Test exemption effect

Jennifer Jennings and Andrew Beveridge reported that exempting students from tests, a controversial practice sometimes employed with students with disabilities, may have deleterious effects on the performance of younger students with disabilities. Here’s the abstract:

Analyzing data from a large urban district in Texas, this study examines how high-stakes test exemptions alter officially reported scores and asks whether test exemption has implications for the academic achievement of special education students. Test exemption inflated overall passing rates but especially affected the passing rates of African American and Hispanic students because these students were more likely to be exempted. Furthermore, our results suggest that tested special education students in Grades 3 through 8 performed better academically than they would have if they were not tested. However, taking the high-stakes test provided no academic benefit to special education students in Grades 9 through 11.

I rarely work on topics related to high-stakes testing, so I am not well-enough informed to comment on this paper; however, I thought it was interesting enough to merit mention here. What do readers make of this finding?

Jennings, J. L., & Beveridge, A. A. (2009). How does test exemption affect schools’ and students’ academic performance? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31, 153-175.