Common Core: Brooklyn’s Special Education Students Improve Amid New York’s Struggles With Standardized Tests

Normal students struggle with the demands of Common Core-aligned assessment tests. Special education children, however, suffer more due to their disabilities.

New York is one of the states that have transitioned to Common Core standards. In Brooklyn, special education students are undergoing a program called Individualized Education Program, or IEP, which prepares young children with disabilities for Common Core-aligned tests that they need to take next year, according to TES News.

IEP caters to students in need of support services and a special kind of teaching. Children who qualify for IEP are those who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, autism, cognitive and emotional disorders, developmental delay, and students with visual, hearing, and speech or language impairment, Kids Health listed.

Disabled Students In New York Struggle

Common Core, a K-12 standardized test in English language arts and mathematics, has met controversy and backlash since it was implemented in U.S. states. In 2015, only seven percent of New York City students with special needs got a proficient score in English and 12 percent in math. Statewide, there wasn't a single student with disabilities in 190 school districts that got a proficient score on third grade English language arts.

Brooklyn, however, saw better results thanks to IEP. Sixty percent of grade 3-5 students with disabilities scored proficient in Common Core's English language arts test, while nearly all of the 70 pupils tested have a proficient score in math.

Common Core Humiliates Disabled Students?

Both parents and educators in New York have criticized Common Core. They argued that the standardized tests' focus on English language arts and math undermines other equally important subjects such as music, social studies, world languages, science, and physical education, NYC Opt Out wrote.

Protestors believe that Common Core removes children love for learning, and is instead putting students under pressure. They also claimed that New York's Common Core-aligned tests are "poorly written" and "ambiguous," NYC Opt Out added.

Educators and anti-Common Core advocates said the standardized tests unnecessarily humiliate students with special needs, pushing the children to lose their already wobbly self-esteem and hinder their learning. Protestors said Common Core-aligned tests are too difficult and children with disabilities shouldn't be expected to undertake the same exams.

In 2015, 20 percent of students in Brooklyn including students with disabilities opted out of Common Core. This year, eight special education children opted out of the standardized tests. A Common Core task force was created by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December 2015 to review the standardized test's implementation in the state, according to the United Federation of Teachers.