Some BOCES students opt out

“Our special education students are held to the same standards as every other student in New York State; they must take the third through eighth grade NYS assessments and they also must take a standardized test that was on the NYS approved list to administer,” according to Information Specialist Theresa Schaefer of the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). “We had 245 possible students that could have taken the 3-8 NYS assessments, 43 of them opted-out or 18 percent. We have 19 students in our school age programs and two students that we provide hearing or vision itinerant services to from the Oceanside and Island Park area. Nassau BOCES provides services to 21 students from the Oceanside/Island Park area.”

The Executive Director of Special Education for BOCES, Karen Ellis said some of their students are very low functioning, I.Q. under 40, with special medical needs and physical limitations. Their testing might be 15 to 20 minutes, three times a year, not three days of eight hours a day.

Lydia Begley, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services explained testing for them includes more than just math or language arts. “They are tested on socialization, emotional behavior, none of which is included in the state’s standard tests. Their progress is subtle, it might even be a transition that you would not notice unless you were in class with the student,” she said.

It’s not that special needs kids should not take tests, she explained, but there is an alternate assessment test geared for them.

Another problem is the number of students that can be educated at BOCES. A district, she explained, can only send one percent of their students, so, for example, if a district has 2,000 students only 20 can go to BOCES, but what if that district has 40 special needs students? In addition she needs to know right away how a student does on a test so we can adjust the learning environment. The state tests do not provide returns for a long time.