Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. All
students with one or more disabilities according to Section 504 are to be
tested. Test accommodations are permitted for these students provided they are
used in the students' regular classroom instruction and assessment and provided
the other conditions specified in the Administrative Guidelines for Students
with Disabilities According to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
are met. An IAP must not be developed solely for the provision of
accommodations on statewide assessments.
1.
The LDE defines a student with one or more disabilities according to Section
504 as derived from the regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973.
B. Conditions
for Eligibility for Test Accommodations as a Section 504 Student
1. The student has a disability that has been
identified by a group of knowledgeable individuals whose credentials are
appropriate to the disability and the disability is recognized by the Section
504 committee as being consistent with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973.
2. The student must undergo
an annual review by the Section 504 Committee and an Individual Accommodation
Plan (IAP) must be completed for each newly identified student or for each
student whose accommodations have changed since his or her last test
administration.
a. The IAP identifies
students with disabilities as defined by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the
ADA. The form also must be used to document accommodations for qualified
Section 504 students. School districts are responsible for completing the form
once a student's eligibility has been determined.
b. Signatures. Duplicate signatures are not
acceptable on the IAP. The parent and student signatures are optional, but it
is considered best practice to obtain these.
c. The completed form must be submitted with
a copy of the student's IAP to the district Section 504 coordinator by the date
designated by the district.
3. The student has had accommodations
routinely provided as part of his or her ongoing classroom instruction and
assessment, as recommended by the Section 504 Committee and as documented on
the student's IAP.
4. New
accommodations or changes to an accommodation for a statewide assessment should
be on the student IAP form 30 days prior to the start of testing.
5. Documentation for how the student meets
the definition of substantially limited in Section 1630.2 of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 must be on file at the school.
C. Documentation. Documentation
with evaluation results from the School Building Level Committee (SBLC) and/or
the Section 504 team must be kept on file and be available to the LEAP Data
Validation Committee upon request. Documentation/evaluation samples may
include:
1. a summary of the doctor's report
or diagnosis;
2. informal
assessments and teacher observations;
3. curriculum-based assessments;
4. formal assessments approved by the school
district.
D.
Individualized Healthcare Plans. If a Section 504 student requires medical
procedures that will prevent him or her from participating in a statewide
assessment, individualized healthcare plans must be attached to the IAP.
E. Forms Management
1. Submission. A LEAP Data Validation form
must be completed and submitted, along with a copy of the student's IAP, to the
district Section 504 coordinator by the district-designated date. The district
Section 504 coordinator should establish the deadline for collection of the
forms early enough to ensure time for review before submitting them to the LDE.
School districts should contact the district Section 504 coordinator regarding
the deadline. The LEAP Data Validation forms should be submitted to the LDE
annually.
2. Review. The IAPs will
be reviewed by a committee of LDE employees and Section 504 Statewide Task
Force members for any possible testing irregularities, including potential
violations of test security; appropriateness; and required information that
substantiates the accommodations provided during assessment. Reviews will be
scheduled throughout the month of January, to be completed by January 30.
district Section 504 coordinators will be notified concerning the place and
time of review for their districts.
3. Extenuating Circumstances. The extenuating
circumstances that will be considered for reviewing an IAP submitted after the
deadline and/or after the established review period are:
a. a student is in the process of
transferring from state to state or parish to parish;
b. a student has a temporary illness or
injury that is substantially limiting and will prevent him or her from having
an equal opportunity on and access to statewide assessments.
F. Gifted or Talented
Students with a Qualified Disability. For students who are classified as gifted
or talented students and who have a qualified disability under Section 504, a
Section 504 IAP must be attached to the student's IEP.
G. Test Accommodations for both Section 504
and Special Education
1. Definition
Accommodation-a change in the test
administration environment, timing, scheduling, presentation format, and/or
method of response to the assessment.
2. Purpose of Accommodations. Test
accommodations are provided to minimize the effects of a disability to ensure
that a student can demonstrate the degree of achievement he or she actually
possesses. Not all students with disabilities will need test accommodations,
but many will need them to provide a valid and accurate measure of their
abilities. The goal in using accommodations is to give students with
disabilities an equal opportunity in assessment, not to give students with
disabilities an unfair advantage over other students or to subvert or
invalidate the purpose of the tests. The accommodation should allow the test
score to reflect the student's proficiency in the area tested without the
interference of his or her disability.
3. General Guidelines
a. Test accommodations should not be
different from, or in addition to, the accommodations provided in the classroom
during instruction and assessment and as indicated on the student's IEP or
section 504 IAP. According to the 1997 amendments to IDEA, accommodations for
administration of general statewide and districtwide assessments must be based
on each student's needs, as documented in the student's IEP. If an
accommodation, even an accommodation listed on a student's IEP or IAP, is not
provided in classroom instruction or assessment, it is inappropriate to provide
that accommodation during testing.
b. Selection of appropriate test
accommodations should be based on a review of a student's current instructional
and classroom assessment accommodations and a clear understanding of the test
format and what it measures. This information should determine which
accommodations enable the student to demonstrate best what he or she knows and
can do.
c. The accommodations must
never compromise the purpose of the test. For example, a test that measures
reading comprehension cannot be read aloud to a student. To do so would destroy
the purpose of the test, which is to measure reading comprehension.
d. Individual or small group administration
must be used if the accommodations will interfere with the testing of other
students, e.g., tests read aloud.
e. Provided accommodations must be indicated
in the required locations as instructed in the appropriate test
manual.
f. Accommodations must not
compromise test security or confidentiality. Any assistance in test
administration must not give away the answers. All conditions that pertain to
test security and return of test materials after the test is administered apply
to tests that are administered with accommodations. All test manual
instructions relating to handling nontraditional secure materials for
accommodations must be followed precisely.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
17:7,
R.S.
17:24 et seq., R.S. 17:391-400,
R.S.
17:1941 et seq.,
R.S.
17:397,
R.S.
17:1946, and
R.S.
17:1947.1.
