Dear Neighbors,

You have likely seen the media coverage of the Settlement Agreement for the Noon v. Alaska lawsuit concerning students with disabilities and the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam. In my view, most of the reporters misunderstood the Agreement. I’d like to briefly summarize the major changes that will affect students with disabilities.

If you have a child with disabilities, this is important information. If you know parents with such a child, please pass this information on to them.

First, while this Agreement does add a few modifications to the list of those that students with disabilities can use, it should be clarified that students with disabilities have always been able to take the exam with the appropriate accommodations and/or modifications necessary to allow them to fairly show what they know.

An accommodation is a change in an exam that does not alter what is being tested, like printing the exam on colored paper, or in Braille, or taking it in a room without other students. A modification changes the test to some degree. Examples include using a spell or grammar checker, or having the proctor read the test to a student. The Department of Education approves modifications that allow the student to demonstrate what he knows but that will not invalidate the exam.

The big change brought about by the Settlement Agreement is that those very few students who cannot take the exam even with accommodations and modifications will be eligible to take a Non-Standardized Assessment. This means they can be assessed through a portfolio of their work. Students who have extreme Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for example, would be candidates for this type of assessment because they cannot take the test even with frequent breaks (a commonly used accommodation).

Other changes include:

• Parents will be able to appeal to the Department of Education if their school district denies an accommodation or modification.
• Districts will be able to appeal to the Commissioner of the Department of Education if department staff denies their request for a particular modification.
• School districts will be required to meet with the parents of students with disabilities who are in the 9th grade to inform them of the three assessment options – taking the exam with accommodations, taking the Modified (or Optional) HSGQE, or taking the Non-Standardized Assessment.
• The Department must provide training to district superintendents and test coordinators and they must, in turn, provide training to teacher and parents.

The media also did not clarify that neither the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam nor this Settlement Agreement affects students with severe cognitive disabilities. Students who are mainly being taught life skills have never been on a diploma track, either before the exit exam was enacted or now.

Regulations have already been proposed to implement these changes. To review them, please go to http://notes3.state.ak.us/pn/pubnotic.nsf
/cc52605f7c156e7a8925672a0060a91b/
8f0ac2c5432461ae89256ed100730149?
OpenDocument. Written comments must be submitted to the department by 4 p.m., August 15, 2004. You can also provide oral comments to the Board of Education beginning at 1:15 p.m. on August 16th at any Legislative Information Office in the state.

If you'd like to read the Settlement Agreement, please go to http://www.eed.state.ak.us/news/noon.html. As always, please contact me if I can provide further information.

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