• Home »
• Newsroom »
• News Releases »
• Year 2007

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education's release of final regulations (Outside Source) under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

"Students with disabilities, like all students, deserve a rigorous education that prepares them for success in the workforce or in college after graduation.

"The federal regulations released today provide California with important flexibility to measure the academic achievement of 20 percent of students with disabilities through the development of modified assessments. These regulations support the ongoing work by the California Department of Education to develop tests to appropriately measure the knowledge and ability of students with disabilities, while keeping absolute faith with California's commitment to world-class standards.

"Continued development of the California Modified Assessment will allow us to maintain the benefit of flexibility for hundreds of districts across the state for up to two additional years so that districts and schools are not unnecessarily labeled as failing.  

"I appreciate the flexibility offered by the federal government that allows us to hold students with disabilities to high standards, but also measures their knowledge and abilities with an assessment that is appropriate to the students' unique needs."