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.

[AM23]

1. Carolyn, good suggestions. I’ll ask to have my notes about errors on the evaluation added to the IEP and look up a score conversion chart.

2. To clarify, my (2e) son had a private speech and language evaluation focusing on reading, writing, and speech and language last year (almost 3 years after the previously mentioned private testing), which diagnosed expressive language, reading (spelling, comprehension, prosody, accuracy, and fluency), and written expression disorders. (This is the second private diagnosis of written expression disorder.) We presented this newer testing to the school IEP team which prompted another school evaluation. The resulting TOWL-IV and reading scores from the school testing differed considerably from the private evaluation, and I am not sure why except that maybe he wrote more for the private testing leading to more chances for errors. The school evaluation concluded no SLD and average, but even so writing support and a goal were added to the IEP to edit with autocorrect and add more content. The goal was just recently met and removed indicating there's no longer a need for writing support. I do plan to ask for data showing that he's doing

3. Another point of disagreement with the school is about on-demand versus edited longer-form writing. His written essays are fairly good when typed, written over multiple days/weeks, edited with autocorrect, and incorporate suggestions from teacher conferencing. Any writing that is by hand or not edited has many issues and is very different than how he’d answer verbally or type with auto correct. Would a  “No peer editing or sharing of on-demand writing with peers” SDI at least be something to help my son feel more comfortable (In the same vein of not being expected to read aloud at school)? I feel this may not work, because there is a fair amount of group work and sharing in class, though. 

Do I just continue to bring samples to the IEP team showing evidence that he's not independently showing skills in conventions and written expression and ask for services and another goal? I don’t think asking for an IEE would help, because the school has already mostly disagreed with our private evaluation.

Thanks!

[Carolyn Rowlett]

I like your idea of an accommodation stating "No peer editing or sharing..."  However, I agree that it may not be accommodated because he wasn't found eligible for SLD in written expression.  But it never hurts to ask!  Could he possibly be allowed to use speech-to-text or type with autocorrect during on-demand writing?  The downside to any of these is him looking different from his peers, which may be worse that showing them his "poor" writing. 

Yes, continue to bring samples (which is data) to meetings.  I really think I'd push for the IEE.  I understand your concerns, but it seems to me the school evaluation is either flawed for not having him write the entire 15 minutes OR proof of his writing deficiencies since he did NOT write for the full 15 minutes.  Get another eval, then you have two versus one (which is flawed).  Also, the request for an IEE might prompt the school to just say "ok, we'll give him services and write a goal."

[JSD24]

When a school's evaluation is not accurate or is incomplete, my typical suggestion is to request an IEE at school expense.  This needs to be in writing (email is good) so there's a paper trail.