How to Make Sure Accommodations Are Used During State Assessments
By: Becca Phillips, Advocate
Across the country, testing season is about to begin. For many families, state assessments can bring on stress, questions, and uncertainty for both parents and their children, especially when your child has an IEP or 504 Plan. You may wonder: Will the school actually follow my child’s accommodations? Will the testing environment support them? What happens if something goes wrong?
The truth is, accommodations only help your child if they’re implemented correctly. Here is some guidance on you as parents can proactively make sure your child’s IEP accommodations are being honored during state testing. Before we do that, let's take a second to talk about why testing accommodations matter for your child.
State assessments are not just another classroom test for your child to take. They can affect promotion to the next grade, graduation, school accountability, and placement decisions. For students with disabilities, accommodations level the playing field so to speak, so that the test measures your child’s knowledge, not the impact of their disability.
Common testing accommodations you may see written into your child’s IEP or 504 Plan include:
Extended time
Small group or individual 1 on 1 testing
Tests read-aloud or text-to-speech
Breaks (that stop the clock)
Preferential seating
Use of calculator or manipulatives on math
Scribe or speech-to-text for constructed responses
If these accommodations aren’t provided, the test results may not reflect your child’s true abilities, which can have long-term consequences. Below are a few helpful suggestions of action items you can take now to ensure your child is set up for success moving into testing season.
Tip #1: Review the IEP Now
Don’t wait until a week or two prior to the week testing begins to review your child’s IEP or 504 Plan. Review the most recent copy of your child’s IEP or 504 Plan and look specifically for State/District Assessment Accommodations and make sure to check that accommodations are listed for classroom and state/district testing. Ensure that there is clear wording and there is no presence of words like “consider”, “May use”, or “As needed”. Ask yourself as you are reviewing: Are these accommodations specific? Do they match what we know helps my child in class? Are these allowable accommodations on our state’s tests?
If you notice anything is missing, is unclear, or you think there is an additional accommodation that would benefit your child, request an IEP meeting right away with your child’s case manager and team. You never want testing accommodations to be assumed, you want them clearly written.
Tip #2: Ask How Accommodations Will Be Implemented
Do not have blind faith in your child’s IEP or 504 plan and rely on that alone. Communication matters. Send an email to your child’s case manager, testing coordinator, special education teacher, and administrator. Ask questions such as:
Where will my child be testing (What location)?
Who will administer the test?
How will extended time work? Is it built into same day or over different sessions? Often times you may see it written as “Double time” or “Time and a half”
Will my child receive breaks? Do those breaks stop the testing clock? What will those breaks look like and for how long?
Will they be in a small group? If so, what is the max number of students in the group?
Who ensures accommodations are followed?
By no means are you being difficult by asking these questions, you are being proactive in ensuring your child is set up for success. Schools are managing many students during testing season and mistakes may happen when expectations are not clarified and clear.
Tip #2: Confirm Staff Are Trained on Your Child’s Accommodations
Not every testing proctor knows every child’s IEP. Sometimes accommodations fail simply because staff weren’t informed. Important questions to ask to ensure those who are administering your child’s assessment know about their accommodations including asking if the testing team has reviewed your child’s IEP or 504 Plan, asking if the proctors knows what accommodations are required for each specific subject area, and ask who monitors compliance during testing.
If your child uses specialized supports like a scribe, has the read-aloud, or uses assistive technology, confirm those are available and tested ahead of time to ensure those features work that use AT, and are not figured out the morning of the exam.
Tip #3: Prepare Your Child to Be Their Own Advocate
Depending on your child’s age and ability, help your child understand what accommodations they are allowed and have written into their IEP or 504, what they should do or say if they aren’t provided on the day of testing, and who they can go to in order to ask for help.
Some quick tips to share with your child for them to advocate for themselves are to raise their hand if they aren’t receiving extra time or encourage them to ask before testing begins how much time they have because they are given extended time. If the room is too noisy even in a small group setting teach your child to advocate and tell the teacher. If your child has breaks as an accommodation, encourage them to ask the proctor when their first break will be and if it is scheduled or they need to request it.
Self-advocacy is powerful and helps prevent silent testing violations.
Tip #4: Document Everything and Ask About Make-Ups and Irregularities
Testing season can seemingly move fast, but documentation protects your child. Keep records of: emails, meeting notes, documentation from IEP or 504 review meetings, testing schedules, and staff responses to questions.
In the event something goes wrong, documentation shows you were proactive and allows you to request corrective action, compensatory support, or investigation if needed. If accommodations are missed during testing, that may count as a testing irregularity or even if your child comes home and tells you they didn’t get their accommodation. In this event, immediately follow up in writing and ask the school what happens given that an accommodation did not occur? Can the test be invalidated and retaken? How are these missed accommodations documented?
Tip #5: Remember Your Legal Rights
Under IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, students must receive accommodations listed in their IEP or 504 Plan. Failure to implement these accommodations can be considered a denial of your child’s FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) and testing without required support gives invalid results. You always have the right to request meetings, ask for corrections, file complaints if accommodations are ignored, and advocate for retesting if needed.
Testing is not a period of time where compliance is optional. Schools are legally obligated to follow your child’s IEP or 504 Plan exactly as written.
State testing doesn’t have to feel scary, but it does require preparation on both the school and parent’s end, especially for students with disabilities. Accommodations are not favors or options, they are rights that must be provided. When parents stay informed, communicate early, and document carefully, testing becomes a tool for showing what a child can do, not what their disability interferes with.
