Ca exit exam unfair to disabled kids!?

Question

My son just went in to the 7th grade, he has severe developmental delays (mentally retarded), I was officially told on his IEP that he would never be able to get a high school diploma in the state of California. Just a certificate of completion. This has got to be a violation of the disability acts. My son's teacher told me that she agreed but she's required to notify me of this on the IEP. She said hopefully this will be over turned by the time he graduates. Still bull, anyone have thoughts on the subjuct?

Answer 1

I understand how you feel ! Two of my kids are special needs too.

Depending on his developmental age not his calender age may have something to do with it as well. If he is able to function and complete state standards for his grade he can get a "normal" diploma. All a certificate of completion means is that he was able to achieve his best but that these did not quite meet the state standards.

I doubt that this will be over turned due to the No Child Left Behind Act but if your son is high functioning for his special need and entering High School he may qualify for the 504 plan.

Due to this act any istep testing is no longer using separate scoring for normal abled kids and special needs schools. This can really hurt because penalties are given to schools with low scores. These just may be schools with a higher ratio of special needs kids.

This is for those who don't quite meet the requirements for an IEP but still may need some services. Under this I think he would be entitled to a regular diploma.

Please don't let this bother you to the point that it effects your son or you.
Other than collages a diploma or certificate of completion is the same in the eyes of an employer.

Answer 2

Here we have MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) and it's said to be one of the hardest in the country. I am a SPED teacher and I can't stand high stakes testing. I am actually doing my Master's research on the correlation of MCAS and dropout rates. I don't understand why your son's teachers wrote that he would not pass the exam on his IEP- the IEP is supposed to be about goals and such- that is an opinion. I'd call an advocate- a proffesional who will fight for your son's rights and knows the laws of your state. Doesn't your state offer an alternate assessment? If your son is in a mainstream school and they can not provide the services he needs to succeed, then it is their responsibility (both moraly and financialy) to support his education, whether this means tutoring or a more specialized school. Don't give up! Someone has to change the laws!

Answer 3

I understand how you feel. My special education teacher was not happy that we had to get certificate of completion only and we all have to graduate with one. That is all i got.
If you want to go to college . You have to get you Ged. That is what i am trying to work on. I have mild mental retardation. The 7th grader is not being discriminated against. It is at all schools. I don't know if it is for all schools in all 50 states or what. But It is not fair that the law was changed and made harder for us . It is not fair. But it is not the school's fault. I found that out that we was only getting certificate of completion when we was in high school. In 8th grade it said that i was getting a diploma and then it changed because of the law changed. I think that they should of let us all get diploma's. I wrote a letter to the education person that is for education law. I told her how i felt.

it is not right that people with special needs end up
getting a certificate of completion because they can
not pass the GQE test , people with special needs can
not learn at that level and it is not there fault that
they are the way they are and nobody was not planning
on be disabled. certificate of completion can't help
someone get to college because i know, i check about
all this , ivy tech said the you have to have a ged or
high school diploma so you know something we can't get
to college with that and what if you was mildly
mentally disabled and you had to have a certificate
of completion and you did not have a choice, i think
the law really sucks. And how I know about all this
stuff is because I am mildly mentally disabled and I got certificate of completion and I am never going to get to go to college because of this law. I think everybody should recieve a diploma and they should have different set of rules for people with special needs. I wish that I could of got a diploma and I did take the GQE Test once and I didn't pass and it is not my fault and I only have an iq of 60. What I really want to do with my life is work with kids with special needs. When I was in 5th grade, I said I wanted to be a teacher and I kept that dream and then when i was in 10th grade, I was told that I will not get to do that because I am not going to get a diploma. My dreams have been shattered. I live in Indiana. I just graduated from high school may 28th 2004. When I was in 8th grade, I was put on the diploma track, and when went to the high school I was on it still and I was taken off the diploma track when I was in 10th grade. I even had perfect attendance for my 10th grade year and my 12th grade year, and I passed all my classes. I wish you would change the law.

Answer 4

Wow, I can't imagine a school leaving themselves open to that kind of litigation, but I guess it still happens. I know where I teach in VA, we can offer modified diplomas, or VGLA which can help a lot of DD students forgo the SOLs. In VA all students have to pass the SOLs in order to receive a diploma, unless otherwise specified. What I would do, is find a advocate and run this all by them. I know that CA does have rather backwards laws concerning SPED, so this might be true, but I just can't believe it would be....Definitely check with an advocate, try this website: wrightslaw.com it is a wonderful resource for parents and teachers alike! Good Luck!

Answer 5

A diploma should indicate that it's holder has demonstrated a level of competence, without such standards it's meaningless.