Yi-Chen Wu and Martha Thurlow
November 2017
All rights reserved. Any or all portions of this document may be reproduced and distributed without prior permission, provided the source is cited as:
Wu, Y.-C. & Thurlow, M. (2017). 2014-2015 APR snapshot #15: AA-AAS participation and performance. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
An Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS) has been developed by each state to measure the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. This brief summarizes AA-AAS data used for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) accountability. Using federally submitted data from the 2014-2015 school year, we present information on the number of students participating in the AA-AAS and the performance of those students.
AA-AAS participation and performance data for 49 states are reported in this brief; one state’s data were not available for this analysis because of data quality issues. Proficiency rates in this brief were calculated using only non-field test data because performance results were not available for field tests. Participation and performance data for grade 8 (or grades 4 and 8) are presented in this report; figures displaying data for other grades are provided in this report following each figure. Data tables for all grades are available at nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Throughout this report, we use the term “students with disabilities” to refer to students receiving special education services. Thus, students on 504 accommodation plans are not included in these analyses.
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Overall statewide participation in the grade 8 reading AA-AAS, based on the number of students with IEPs, in 49 regular states is presented in Figure 1. For the majority of states (n = 27), less than 10% of all students with disabilities took the AA-AAS in 2014-2015. Similar participation rates existed for grade 8 mathematics AA-AAS (n = 27).
Figure 1. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAS (Based on Students with Disabilities) in Regular States
Participation rates in unique states that reported data for Grade 8 reading AA-AAS (n = 8) are presented in Figure 2. The participation rates varied from 0% to 23.1% of students with disabilities; one unique state did not report participation data. Data for the unique states are available at www.nceo/info/APRbriefs/data.
Figure 2. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAS (Based on Students with Disabilities) in Unique States
Regular States Grades 3 - 7 and High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade HS |
Regular States Grades 3 - High School Mathematics. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Unique States: Grades 3 - 7 and High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade HS |
Unique States: Grades 3 - High School Mathematics. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
States varied in their rates of students receiving special education services, from 8.4% to 16.6% of the total student population, so it is important to look at participation rates based on the total student population as well. To be consistent with federal requirements for calculating participation in the AA-AAS, the analysis was based on the number of test takers with valid scores (total tested) at each grade level; these numbers were obtained from the U.S. Department of Education.
The rates of total tested students participating in the AA-AAS for the grade 8 reading AA-AAS in 49 regular states are presented in Figure 3. States typically assessed less than 2 percent of their total tested student population (including both students with disabilities and students without disabilities) using the reading AA-AAS; only about one-fifth of states were below 1 percent. Similar participation rates existed for grade 8 mathematics AA-AAS when viewed in terms of the total student population.
Figure 3. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAS (Based on All Grade 8 Students) in Regular States
Participation rates in unique states for the grade 8 reading AA-AAS are presented in Figure 4 in two ways. The first way uses the number of test takers with valid scores as the denominator and the second way uses the total number of students enrolled. Both ways were included in Figure 4 because data on the total tested student population was not available for one of the unique states. Information on the total number of students enrolled1 at each grade level in 2014-2015 is from ELSi table generator.2 For high school, the average number of students across grades 9-12 from ELSi was used to represent the number of students tested at high school.
In the two unique states with participation rates based on the total tested student population of students, the rates were 0.8% and 1.1% for reading AA-AAS and 0.7% and 1.8% for math AA-AAS. As evident in the figure, when the participation rate is based on the total student enrollment, it underestimates the participation rate that is based on the total tested population. Data for the unique states are included in data tables available at nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Figure 4. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAS in Unique States
Grades 3 - 7 and High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade HS |
Grades 3 - High School Mathematics. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Unique States: Grades 3 - 7 and High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade HS |
Unique States: Grades 3 - High School Mathematics. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Figure 5 shows reading AA-AAS participation rates (based on the total tested population of all students) for grade 4 and grade 8 in regular states. Across these states, an average of 1.3 percent of the total population of students participated in the AA-AAS in each grade. Differences between the two grades did not show any consistent trends. The majority of states (n = 21) reported higher rates in grade 4 than in grade 8. More than half of the states (n = 28) reported higher rates in grade 8 than in grade 4.
Figure 5. Participation Rates for Reading AA-AAS (Based on All Tested Students) in Grades 4 and 8 in Regular States
Two unique states reported reading AA-AAS data. Both unique states showed a slightly higher participation rate (based on the total tested population) in grade 4 than in grade 8.
Figure 6. Participation Rates for Reading AA-AAS (Based on All Students) in Grades 4 and 8 in Unique States
Grades 4 & 8 vs. High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 4 vs HS | Grade 8 vs HS |
Grades 4 vs. 8 4 &8 vs. High School Math. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 4 vs 8 | Grade 4 vs HS | Grade 8 vs HS |
Unique States: Grades 4 & 8 vs. High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 4 vs HS | Grade 8 vs HS |
Unique States: Grades 4 vs. 8, 4 &8 vs. High School Math. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 4 vs 8 | Grade 4 vs HS | Grade 8 vs HS |
AA-AAS data from 47 regular states are included in this analysis of proficiency for both reading and math assessments across grades 3 to high school. Data from three states were not included in all or some sets of data because (a) no data were reported (one state), (b) there were small cell sizes that restricted reporting of data at all grades (one state), or (c) data were suppressed because of data quality issues at all grades (one state).
