Most likely they have had experiences with unreliable outside testing, and score shopping. It happens. In every large, affluent community, there are certain evaluators that you know will give just about every kid a nudge in their scores, one way or the other, or are biased toward diagnosing kids with certain disabilities, or frequently write that a student should have foreign language requirements waived, etc. I read a lot of outside evals in my work, and I have certainly seen them.
There are as many unscrupulous and unprofessional individuals in this field as in any other, I imagine. ETA: Sometimes it's unscrupulous parents, who don't tell evaluators that they're asking for unethical short-interval re-testing, which almost always artificially inflates scores.
I have not, however, ever worked in a district that refuses to consider outside test results.
What I find more puzzling is that they don't appear to be accepting of their own testing in the 99th %ile.
Last edited by aeh; 01/15/15 06:56 AM.
