Are student's written response paragraphs to standardized written expression tests copyrighted?

[AM23]

Hi all!

I am looking for clarification on standardized test answers for written expression. My son's initial school evaluation about 4 years ago in 4th grade  included testing of written expression using the TOWL-IV.  That evaluation report included the spontaneous writing story/paragraph my son wrote along with a description of his written expression skills being weak and  below expectations on contrived sentence writing and spontaneous essay pieces (contextual conventions, spelling in context, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, and grammar). Private testing from around the same time indicated my son "stopped to think" often and breathed heavily while writing his essay.

His reevaluation focusing on reading, writing, and language  last year included the TOWL-IV again.  My concern is that my son's daily writing clearly shows issues, and  no examples of his actual writing were included in the reevaluation which included scores in the average range  and suggestions for my son to use organizers, edit his work, and add more content (He only wrote for 5 of the allotted 15 minutes.)  I also noticed that standard scores were provided for the composite Story Writing but only scaled scores for subtests of Contextual Conventions and Story Composition. (Percentile rank included for both). 

I understand that the test questions are copyrighted and of the need to maintain test integrity.  However, is my son's own creative story or essay that he writes in response to the test prompt copyrighted? I want a copy of what he wrote, and while  the school will let me view and take notes, they will not provide a copy of what he wrote.  I plan to provide my own examples of his writing, but they are not "normed and standardized".  My data does not seem to equal or agree with their data from their perspective. I am making a case that my son needs specific instruction and not only accommodations and also want the SLD category for written expression checked on his IEP.  In first and second grades, when asked to read or write at home he shut down, became angry, and refused to do either. He also refused to go to school on time for parts of 5th and 6th.  Reading and writing are still issues.

Alternatively, we are remediating reading outside of school. Should we seriously consider also do this for writing  and view school accommodations as getting my son to a place mentally and emotionally that he can do this work outside of school?

Thanks!

[Carolyn Rowlett]

You are actually "lucky" in the sense that the school even showed you the writing your son did for the evaluation. Many districts take the "copyright" infringement a little too far and won't even show the parent that.  If they let you view and take notes, that's probably all you're going to get.  Here's what you can do:

1. You can ask that a parent concern be added to the IEP regarding what you saw on the evaluation (be as specific as you like with all the errors, etc. - heck, if you can remember it, you could put in the whole thing), as well as the fact that he only wrote for 5 of the 15 minutes.  Also, speak to your son's behavior when it comes to writing and reading tasks throughout the years.

2. I was thinking of suggesting a request for an IEE, but it looks like a private evaluation was already done?  (Albeit, one you paid for, I'm assuming, so you could technically still ask for an IEE.  I think one reason for disagreeing with the school's eval would be the 5 minutes - what would the writing have looked like if he had to write for the entire 15 minutes?  But you don't necessarily have to give a reason for wanting an IEP other than you disagree with the school's.)  What did the private evaluation show in terms of qualifying for written expression?  If you have both a private eval and a school eval with average scores, you may be out of luck.  (And thus, yet, may be looking at outside help.)

Scaled scores and standard scores can be converted to the other.  You could ask the school for a conversion chart or find one online.