The process of putting an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in place at your child’s school is long and challenging. As parents, we often know best what helps our child succeed whether it’s a one-on-one aide, sensory breaks or fidgets. The school’s evaluations determine the need for speech, occupational, or other therapy services. Together, the team comes up with a plan and, ideally, it’s monitored and adjusted as necessary to be most helpful to the child. When the IEP process is completed in Kindergarten, 1st or even 2nd grade, state mandated testing is in the distant future. Alas, time flies and your child is in 3rd grade and facing the ISAT test in March. There are many accommodations that can be put in place to help kids with standardized tests including the ISAT, MAP Testing and placement exams for Gifted and Classical programs. Once the accommodations are documented in an IEP or 504 Plan, the test administrators (usually the school) have to adhere to them. Here are some examples of testing accommodations:
¨ Frequent breaks¨ Testing in small groups or individual settings
¨ Large print textbooks
¨ Adaptive writing utensils
¨ Reading directions and/or questions to students
¨ Oral testing
So, don’t wait to incorporate standardized testing into your child’s IEP or 504 Plan. Remind the team at your school to address this topic well in advance. It will save you some anxiety later, not to mention help your child do as well as possible on the test.
It’s Testing Time –Make Sure Your Child is Set up for Success