Yi-Chen Wu, Kristin K. Liu, Sheryl S. Lazarus, and Martha L. Thurlow
December, 2023
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Wu, Y.-C., Liu, K. K., Lazarus, S. S., & Thurlow, M. L. (2023). 2020-2021 APR snapshot #30: AA-AAAS participation and performance. National Center on Educational Outcomes.
An Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS) has been developed by each state to measure the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. This Brief summarizes AA-AAAS data used for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) accountability. Using federally submitted data for the 2020-2021 school year, we present information on the number of students participating in the AA-AAAS and the performance of those students.
We present data for the 50 regular states as well as the 10 unique states (American Samoa, Bureau of Indian Education, District of Columbia, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Virgin Islands). Figures displaying statewide assessment data for other grades are provided in this report following each figure. Data tables for all grade levels are available at https://nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Because of the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic on some states’ participation rates in 2020-2021, our analyses include only states with an overall participation rate for students with and without disabilities of 80% and more on the general assessment and AA-AAAS combined.1 We used an 80% participation rate as the minimum rate for including a state in our analyses because this was the lowest participation rate in previous years’ analyses. In addition to low participation rates, some states were not included in our analyses because the U.S. Department of Education had suppressed their data because of either data quality issues or small numbers of students.
This report includes 34 regular states with grade 8 reading AA-AAAS and 36 regular states with math AA-AAAS participation data. For reading AA-AAAS participation data, 14 states had an overall participation rate lower than 80%. In addition, two states’ data were excluded because of small cell sizes (i.e., small number of students). For math AA-AAAS participation data, 14 states had an overall participation rate lower than 80%.
Grade 8 performance data are included for 33 regular states in reading AA-AAAS and 35 regular states in math AA-AAAS. For reading AA-AAAS performance data, 17 states’ data were not included – 14 states because their overall participation rates for students with disabilities were lower than 80% and three states because of data quality issues. For math AA-AAAS performance data, 15 states’ data were not included – 14 states because their overall participation rates for students with disabilities were lower than 80% and one state’s data because of small cell size.
Participation and performance data for grade 8 (as well as comparison participation data for grade 4) are presented in this Brief; figures displaying data for other grades are provided in this report following each figure. Data tables for all grades including states with an overall participation rate below 80% are available at https://nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Calculations for this Brief used only data available through state-submitted Annual Performance Reports (APRs). Two types of participation rates and one proficiency rate were calculated for this Brief. One of the participation rates was calculated using the number of enrolled students with disabilities as the denominator at each grade level; this calculation is consistent with those used in previous APR Snapshots. The number of enrolled students was calculated by adding together the number of students with disabilities participating in each of a state’s assessments, plus any students with medical exemptions and any students who did not participate in an assessment. The number of enrolled students with disabilities was calculated separately for reading and mathematics assessments for each grade. The second calculation used the number of total tested students across grades, including both students with and without disabilities, as the denominator. The denominator for proficiency rates was the number of students with disabilities who participated in the AA-AAAS.
Throughout this Brief, we use the term “students with disabilities” to refer to students receiving special education services. Thus, students on 504 plans are not included in these analyses.
Participation and proficiency rates for reading and mathematics AA-AAAS were calculated by content area and state (including regular states and unique states) at all grade levels for students with disabilities and for the total population. For each state, there were four possible data circumstances for each content area for both the general assessment and AA-AAAS from the IDEA data set (https://www2.ed.gov/programs/osepidea/618-data/state-level-data-files/part-b-data/assessment/bassessment2020-21.csv). These conditions were: (a) data were not available, (b) data were reported, (c) data were reported but were suppressed by the U.S. Department of Education for data quality concerns, and (d) data were reported but were suppressed by the U.S. Department of Education because of the small number of students. States were excluded from our analysis if they met one of the following criteria:
We made additional decisions when data were incomplete. First, assessment participation percentages were only calculated for states that had both general assessment and AA-AAAS participation data for a particular content area. Second, if a state provided assessment participation data for both the general and AA-AAAS, but only provided proficiency information for one of the two assessments, we calculated the overall proficiency rate based on that assessment. All of these results are included in this Brief, but only results of 8th graders are highlighted in detail as an example.
