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Council endorses tightened cell‑phone rules for state testing with medical exceptions
Summary
Advisory council approved changes to state assessment rules to void tests when students possess phones during testing, while adding an exception for medically necessary phone use (for example, glucose monitoring).
The Louisiana Superintendents Advisory Council endorsed revisions to the state assessment standards and practices that clarify when a student’s statewide assessment will be voided for having a cell phone during testing.
The policy change — presented by testing staff and discussed with council members — aligns the state's rules with practices used on nationally recognized exams and establishes an exception for students who need phones for documented medical reasons, such as glucose monitoring.
"If a student has the phone in their possession at the time that the test is occurring, the test is voided," said a department representative explaining the first revision. The department also proposed a process and form to document medically necessary exceptions so those students’ scores would not be voided.
Council members discussed wording and clarity in the proposed rule language and suggested defining "testing material" and consistent phrasing where the draft used differing terms. A motion to endorse the revisions was made and seconded; council members voted in favor.
Under the change, local systems that currently have different practices — some voiding tests when phones are found and others voiding only when evidence shows the phone was used during testing — will have consistent statewide guidance. The department said it will provide a form and process to document medical exceptions and urged districts to adopt the clarified language.
