My son attends an elementary school. He is in a regular 4th grade classroom and gets no services from special education. The school tried to place him in a Learning Disability classroom during Standards of Learning state testing instead of his normal 4th grade classroom. In this classroom, the special education teacher lets the students read 10 questions and take a break for 10 minutes , read another 10 questions and take a 10 minute break, and continue on like this throughout the 50 question test. I was upset the school was placing my son in this special education classroom as he was not special education. In addition, the numerous breaks would interfere with his testing taking skills and concentration and cause him to get a lower score. Is placing a non special education child in a special education classroom during state testing wrong?Thank you.
Already Tried: Nothing so far....trying to find information
Hello,Assuming that your son has not been evaluated as a special needs child, and that there has been no IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting between you and the school, then if the facts are exactly as you say they are, there appears to be a violation of the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.)You will first want to sit down with the Administration from the school and discuss what happened and why. If you cannot reach an understanding, then you may want to consult with a local attorney who practices Educational Law.41055.835243287
The school said breaks were an accommodation that were allowed for all students. Even if the breaks are an allowable accommodatiom for all children, it is the fact that having 5 breaks ( 10 minute break after every 10 questions) given in the special education classroom was definitely something not occuring in the regular 4th grade classroom. My son's peers in the 4th grade regular classroom had no breaks and therefore no disturbance of their concentration.
So, are you saying that even if breaks are allowable for all students, having 5 breaks is highly unusual and due to the high number of breaks, it is not a common accommodation . Therefore placing my non-speical education child in a Learning Disability classroom for state test was not proper.
Is there a regulaton number in IDEA that you could give me saying that children who are not special education should not be taking state tests in a special education classroom. Thank you.
Hello again,I am not, and cannot, say what in particular the school has or has not done in your son's case the violates the law. That would be giving you a legal opinion, which I am not allowed to do by the rules of the Site that you and I agreed to as Users, or by my Bar ethics rules. I can only tell you what the law is in general and what your options are, which I have done. All I can say is what I said before which is this if your son is placed in a special education classroom and treated substantially differently than the "maintstream" students, and he has not been evaluated and you have not met with the school for an IEP, that would violate the IDEA. The school can decide on their own that he needs evaluation and perhaps special services, but they must send a notice to parents first that they are undertaking the evaluation and there must be an IEP.You are best served now, if you cannot work this out with the school, to consult a local Education Law attorney who can actual gather all of the facts, that I am not privy to, and advise you specifically in your sons case. If you would like to see the IDEA information you can find detailed explanations of the Act at: http://idea.ed.gov/explore/homeAlso, you might find interesting this article about how and why a child might be evaluated for special education: http://drnpa.org/File/publications/getting-a-special-education-evaluation-for-your-child.pdf