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Ethan Rediske standardized test: Dying Boy’s Family Forced To Prove Son Cant’t Take Test
In hospice…Ethan Rediske, 11, and mother Andrea last year. Ethan, who is now in a morphine coma in hospice, has been asked to prove he is dying in order to be exempt from standardised tests. Picture: BayNews9 Source: Supplied
In a move likely to give standardized testing a name that rhymes with a similar word for being an illegitimate child, the state of Florida is demanding the parents of a dying boy in a morphine induced coma prove that he is unable to take the 2014 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The young boy had to take the test last year despite being disabled with cerebral palsy and blindness. The state even compelled another child to take the test who was born with only a brain stem IE no physical brain.
Ethan’s special education teacher, Jennifer Rose, will likely be penalized — something the family does not want to happen. (As the report notes, in Florida, teacher evaluation scores and pay are tied to standardized test scores.)
“Jennifer is the greatest example of what a dedicated teacher should be,” Ethan’s mother, Andrea, recently wrote in an e-mail to an Orange County School Board member, according to the Washington Post.
The state defends their actions by saying that there is always some measure of learning that can be assessed and the results are needed. However, it isn’t only the state that has this stringent demand for testing. The Department of Education (DOE) is adamant the testing be conducted for children regardless of their physical condition. It is hard to imagine this is what President George W. Bush, who was known for his compassionate conservatism, envisioned with the moniker “No child left behind”.
The Florida assembly responded to public scrutiny about the ludicrous nature of the testing by passing a law allowing parents to petition for a waiver. As weak as the law ended up being, the DOE warned the state about loosening the testing requirements children with chronic disabilities.
“Each question can take up to 10 to 15 minutes just to do one question. So he’s spending hours in his wheelchair and he has severely compromised lungs,” Andrea told local outlet Bay News 9 at the time.
She also said the test’s questions weren’t relevant for her son.
“They’re asking him questions about the way a peach tastes, and he’s fed through a tube in his stomach, and he will never taste a peach. They ask him about shoes and staplers and alarm clocks and school buses. Ethan doesn’t interact with any of those things,” she told the outlet.
On The Web:
Ethan Rediske standardized test
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/04/parent-of-dying-boy-has-to-prove-her-son-cant-take-standardized-test/
Dying disabled boy Ethan Rediske, 11, who is in morphine coma asked to prove he can’t sit standardised test
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/dying-disabled-boy-ethan-rediske-11-who-is-in-morphine-coma-asked-to-prove-he-cant-sit-standardised-test/story-fnixwvgh-1226819120836