CAHSEE: Are we being fair to students with learning disabilities?

Ed Amundson is giving a colorful history lesson about the Watergate scandal to his class at McClatchy High School in Sacramento. His students are surprised to hear that the illegal wiretapping of political

Christina Williams, a special day class teacher at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, helps student Robert Duke with an assignment.

His students may look like typical students, but they are not. All of them have learning disabilities. They are enrolled in special education and attend special day class with Amundson, a member of the Sacramento City Teachers Association. Some have dyslexia. Others have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism. Most have visual or auditory processing disorders, which make it difficult for them to absorb information.

Graduation fever is in the air at McClatchy on this day in June, but not for the students in Amundson’s classroom. Most of his seniors are morose, and for good reason: Despite struggling through their classes and earning enough credits to graduate, they will not receive diplomas, since they haven’t passed the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Most have tried many times.

“I am not going to get a diploma, and without it I am not going to get a well-paying job,” laments Elena Melendez, 17, whose goal is to become a corrections officer. “I was just three points — or one question — away from passing. I have taken it six times.”

Melendez is one of an estimated 24,000 special education students denied a diploma last June because of the exam, according to the Learning Disabilities Association of California. For the past few years, these students have been on an emotional roller coaster as the exit exam requirement was put into effect, waived and put into effect again.

Ed Amundson, a member of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, conducts a history course at McClatchy High School.

But these students have suffered from more than just inconsistency over the past few years, says Amundson. “They have been unnecessarily traumatized, ignored and forced to take classes that don’t prepare them for the future.”

“Nobody knows what to do with these kids,” says Amundson, who is chair of CTA’s Special Education Committee. “We need to create a statewide dialogue on what to do with these kids. They are not throwaway kids.”

Years ago, most students with learning disabilities were undiagnosed, and special education was for students who were mentally retarded. Because you can’t tell by looking that a person has a learning disability, and the subject is a relatively new area of study, there has been controversy about various categories of disabilities and their causes and treatment. Typically, the term “learning disability” is used to describe a group of disorders that compromise a student’s ability to use language efficiently and effectively, and fall into two categories: verbal and nonverbal.

Learning disabilities may be diagnosed at a young age, typically when a parent or teacher notices that the student can’t follow directions or is struggling to do work that should be fairly easy to do. However, some students are so adept at covering up their disabilities that they may go undiagnosed until the teen or adult years.

Once diagnosed, students are entitled to special education services that comply with being taught in the “least restrictive environment” according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Some may be in self-contained special day classes. Some are “pulled out” of regular classrooms for special education services by RSP (resource specialist program) teachers. Many students are in “full inclusion” programs or mainstreamed into some general education classrooms, while also receiving special assistance or differentiated instruction.

Leigh High School student Sarah Shea reads a newspaper during current events time.

Before the exit exam, it was assumed these students would receive high school diplomas if they passed their classes and earned enough credits. However, that assumption is no longer valid. Those who did not pass CAHSEE — half of all special education students — received “certificates of completion” last June, which have been traditionally handed to students who are severely retarded.

The legislation that created CAHSEE included a provision that “alternative routes” for disabled students be developed. Since the spirit and letter of the legislation recognized this, CTA took its only position in support of the X-bills enacted in 1999 and recommended to the State Board of Education that: students be entitled to due process; the state must demonstrate that all students have had an opportunity to learn standards-based information that is included on the exam; the state provide parallel forms of testing using other methods to demonstrate knowledge, such as by essay and personal communications; and students be able to demonstrate standards mastery through the portfolio process guided by teachers.

Because they may look and often act like normal students, it’s easy to forget that some special education students do indeed have learning disabilities, says Amundson. For this reason, unrealistic academic expectations and demands have been put upon them. Like all high school students, they must still pass algebra to graduate, unless they receive a waiver from their school board.

“We, as a society, have made great gains in eliminating the exclusion of students with special needs from our schools,” says Amundson. “Through mainstreaming and full inclusion, we have not only opened the doors to our schools, but the curriculum as well. As such, our students have achieved higher academic success as well as better adaptive behaviors and social skills. They’ve learned to be part of the mainstream population, and are more like their peers than unlike their peers. That’s the good news.”

Student Chris Johnson at Miraloma High School in Sacramento works on an assignment.

“But many still have significant cognitive disabilities,” continues Amundson. “Some of my kids are functioning with an IQ of 60 or 70. These are called the ‘gap kids.’ And for them, we have few answers.”

Cramming for the exam

Before CAHSEE, says Amundson, his students were able to get decent jobs after receiving high school diplomas because they enrolled in Regional Occupational Program (ROP) vocational classes that provided valuable job skills. But that no longer is happening.

