A study released Thursday suggests that increases in standardized test scores are, to some degree, dependent on the exclusion of disabled students from those tests.

Connecticut Voices for Children, an advocacy and educational public policy think-tank, released a study concluding that, due to a 2009 shift in federal and state policy, disabled students were excluded from the Connecticut Mastery Test, which caused a significant jump in test scores state-wide.

In 2009, a federal ruling allowed states to create a modified standardized assessment for students with disabilities. In Connecticut, that resulted in a modified assessment and, according to Robert Cotto, senior policy fellow with Connecticut Voices for Children, that shift accounts for much of the gains made in CMT scores that year.

For more on this story, visit: Connecticut Voices for Children study raises concerns about how standardized test are done in the state (document) – News – The Bulletin.