First, do no harm--an argument against mandatory high-stakes testing for students with intellectual disabilities.

Prium non nocere or ‘‘First, do no harm’’ is traditionally associated with the Hippocratic oath that medical doctors take. The premise of this quote is that no matter what end result you are attempting to achieve, whether it be curing a patient or educating a child, your first consideration should be that no harm be done in pursuit of the goal. When this is applied to the special education classroom, mandatory high-stakes testing for students with intellectual disabilities violates this principle on many levels. According to the American Association on Mental Retardation website, the definition of mental retardation, another term for intellectual disabilities, is A disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before 18. [There are five assumptions essential to the application of this definition]: 1. Limitations in present functioning must be considered within the context of community environments typical of the individual’s age, peers, and culture. 2. Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity as well as differences in communication, sensory, motor, and behavioral factors. 3. Within an individual, limitations often coexist with strengths.