Instead, says Amundson, high school students with learning disabilities over the past few years have been forced into a daily regime that consists of mostly CAHSEE preparation classes. Most of his special day class students still don’t pass the exam after numerous tries and then leave high school without the job skills that make them employable. And finding employment without a diploma can be difficult to impossible, since they cannot serve in the military or even be hired at fast-food outlets without one.

“I keep in touch with students who leave here, and many are not finding the jobs they once did,” says Amundson. “Many have joined the lamentable ranks of the 65 percent of people with disabilities who are unemployed.”

Others have returned for a fifth year of high school. By law, special education students may attend public school until the age of 22. If the thousands of special education students denied diplomas take advantage of that option, says Amundson, the cost could be “astronomical” for California, which already has a shortage of special education teachers.

Richard Soria, a special day class teacher at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, helps a student with a problem.

On Sept. 30, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation — Senate Bill 1446 by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero — that would have extended the temporary exemption of special education students from the requirement to pass the exit exam in order to receive a diploma if students had enough credits and had passed all their classes. This happened despite a nearly 80 percent vote by the Legislature in favor of continuing the exemption until December 2010 — far exceeding the number of votes required since SB 1446 was an “urgency bill” requiring a two-thirds vote.

“Requiring all students to meet the CAHSEE requirement for graduation provides incentive for schools to teach every student the skills needed to demonstrate basic competencies in order to earn a diploma,” said Schwarzenegger. “Therefore, I cannot sign this measure that would essentially provide a waiver for students with disabilities from passing CAHSEE.”

Oddly enough, the governor signed Assembly Bill 2040, which paves the way for students with disabilities to take an “alternative assessment” if they have fulfilled all the requirements of a high school diploma with the exception of passing the exit exam.

The bill, authored by Fabian Nuñez, former speaker of the state Assembly, was supposed to be a “companion” bill to SB 1446: The alternative assessment was supposed to kick in at the same time the exemption would have ended, in January 2011, so that no students were left in the lurch.

But now, says Amundson, thousands of students will indeed be left in the lurch until 2011 — including those who did not receive diplomas last June and those who are presently juniors and seniors. Their only hope is if the Legislature overturns the veto, which appears to be unlikely.

Elena Garcia Melendez in Ed Amundson’s history class.

“There is no safety valve for them now,” says Amundson. “What are we going to do for them? My reaction to the governor’s decision is this: Frankly, I’m stunned.”

Christina Williams, a special day class teacher at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, is also stunned by the governor’s decision. “Talk about no child left behind! Well, we’ve got lots of children left behind with this. I think it’s tragic, with all the effort that teachers, students and school districts are making, we are being hampered by people who do not understand the realities of students with disabilities.”

Her students have spent years being prepped for CAHSEE, with disappointing results. “In our department about 77 kids took the test,” says Williams, who is vice president of the San Juan Teachers Association. “Twenty passed it with modifications and accommodations.”

Under the law, students must be allowed to take the exit exam with any accommodations and modifications specified in their Individual Education Plan (IEP). An accommodation does not fundamentally alter what the exam measures or affect the comparability of exam scores. Examples include having the mathematics part of the test read to a student orally or allowing extra time to complete the exam. A modification is a variation that does alter what the exam measures or affects the comparability of exam scores. Examples of modifications include using a calculator on the math portion of the exam or having the English-language arts portion of the exam read to the student orally.

If students pass the exit exam with modifications, the score will be marked “not valid” unless a waiver is granted by the local school governing board. And in many cases, say teachers off the record, teachers are pressured not to allow the use of modifications as stipulated on a student’s IEP because tests will not count on the state’s Academic Performance Index or the federal Adequate Yearly Progress accountability system.

Since students will not be eligible to take an “alternative assessment” until 2011, and when they are it will be aligned to the state’s standards, which are the highest in the nation, Williams doesn’t foresee that anything will change in the way students are currently treated. She believes they will still be forced to take CAHSEE prep classes to the exclusion of everything else, including vocational classes that would prepare them for a career.

Judy Rhoda, a member of the Corning High School CAL-ESP chapter, talks about working with special education students.

Not gearing for reality

The on-again, off-again exam has put students through an emotional wringer during the past few years, says Williams. “It’s horrible that we do this to them.”

Last May, some of her seniors were in a panic about not having passed the exit exam despite numerous tries, thinking they would not graduate.

Nhia Yang, 18, said she would not come back for a fifth year and decided to enter adult school. Her classmate, Alli Carkins, was exploring the possibility of being able to take the test online.

Willie Carter, 18, who came close to passing CAHSEE in the three years he has tried, said he planned to keep on trying. “I do all my homework and pass all my classes and try to be a good student,” he says. “I don’t think it’s fair.”

He did not return for a fifth year. Williams says that most students opt not to return after their senior year because it’s embarrassing.

Because Carter was primarily enrolled in CAHSEE preparation classes, he had little time to enroll in vocational classes, which is typical of special day class students. Williams fears that because of this, students like Carter leave high school unprepared for the working world.

