Chalkbeat

Tennessee education leaders say too many Memphis-Shelby County students with disabilities are being opted out of taking state standardized tests each year, stripping them of the ability to earn traditional high school diplomas. Disability advocates caution that the increasing number of alternate test-takers is lowering expectations and future opportunities for students with disabilities. It also jeopardizes federal funding to Tennessee, which can trickle down to local districts. Only students with “the most significant cognitive disabilities” are meant to take alternate versions of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, according to the state department of education. The federal government sets a cap for alternate tests at 1% of students in each state. But MSCS leaders say the federal cap ignores the district’s difficult realities. In Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the figure of alternate test-takers is close to 2.4% – meaning just over 2,500 students take the modified test each year. That’s 1,500 more students than it should be, according to the federal cap.