Advocates for Disabled Try to Halt School Exit Exam

Advocates for the disabled filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in federal court Friday to halt California’s new high school exit exam in March.

California students are not prepared to take the statewide test, said Sidney Wolinsky, an attorney for Disability Rights Advocates, the Oakland-based nonprofit that filed the lawsuit against the state Board of Education.

In addition, the test discriminates against disabled students by not allowing them to use calculators or aides to read material while taking the exit exam unless they obtain a waiver from the state, Wolinsky said.

“This is a very hastily implemented high school exit exam,” Wolinsky said. “It is just not ready to be given.”

Under California law, all students must pass the exit exam to graduate from high school, beginning with the class of 2004.

In November, the state Board of Education adopted regulations allowing testing accommodations for students with special needs, which included large print or Braille versions of the test, more breaks during the exam, and the use of mechanical or electronic response devices.

In December, the board adopted a policy to allow certain students with dyslexia or other learning disorders to use calculators or readers while taking the exam. The policy stated that school districts must obtain waivers from the state on behalf of each student wishing to take the test using such provisions.

But advocates say students with disabilities should not be forced to obtain special permission from the state. Wolinsky said an alternative assessment method for students with disabilities should be created.

He added that school curricula for all students are not aligned with the exam.

“You’re testing students on something that is completely unfair,” he said. “They’ve never had a chance to learn it. Maybe students eight years down the road will have had a chance to learn it, but certainly by March they will not be up to speed.”

Doug Stone, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, called the case premature. “The consequences of the test do not kick in until 2004,” he said. “One of the objectives of providing the test now, before consequences kick in, is to gather data so we are able to refine the test.”