Thirty-four regular states reported data on reading AA-AAAS participation and 36 states reported data on math AA-AAAS participation. These states were ones with data considered valid by the U.S. Department of Education and with overall participation rates for students with and without disabilities of 80% or more.2
Overall statewide participation in the grade 8 reading AA-AAAS, based on the number of students with disabilities, in 34 regular states is presented in Figure 1. For the majority of states (N = 31), less than 10% of all students with disabilities took the AA-AAAS in 2020-2021. Similar participation rates existed for the grade 8 mathematics AA-AAAS (34 states with less than 10% participation rate).
Figure 1. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS (Based on Students with Disabilities) in Regular States (N=34)
Reading: 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 |
Mathematics: Grades 3 - High School. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Reading AA-AAAS participation rates in unique states that reported data for both grade 8 regular reading assessments and reading AA-AAAS (N = 7) are presented in Figure 2. The reading participation rates varied from 0% to 20.0% of students with disabilities (also 0% to 20.0% for math AA-AAAS). Data for the unique states are available at https://nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Figure 2. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS (Based on Students with Disabilities) in Unique States (N = 7)
Note. One unique state reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
Reading: 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‡ |
* Note. Two unique states reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
† Note. One unique state reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
‡ Note. Two unique states reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
Mathematics: Grades 3 - High School. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3* | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6† | Grade 7 | Grade 8‡ | Grade HS |
* Note. Two unique states reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
† Note. Two unique states reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
‡ Note. One unique state reported no students with disabilities participated in Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS.
Regular states varied in their rates of students receiving special education services, from 10.3% to 19.67% of the total student population3 in 2020-21, so it is important to look at participation rates based on the total tested student population as well. To be consistent with federal requirements for calculating participation in the AA-AAAS, 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 ED Data Express website by the U.S. Department of Education.
The rates of total tested students participating in the AA-AAAS for the grade 8 reading AA-AAAS in 34 regular states are presented in Figure 3. Many states assessed more than 1 percent of their total tested student population (which included both tested students with disabilities and students without disabilities) with the grade 8 reading AA-AAAS; 19 states were above 1 percent. Similar participation rates existed for grade 8 mathematics AA-AAAS when viewed in terms of the total tested student population; 19 states were above 1 percent.
Figure 3. Participation Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS (Based on Total Tested Grade 8 Students) in Regular States (N = 34)
Reading: 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 |
Mathematics: Grades 3 - High School. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
In 2020-21, just one unique state reported participation data at grade 8 for both students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and the total number of tested students. Its rate for grade 8 students with disabilities was 1.46%. Data for the unique states are included in data tables available at https://nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Figure 4 shows reading AA-AAAS participation rates (based on the total tested population of all students) for grade 4 and grade 8 in regular states. Thirty-four states reported reading AA-AAAS for both grades 4 and 8. Across these states, an average of 1.03% of the total population of students participated in the AA-AAAS at grade 4 and 1.06% at grade 8. Differences between these two grades did not show any consistent trend. Half of states (N = 17) reported higher rates in grade 4 than in grade 8. And another half of states (N = 17) reported higher rates in grade 8 than in grade 4.
Figure 4. Participation Rates for Reading AA-AAAS (Based on Total Tested Students) in Grades 4 and 8 in Regular States (N = 34)
Reading: Grades 4 & 8 vs. High School. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 4 vs HS | Grade 8 vs HS |
Mathematics: Grades 4 vs. 8, 4 vs. High School, and 8 vs High School. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 4 vs 8 | Grade 4 vs HS | Grade 8 vs HS |
Only one unique state reported participation rates for reading AA-AAAS in grades 4 and 8. Participation was slightly lower in grade 4 (1.28%) compared to grade 8 (1.46%).
