What are some of the most significant risks posed by high-stakes tests for students with learning disabilities?
Some of the most significant risks include: • Increased grade retention We know that large performance gaps exist between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. We also know that students with disabilities continue to be retained much more often than the general population – more than one-third are retained at grade level at least once, usually in elementary school. Promotion tests – the fastest growing area of high-stakes testing – will most likely contribute to even more retention of students with learning disabilities, despite the fact that retention has been shown to be an ineffective intervention to improving academic achievement. More importantly, students who are retained are much more likely to drop out later in school, and those retained more than once are dramatically more likely to drop out. Research on retention shows that grade repeaters as adults are more likely to be unemployed, living on public assistance, or in prison than adults who did not repeat a
