Were Twice-Exceptional Gifted Students Used to Raise Test Scores in Virginia?
The importance of student advocates in No Child Left Behind situations is demonstrated with Virginia’s VGLA changes. Virginia’s state test, the VGLA, is used to show that the state is meeting federal NCLB requirements. On April 23, 2010, The Washington Examiner reported Virginia has decided to end alternative standardized testing, according to Leah Fabel’s article, “Virginia Ending Criticized Test for Special Needs Students”. The test is ending “as a necessary step to ensure schools don’t push higher-potential students to take easier exams to boost statistics.” By diminishing gifted education, gifted students become ‘higher-potential’ students. Instead of being students who have demonstrated high abilities, they they become students who have the potential for higher abilities. Read on Changes to the NCLB Act Gifted, or ADD-ADHD? Gifted Children and NCLB The article goes on to say that parents and teachers were concerned that the modified tests are acceptable to NCLB standards, “but the