“They are taking exit exam math and exit exam English intervention classes on top of their regular classes, so there is not time for vocational classes. Life for them has become a constant rehearsal. All we do is remind them of how to answer questions over and over again. I’m sure we’ll continue with constant prepping.”

“For my students, this is not a picture of reality. And special education students need, more than anything else, the reality of the adult world. We, as adults, do not have to take a test that determines everything in our lives.”

Granting accommodations not effective

Last year, special education teachers and parents at Williams’ school met with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. She was not pleased with the dialogue.

“His solution was just to give our students more accommodations. This implies that teachers aren’t doing enough. I wish that those making decisions about these students could come to our classrooms for more than just a cursory photo shoot. I would like them to spend a week, or at least a day, to see how hard students are working and how hard they are trying.”

The state has called for an additional study at the cost of $500,000. But Williams believes this is a waste of time and money. Many studies have already been done, she points out.

The National Center on Educational Outcomes released a report in March, “Revisiting Graduation Requirements and Diploma Options for Youth with Disabilities: A National Study.”

“It is important to ask what is required for students with disabilities to take high-stakes assessments in a way that best reflects what they have learned — what they know and can do,” states the report. “Many of these tests were developed for students in general education, without much consideration for how well special education students would fare.”

According to the study, fewer states are using exit exams as part of their requirements for special education students, and there are only 12 states where both special education and general education students are held to the same standard to receive a high school diploma.

A 2003 study of high-stakes testing by Martha Thurlow and David Johnson of the National Center on Educational Outcomes predicted “unintended” consequences of having students with disabilities forced to pass exit exams including: students failing to receive standard diplomas; higher dropout rates as students’ frustrations rise; lowered student self-esteem; and the creation of alternatives to traditional diplomas.

Dropout rate rises

CTA members are already seeing a higher dropout rate of students with learning disabilities. Judy Rhoda, a classified employee who works with special education students at Corning Union High School, saw several students quit school at the end of last year from the frustration of not being able to pass the exit exam and being told they wouldn’t graduate without it.

“I see their pain,” says Rhoda, a member of the Corning High School CAL-ESP chapter. “They worked so hard and passed all their other classes and had all their other credits. But they just said, ‘I’m done.’ They were dropping out and they were terrified. To me, these kids have enough trouble and enough stress in their lives.”

Richard Soria, a special day class teacher at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, says he has also seen a higher dropout rate among special education students whose needs are not being met.

“Yes, I saw more of them drop out last year. Many of them just stopped coming to school. Some of them try to stay a fifth year, but eventually something happens in their private life and they’re gone. I think it’s sad.”

CTA members describe how some parents of disabled students are getting around the law — they are sending their children to private schools or home-schooling them, because these students do not have to pass exit exams. Suzanne Whitney Heath (research editor for www.wrightslaw.com and author of Exit Exams Can Be Optional If You Plan Ahead) tells desperate parents to apply their credits earned in freshman, sophomore and junior years in public school toward a diploma from a private school in their senior year, advising, “This is not as difficult or as ... expensive as you might think.”

Real solutions over a quick fix   

Amundson believes that it’s time to provide real solutions to help disabled students rather than strategies to circumvent the law. He believes that the alternative assessment forthcoming under the Nuñez bill will allow more special education students — especially those on the fringe — to receive diplomas. But many special education students may struggle with the new exam, since it will still be aligned to state standards that are challenging for students with disabilities. The governor has called for the alternative test to have the “same rigor and standard” as the current CAHSEE.

“We need something to recognize students’ successes and not their failures,” says Amundson. “We need to get them job training to be successful instead of trying over and over again to get them to pass the test. Otherwise they drop out, and the cost of them dropping out will be a huge cost to society.”

The stakes are high: According to the Learning Disability Association of California, students with learning disabilities tend to drop out of school at a higher rate than other students and then fall into a range of antisocial behaviors. The association notes that adolescents with learning disabilities are more than twice as likely to wind up in juvenile courts and struggle with low self-image, teen pregnancy, suicide, substance abuse, depression, significant psychiatric problems and unemployment, “winding up on welfare, homeless or in prison.”

“It is time for an honest dialogue between the education and business communities about the basic minimal academic and employability skills needed for these students to be successful and productive members of society,” says Amundson. “We all agree that one does not need to meet [the University of California’s] A-G requirements to fight a forest fire, take a food order, or pave a road. Yet these jobs may be out of reach for many of our students in the future. It’s time to bring all the necessary stakeholders together for this very important discussion.”

Studies show that students with learning disabilities:

> Tend to drop out of school at a higher rate than other students.

> Are more than twice as likely to wind up in juvenile courts.

> Struggle more with low self-image, teen pregnancy, suicide, and substance abuse.

From the Learning Disability Association of California.