I reviewed the proposed VDOE supplemental guidance.  I wholeheartedly object to this guidance being accepted into VDOE policy and guidance documents due to the following items which are unacceptable as currently proposed:

 "Research shows that cultural and linguistic differences may result 
in an impact of up to 35 standard score points...." 

VDOE must provide a footnote that cites the referenced research.

"...depending on the particular test and individual student’s cultural background and language skills"

Allowing a public school evaluator to assess a student's "cultural background" and its possible impact on performance on an assessment test is wholly unacceptable.  Entering the concept of "cultural background" into VDOE policy documents requires a full definition of said concept.  I shudder to think of the questions an evaluator would have to ask in order to define "cultural background" and the labels that would be applied to sort and categorize different backgrounds.  How would assessors seek to define a student's "cultural background?"  How would assessors and school systems record and track "cultural background" and which "cultural backgrounds" would be considered as a possible explanation for a child's performance on a test or assessment that is up to "35 standard score points" below expected results for age and/or grade level. 

Bottom line, test or assessment scores that demonstrate failure to perform within cceptable norms based on student  AGE and/or GRADE LEVEL should trigger eligibility for services.  VDOE should not enable districts to turn its back on children who can't complete assessment tools within acceptable standards by merely explain away the poor performance using a highly subjective standard.  Incidentally, the data that a school district would have to compile to define cultural background likely cannot be compelled from a student and parents based on protections under federal law from discrimination based on national origin, ethnicity, religion, and other similar factors.

"Careful consideration of bias and diagnostic accuracy or error rates is 
suggested when examining performance on norm referenced or standardized 
tests. Teams should discuss the impact of regional dialectal differences, common 
family or cultural customs, lack of practice, and other factors that while 
appropriate for the individual student, may result in a lower score due to 
inappropriate comparison with the test norming population."

There is nothing about the two sentences above that isn't wrong.  The tests and assessments exist to compare a student to a baseline.  If a student qualifies for services based on assessment results, then Virginia public schools must provide that child services.  School districts cannot be given a blank ticket to write off a student's eligibility because, in their opinion, which is based on factors they haven't defined and are not standardized or implemented equitably across the state, they subjectively deemed the child's poor test performance can be dismissed as inaccurate.