The 1% cap on participation in the AA-AAAS required by ESEA is to be calculated by content across all tested grades.5 The way in which the AA-AAAS participation rate was calculated was delineated (number of students with IEPs tested with the AA-AAAS divided by the total number of students tested in a subject). Further, the U.S. Department of Education clarified that it would round to the nearest tenth (e.g., 1.0%) to determine whether a state met the participation requirement (Rooney & Ryder, 2019). The rounding rule used by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) to determine whether a state met the requirement was portrayed as a typical rounding rule. In other words, 0.05% and above were rounded to 0.1%, whereas 0.04% and below were rounded to 0.0%. Thus, a state with an AA-AAAS participation rate of 1.05% was treated as a state with a rate of 1.1%. A state with a participation rate of 1.04% was treated as a state with a rate of 1.0%. In this section,6 AA-AAAS participation rates are rounded to the nearest tenth, using the rounding rule defined by the U.S. Department of Education.
Rates for AA-AAAS participation were calculated for math and reading separately for each state and year using the requirements of ESSA. We divided the number of students with IEPs who participated in the AA-AAAS in a subject by the total number of students tested in the subject.
In this analysis, we examine not only the total participation rate across grade levels (grades 3-8 and high school; see Figures 5 and 6) but also the contribution of each grade to the total participation rate based on all test takers (see Figures 7 and 8).
AA-AAAS data from 34 regular states are included in this analysis of participation rates in the reading AA-AAAS at grades 3-8 and high school. Figure 5 shows the participation rates of students participating in the reading AA-AAAS in the regular states. Twenty-three states reported a participation rate that was equal to or less than 1%. The average rate across the states was 1.0%, with a range of 0.7% to 1.4%.
Figure 5. Overall Participation Rates for Reading AA-AAAS Across All Grade Levels (Based on Total Tested Students) (N = 34)
Similar participation rates existed for mathematics AA-AAAS. AA-AAAS data from 35 regular states are included in this analysis of participation rates in the mathematics AA-AAAS at grades 3-8 and high school.
Figure 6 shows the participation rates of students participating in the mathematics AA-AAAS in the regular states. Twenty-four states reported a participation rate that was equal to or less than 1.0%. The average rate across the states was 1.0%, with a range of 0.7% to 1.5%.
Figure 6. Overall Participation Rates for Math AA-AAAS Across All Grade Levels (Based on Total Tested Students) (N = 35)
Figures 7 and 8 show the contribution of each grade to the cumulative percentage of students participating in the AA-AAAS for reading (Figure 7) and mathematics (Figure 8). The rounding rule used for grade-level participation rates was to the one ten-thousandth place to avoid differences between Figures 7-8 and Figures 5-6. However, smaller differences between these two sets of figures still exist. In most states the percentage in each grade is similar. Still, in a few states, higher grades contribute more to the overall percentage than lower grades.
Figure 7. Overall Participation Rates for Reading AA-AAAS by Grade Level (Based on Total Tested Students) (N = 34)
Figure 8. Overall Participation Rates for Math AA-AAAS by Grade Level (Based on Total Tested Students) (N = 35)
AA-AAAS data from 33 regular states were included in this analysis of proficiency for reading and 35 states for math assessments at grade 8. Figure 9 shows the rates of students participating in the reading AA-AAAS who were proficient or above in grade 8 in the 33 regular states. The denominator is the number of students who participated in the AA-AAAS and the numerator is the number of students who participated in the AA-AAAS and scored at or above proficient. Proficiency rates ranged from 15.0% to 94.8% of students participating in the AA-AAAS. Just one state had a proficiency rate above 70% of the students participating in the AA-AAAS. In 12 states, less than 30% of students who participated in the AA-AAAS were considered proficient.
