills on high stakes assessments.
In designing and implementing high stakes assessments, educators and administrators must protect the rights and needs of students with learning disabilities and ensure that the assessments do not discriminate against students with learning disabilities.
In designing and implementing remediation options for students failing or performing poorly on high stakes assessments, educators and administrators must protect the rights and needs of students with learning disabilities and ensure that the remedial assistance available does not disadvantage or discriminate against students with learning disabilities.
Political and administrative considerations, such as how the inclusion of students with learning disabilities in high stakes assessments will affect reporting of scores of schools and districts, must not be allowed to (a) override the rights and needs of students with learning disabilities, (b) adversely affect the benefits to learning disabled students once included, or (c) place the providers of special education at a disadvantage because of administrative or funding consequences of non-participation.
As determined during the Individualized Education Program and Section 504 processes, and in compliance with the needs of each individual student, students with learning disabilities must be provided with all necessary accommodations for their learning disabilities on high stakes assessments.
Students with learning disabilities must be provided the same accommodations on the assessments that they have used during their educational careers.
Within the IEP and Section 504 processes there must be fair, neutral and clear processes by which students with learning disabilities and their parents can appeal decisions about the accommodations provided on the assessments. The availability of these appeal processes should be clearly communicated to students and their parents.
There must be a meaningful alternate assessment system available to children who are disadvantaged by the high stakes assessments as a result of a learning disability.
There must be procedures in place to ensure the fair assessment of students with learning disabilities who take alternate assessments, as well as the fair assessment of those who take standard assessments with accommodations.
Whether a student takes a standard assessment (or portion thereof) or is assessed under an alternate assessment (or portion thereof) should be decided by a student and his or her parents in concert with school personnel, and should be addressed during the Individualized Education Program and Section 504 processes.
The number of students who participate in an alternate assessment should not be artificially limited to a certain percentage, but should be available to all children whose Individualized Education Programs or Section 504 Plans show that they would benefit.
States and school districts should accumulate data and encourage research on the effects of high stakes assessment on the education of all children, including those who receive accommodations and those who participate in alternate assessments.

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