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NEW
JERSEY’S
ALTERNATE PROFICIENCY
ASSESSMENT
| Executive
Summary |
 |
• No
Child Left Behind
(NCLB) requires
testing of all
students.
• Severely
disabled students
cannot take
standardized
tests. Medically
fragile students
are not exempted,
even if the
testing causes
extreme emotional
difficulty.
• The
alternative
test, Alternate
Proficiency
Assessment (APA),
designed for
severely disabled
students, is
very complicated
and time consuming
and does not
serve the development
of the students—it
only meets the
arbitrary testing
requirement
for chronological
age, not the
student’s
level (for ex.:
a 16 year old
on the 2nd grade
level is assessed
on 11th grade
material.
• The
APA’s
are not tied
to the student’s
Individualized
Education Plans
(IEP’s)
required by
the Individuals
with Disabilities
Education Act
(IDEA).
• Enormous
amounts of teaching
time are devoted
to preparing
for, and administering,
the APA’s.
This is very
costly and does
not provide
the severely
disabled student
an educational
benefit.
• New
Jersey’s
APA testing
requirements,
as promulgated
by the New Jersey
Department of
Education, are
very complicated,
particularly
when compared
to other states,
and still have
not been finalized
after years
of development.
Costly new training
and tests are
required each
year.
• Now,
as the Elementary
and Secondary
Education Act
(formerly NCLB)
is being reauthorized,
is the time
to reconnect
the educational
programs of
severely disabled
students to
their IEP’s
and eliminate
the time-consuming
and unproductive
federal APA
requirement.
Prepared
By: The APA
Association
Coalition
ASAH (formerly
the Association
of Schools and
Agencies for
the Handicapped)
Joint Council
of County Special
Services School
Districts
New Jersey Association
of School Administrators
New Jersey Council
of Educational
Services Commissions
New Jersey Education
Association
New Jersey Principal’s
and Supervisors
Association
New Jersey School
Boards Association
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