New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association
NJPSA Position Statement on ACS-4414 (Fuentes, Diegnan)
June 18, 2015
Over the past school year, we have collectively engaged in important discussions in this
committee, in our classrooms and in our communities about the role of student assessments
in the educational process, the need for the appropriate balance in our approach, and the
context of both state and federal testing requirements.
As an association, NJPSA believes that student assessment is an integral part of the teaching
and learning process for every student including students with disabilities and English
language learners (ELLs). High quality, appropriate assessments provide educators, students
and parents alike with vital, actionable information concerning student learning at the
individual, classroom and school level. Test scores also hold educators, schools and districts
accountable for the education of every student. NJPSA believes our state and local approach
to assessment should focus on addressing individual student and group instructional needs,
diagnostic analysis and the identification of appropriate interventions, and the development
of enhanced instructional strategies in our classrooms. This is especially critical for our ELL
and special education populations.
Current Requirements and Test Administration Options
Unfortunately, our history – not only in New Jersey, but in every state in our nation – paints a
sorry picture. Prior to the enactment of federal legislation such as the Individuals with
Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB), our ELL and disabled
student populations often fell through the cracks of our system. Schools, districts and
educators were not held accountable for their achievement, or subsequent gaps in
achievement, because these students did not participate in student testing programs or
often the setting of performance goals. Their educational needs often became invisible to
the system.
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A first step in addressing these national achievement gaps, (particularly with special
populations) was to include all students in the assessments, spotlight the results and develop
specific annual performance targets. Over the years, Congress has changed our national
educational landscape by requiring annual student testing in grades 3 to 8 and once in high
school with limited exceptions related to severity of disability or level of proficiency in
language. In such cases, alternate assessment options exist. Complex rules and procedures
have been established to address the appropriateness of an individual special needs or ELL
student’s participation in a particular state test, to provide alternate testing options if
educationally appropriate and to provide any necessary accommodations ensuring a fair
opportunity for each student to take that test. NJPSA supports this approach which requires
professional educators to make these important decisions in consultation with parents
through the development of Individualized education plans, Section 504 plans, and Personal
Needs Profiles (PNP), a testing needs planning document for students.
Testing accommodations are important to ensure that a student’s performance in the
classroom and on the assessment is influenced as little as possible by a student’s disability or
linguistic characteristics. Accommodations are designed to ensure that every student has a
fair opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the content being tested without
reducing learning or achievement expectations for students or compromising the validity of
the assessment itself. In the case of the PARCC assessment, there are both general
accessibility features available to every student taking the test (use of highlighter,
headphones, pop up glossary, spell checker, etc.) and specialized accommodations for
students with disabilities, students with a Section 504 plan and ELL students. Educators
develop a Personal Needs Profile to determine the specific testing needs of students. I have
attached a listing of the broad range of accommodations available for these special
populations for your information. We believe that this range of accommodations is
responsive to our students needs. “Unique accommodations” are available on a case by case
basis for medical emergencies or accidents not based upon language proficiency or disability
as these needs have already been addressed by the accommodations options.
As noted, ELL students must be included in state assessments unless they are new arrivals to
our country and have been enrolled in a school district for less than a year. The rationale for
this exemption is simple; these students are not yet adequately fluent in English to fairly take
the assessment, nor would the test results show the students’ knowledge of the content.
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This year, for the initial administration of the PARCC assessments, first year ELL student in
grades 3 to 8 were eligible for exemption from the assessment, but high school students
were not. Testing accommodations were available to assist the students if needed, including
translation of test directions into native languages, human translators/reader, dictionaries in
multiple language, and native language assessments in mathematics (Spanish only in New
Jersey this year). In addition to PARCC, ELL students are annually tested in their English
fluency/proficiency levels via the ACCESS test. ELL students are also eligible to meet state
testing requirements for graduation through an alternative approach of a portfolio
assessment.
ACS 4414
With this framework in mind, NJPSA applauds the bill sponsors Assemblyman Fuentes and
Chairman Diegnan for their goal of ensuring strong instruction and fair testing opportunities
for students with disabilities and ELL students. We appreciate the significant shift in direction
taken by the Committee substitute to provide the authority for districts to exempt newly
arrived ELL students from the PARCC assessment in their first year in our country - while still
permitting an individualized approach where the student’s learning goals and/or proficiency
levels in English warrant his/her participation in the test (parental request). A one size fits all
approach is not appropriate for our students, particularly those with special learning needs
and we thank the sponsors for recognizing this fact.
Based upon our history, we do have a concern with an unintended consequence of the
language of the bill which would permit a small group of newly arrived students to
potentially receive a diploma without meeting the state graduation requirements or being
fluent in English. We believe this is a disservice to those students. We recommend that
language be included in the bill to clarify that a recently –arrived ELL student must meet state
graduation requirements which include passage of a high school level test in ELA or math or
its alternative (portfolio assessment) as determined by the NJ State Board of Education to
receive a state diploma.
NJPSA looks forward to working with the sponsors as the legislation is considered. These are
important issues to address as we move forward in reaching our educational goals for all
students. Thank you for your consideration.
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