Figure 7 shows the rates of students participating in the reading AA-AAS who were proficient or above in grade 8 in the regular states. For each grade, the denominator is the number of students who participated in the AA-AAS and the numerator is the number of students who participated in the AA-AAS and scored at or above proficient. Proficiency rates ranged from 14.1% to 99.2% of students participating in the AA-AAS. In two states, more than 90% of the students participating in the AA-AAS were proficient or above. In only three states were less than 30% of students participating in the AA-AAS considered proficient. Similar percentages of grade 8 students were proficient or above on the mathematics AA-AAS. Proficiency data for regular states are available at nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Figure 7. Proficiency Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAS in Regular States
Rates of students proficient or above on the reading AA-AAS in unique states for grade 7 are presented in Figure 8. (Grade 7 is presented here because only two unique states reported grade 8 proficiency data for the AA-AAS.) Five of the unique states reported proficiency rates for students in grade 7 for reading and 4 unique states reported proficiency rates in math. In reading, rates of students proficient or above varied from 24.1% to 53.3%, while the rates of students proficient or above in math varied from 22.2% to 66.7%. Proficiency data for the unique states are available at nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Figure 8. Proficiency Rates for Grade 7 Reading AA-AAS in Unique States
Grades 3 - 7 and High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade HS |
Grades 3 - High School Math. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Unique States Grades 3 – 6, 8, and High School Reading. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Unique States: Grades 3 - High School Math. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Figure 9 provides a comparison of the percentage of students proficient on the AA-AAS in grade 8 for reading and mathematics in regular states. A majority of states (n = 34) reported higher proficiency rates for the reading AA-AAS compared to the math AA-AAS; 13 states had higher rates of proficiency on the math AA-AAS.
Figure 9. Proficiency Rates for Grade 8 Reading and Math AA-AAS in Regular States
A comparison of the percentage of students proficient on the AA-AAS in grade 7 in unique states for reading and mathematics is shown in Figure 10. Five of ten unique states reported proficiency rates for both reading and math in grade 7. The majority of the unique states (n = 3) showed a higher proficiency rate for reading compared to math.
Figure 10. Proficiency Rates for Grade 7 Reading and Math AA-AAS in Unique States
Grades 3 - 7 and High School. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade HS |
Unique states: Grades 3 – 6, 8, and High School. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
1 The percentage of students in special education was calculated by dividing the number of students with disabilities ages 6-21 (from IDEA Part B Child Count and Educational Environments table, http://www2.ed.gov/programs/osepidea/618-data/state-level-data-files/part-b-data/child-count-and-educational-environments/bchildcountandedenvironments2014.csv) by the number of students in K-12 enrollment from ELSi (https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/tableGenerator.aspx).
2 https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/tableGenerator.aspx
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The data presented in this report represent a snapshot of the participation and performance of students with disabilities who participate in the Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS). To some extent, variability in the participation and performance rates reflects the differences in the states’ AA-AAS themselves, including where the proficient cuts were set.
The participation rates described in this report are fairly consistent across states. Participation rates for the AA-AAS tend to be higher than one percent of the total tested population of students (or about 10 percent of all students with disabilities).
Proficiency rates are extremely variable across states, with most states having quite high rates of students in the AA-AAS deemed proficient or above. Still, the rates do not appear to be influenced by the percentage of students participating in the AA-AAS. Proficiency rates were slightly higher for reading compared to mathematics.
According to the U.S. Department of Education (Quenemoen & Thurlow, 2007), holding students who participate in the AA-AAS to high expectations greatly increases the learning opportunities provided to those students. It is important to keep these expectations in mind when examining proficiency rates of students with significant cognitive disabilities compared to proficiency rates of students with disabilities on the regular assessment (see Thurlow & Wu, 2016).
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Kearns, J. F., Towles-Reeves, E, Kleinert, H. L, Kleinert, J. O., & Thomas, M. K. (2011). Characteristics of and implications for students participating in alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards. Journal of Special Education, 45(1), 3-14.
Quenemoen, R. (2008). A brief history of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (Synthesis Report 68). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
Quenemoen, R., & Thurlow, M. (2007). Learning opportunities for your child through alternate assessments. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
Thurlow, M., & Y. C. Wu (2016). 2013-2014. APR snapshot #12: State assessment participation and performance of students receiving special education services. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
Thurlow, M. L., Wu, Y., Quenemoen, R. F., & Towles, E. (2016). Characteristics of students with significant cognitive disabilities (NCSC Brief #8). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center and State Collaborative.