Published by the National
Center on Educational Outcomes
Number 2 / May 2001
Large-Scale Assessment Conference in Houston
New
Symposium Added to Large-Scale Assessment Conference Program–Don’t Miss It:
“How Do You Count Alternate Assessment Results in Accountability?
This
session was added to the conference program to answer urgent state questions about
acceptable ways to include the results from alternate assessments in accountability
systems. Because many states have only limited experience with alternate assessments, best
practices are just emerging in how to combine the policy, practice, and consequences of
using results from alternate assessments as a measure of school quality.
This
symposium explores both the technical and the non-technical aspects of the issue. Three
states will share their approaches to counting alternate assessment results; policy and
technical perspectives will round out the discussion, which has plenty of time for
audience comments, questions, and participation. The symposium is on Tuesday, June 26 from
1:00-3:00 p.m. Don’t miss it!
Other
session titles of interest at the conference include:
Alternate
Assessment: What’s on 2nd,
Who’s on Third, and Has Anyone Made it Home?
Lessons
Learned: The First Year of Implementing Alternate Assessments for Students with
Disabilities
Meeting
All the Assessment and Accountability Requirements – Title I, IDEA, LEP, OCR –
By Working Together
Out-of-Level
Testing: What We Know About Practice and Policy
Implementing
the Texas State-Developed Alternative Assessment – Inclusion of Special Education
Students
Building
High Stakes Assessment with “Built-in” Accommodations
Patterns
of Performance of Students with Disabilities in Statewide Assessment: IRT and DIF Analyses
and Their Implications
Professional
Development to Improve Participation and Performance of Students with Disabilities in
Large-Scale Assessment
The
annual CCSSO Large-Scale Assessment Conference also has several pre-sessions that are
designed to highlight the participation of students with disabilities in state and
district assessments. If you have not already done so, you should sign up for these
important sessions:
Alternate
Assessment Forum:
Are
you struggling with issues surrounding alternate assessment? Dealing with aggregation and
reporting protocols? How have other states successfully tackled these and other technical
issues? In recognition of the evolutionary nature of alternate assessment, the 4th
Alternate Assessment Forum is targeted toward meeting IDEA and Title I requirements to
include all students in assessment and accountability.
This
pre-session to the Large-Scale Assessment Conference will be held at the Westin
Galleria/Westin Oaks Hotel in Houston. The Forum is co-facilitated by CCSSO, the National
Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), the National Center on
Educational Outcomes (NCEO), the six Regional Resource Centers (RRC), the Federal Resource
Center (FRC), and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). For registration
information, go to: http://edla.aum.edu/serrc/aaf/assessment.htm
ALL
STATES PLEASE NOTE : There will be a “State Fair” poster session on Saturday
morning to allow state and district staff to share ideas and insights. Whether you
are attending the Forum or not, please send materials to share with other states. Mail the
materials directly to the hotel (see address below), and conference staff will display
them for you, or you may bring them yourself. ATTN: Marian Parker/Susan
Williamson - Alternate Assessment Forum, Westin
Oaks Hotel, 5011 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas, 77056.
NCEO
Clinic – Cultivating Success in Fertile Soil: Raising Expectations and Outcomes for
Students with Disabilities through Assessment and Accountability Systems.
This sixth annual clinic (June 23, 1:00-5:00 p.m.) is designed to separate the wheat from
the chaff, plow new ground, apply the best fertilizers, and harvest a rich return as
students with disabilities are included in assessment and accountability systems. The
content of the session is new, and is designed to assist states, districts, and others in
thinking through the best approaches to raising expectations and results for students with
disabilities. Register by calling Dorene Scott at 612-624-4073, or email her at scott027@umn.edu.
NCEO’s
recently completed analysis of state IEPs reveals a gap that both assessment and special
education personnel need to be aware of – what is on current IEP forms may not
support critical components of a standards-based education.
NCEO
examined 41 state IEP forms and looked specifically for documentation of standards and
assessments on the forms.
Major
Findings:
• Only 5 of the 41 states specifically
addressed educational standards on their forms.
• 31 states mentioned the general
curriculum on the IEP forms.
• 30 states listed at least three options
for participation in assessments – standard, accommodated, and alternate assessment
participation.
• Some IEP form formats may not guide good
decision making during team meetings.
Several
recommendations are provided, including:
• Develop clear, accessible, and effective
participation decision-making processes for IEP teams.
• Include the alternate assessment, by
name, on the list of assessment participation options.
• Specify implications of assessment
decisions on the IEP form.
• Post IEP forms in easily accessible
locations on state education agency Web sites.
Good
decision making is a critical piece of a well-functioning assessment system for students
with disabilities. It is a good time to check on how IEP forms in your state work toward
appropriate large-scale assessment decisions for students with disabilities.
This
report is available at NCEO’s Web site, http://education. umn.edu/NCEO, under
“On-line Publications.” Look for Synthesis Report 38.
2001 State
Report
NCEO’s
2001 State Special Education Outcomes report will be completed in June and available on
the NCEO Web site soon afterward. Among the topics are:
Consequences
of Inclusive Standards, Assessments, and Accountability
Assessment
Participation and Performance
Assessment
Accommodations
Alternate
Assessments
Reporting
Accountability
Current
Issues (Out-of-Level Testing; LEP Students with Disabilities; Diploma Options; IEPs and
State Assessments; Referrals for Special Education Services)
Emerging
Issues and Future Challenges
In
general, more states are listing positive consequences of inclusive standards,
assessments, and accountability than are listing negative consequences. Many states are
reporting not only increases in participation rates, but also increased performance levels
of students with disabilities. Alternate assessments are underway in every state, with a
variety of approaches being used.
Dramatic
increases in out-of-level testing continue as an issue. Prevalent merging issues are
inclusive reporting and accountability, especially for
students using accommodations that are considered invalid and alternate
assessment students.