Figure 9. Proficiency Rates for Grade 8 Reading AA-AAAS in Regular States (N = 33)
Reading: 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 |
Mathematics: Grades 3 - High School. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Two unique states reported a proficiency rate for students in grade 8 for reading and three unique states reported proficiency rates in math. In reading, the rate of students with disabilities proficient or above was 38.5% in one state and 85.7% in the other. Proficiency data for the unique states are available at https://nceo.info/Resources/publications/APRsnapshot/data.
Reading: Grades 3 –High School. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
NA: No data available.
Mathematics: Grades 3 - High School. Click images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
Figure 10 provides a comparison of the percentage of students proficient on the AA-AAAS in grade 8 for reading and mathematics in regular states. This figure shows states ordered by proficiency rates for math AA-AAAS from high to low. Thirty-three states reported proficiency data for both reading and math assessments. A majority of states (N = 20) reported higher proficiency rates for the reading AA-AAAS compared to the math AA-AAAS; 13 states had higher rates of proficiency on the math AA-AAAS. Ten states had less than a 5 percentage point difference between AA-AAAS reading and mathematics proficiency rates. Three of these states had differences that were less than 1 percentage point.
Figure 10. Proficiency Rates for Grade 8 Reading and Math AA-AAAS in Regular States (N = 33)
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 |
Two unique states reported valid proficiency rates for both reading and math in grade 8. One state had the same proficiency rate for reading and math AA-AAAS (85.7%). In the other unique state, the proficiency rate was higher in math (50.0%) than in reading (38.5%).
Grades 3 – High School. Click the images to enlarge.
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| Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade HS |
NA: No data available.
The data presented in this report represent a snapshot of the participation and performance of students with disabilities who participate in the AA-AAAS. To some extent, variability in the participation and performance rates reflects the differences in the states’ AA-AAAS themselves, including where the proficient cuts were set.
The participation rates described in this report are provided in two ways: (1) based on the total number of students with disabilities in a grade for each content area, and (2) based on the total tested population in a grade for each content area. Participation rates under each approach were fairly consistent across states. Participation rates for the AA-AAAS tended to be lower than 1.0% of the total tested population of students (or about 6% of all students with disabilities).
Proficiency rates were extremely variable across states, with most states having high rates of students in the AA-AAAS deemed proficient or above. Still, the rates do not appear to be influenced by the percentage of students participating in the AA-AAAS. Proficiency rates tended to be 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-AAAS to high expectations greatly increases the learning opportunities provided to those students (see also Quenemoen & Thurlow, 2019; Thurlow & Quenemoen, 2019). 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, 2018; Wu et al., 2021; Wu et al., 2022).
1 Overall participation rates were obtained from ED Data Express.
2 Fourteen regular states were excluded from our analysis because of an overall participation rate below 80%. These states were: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
3 The percentage of students in special education was calculated by dividing the number of students with disabilities ages 6-21 (https://www2.ed.gov/programs/osepidea/618-data/state-level-data-files/part-b-data/assessment/bassessment2020-21.csv) by the number of students in K-12 enrollment (https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/tableGenerator.aspx).
4 Note: Starting with 2021-2022 data, the U.S. Department of Education no longer used the rounding rule described in this Brief.
5 ESEA indicates that the calculation is based on the number of total tested students.
6 The previous APR snapshots 18, 21, 24, and 27 created by National Center on Educational Outcomes did not use the rounding rules used by OESE.
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Quenemoen, R. (2008). A brief history of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (Synthesis Report 68). 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.
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Rooney, P., & Ryder, R. (2019). Information regarding consequences for states not meeting the requirement to assess not more than 1.0 percent of students on the alternate assessment. https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/saa/state1capconsequences19final.pdf
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Wu, Y.-C., Lazarus, S. S., & Thurlow, M. L. (2023, March). Meeting the 1% AA-AAAS participation requirement (NCEO Brief #29). National Center on Educational Outcomes.
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