MIDAS Teacher Module #6

A

Academic Achievement: The extent to which a student has mastered educational goals, typically measured through various assessment methods and aligned with grade-level standards.

Academic Rigor: The level of challenge and complexity in instruction, materials, and assessments that promotes deep learning and higher-order thinking skills.

Accessibility: The degree to which educational content, materials, assessments, and environments can be approached, understood, and used by all students regardless of their abilities.

Accommodations: Changes in procedures or materials that ensure equitable access to instructional and assessment content and generate valid assessment results for students who need them. Accommodations are generally available to students for whom there is documentation on an individualized education program (IEP) or a 504 accommodations plan; some states also offer accommodations to English learners.

Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS): The state summative assessment based on alternate academic achievement expectations for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities aligned with a state's grade-level academic content standards but reflect reduced depth, breadth, and complexity.

B

Benchmark Assessment: Assessments typically administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to track student progress toward grade-level standards. Also referred to as interim assessments.

C

Classroom Assessment: Assessments conducted by teachers within their classrooms, including both formative and summative approaches, to gauge student learning and inform instruction.

D

Data-based Decision Making: The process of collecting, analyzing, and using various forms of student data to guide educational decisions, particularly around instruction and student support.

E

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): Federal legislation first passed in 1965 and reauthorized in 2015 as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), provides federal funding to support various programs and initiatives and aims to ensure all students have access to quality education, regardless of their background or location.

Essential Learning: The foundational concepts, skills, and knowledge that all students must master. These are the most critical learning objectives in a unit or lesson that create the basis for future learning.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which requires states to develop challenging academic standards and assess student achievement annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school.

F

Formative Assessment: Assessment practices are integrated throughout instruction to provide immediate feedback on student understanding. Includes both formal assessments (e.g., quizzes, exit tickets) and informal assessments (e.g., observations, discussions).

G

General Assessment: The state summative academic achievement assessment based on grade-level content standards taken by the majority of students (both with and without disabilities).

Grade-level Content Standards: The knowledge and skills that all students should master at each grade level, as determined by state education agencies.

I

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Federal law that requires a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities and ensures special education and related services to those children in the least restrictive environment.

Instruction and Assessment Cycle: A framework that guides teachers through three key questions: "Where am I going?" (setting clear learning goals), "Where am I now?" (using assessment data to identify current understanding), and "Where to next?" (adjusting instruction based on assessment data).

Interim Assessment: See Benchmark Assessment.

IEP (Individualized Education Program): A legally binding document that outlines the special education services, supports, accommodations, and goals for students with disabilities who qualify for special education services.

L

Learning Goals: Clear, measurable objectives that describe what students should know and be able to do as a result of instruction.

M

Modifications: Changes to what a student is expected to learn that alter grade-level expectations and the construct being measured. Unlike accommodations, modifications change the learning goals themselves.

Multiple Measures: Using a variety of assessment types and data sources to gain a more complete picture of student learning, rather than relying on a single assessment.

O

One Percent Cap: Federal guideline stating that no more than 1% of students in a state should take the alternate assessment, representing students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

P

Presumed Competence: An educational principle that assumes all students, regardless of disability, can learn and should be given opportunities to engage with grade-level content. This mindset approaches students from a strengths-based perspective rather than focusing on deficits.

Progress Monitoring: The ongoing process of collecting and analyzing data to determine student progress toward specific goals and to evaluate instruction effectiveness.

S

Specially Designed Instruction (SDI): Adapting the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of a student with a disability, ensuring access to the general education curriculum.

Summative Assessment: Assessments used at the end of a unit, term, or course to evaluate student learning against a defined standard. These measure overall achievement rather than providing immediate feedback for adjustment of instruction.

U

Universal Design (UD): A framework for designing educational environments to be accessible for all students from the start, rather than making adaptations for individual students after the fact.

Universal Design for Assessment (UDA): The application of universal design principles to create assessments that are accessible, fair, and valid for all students. UDA principles can be used to design tests that minimize barriers while maintaining the focus on what's being measured, offering multiple response formats and ways for students to demonstrate knowledge. The goal is to reduce factors unrelated to the assessed skill (irrelevant constructs) so that all students can show what they truly know.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): An educational framework that proactively designs flexible learning environments to accommodate all learners. Based on three core principles, UDL provides multiple means of engagement (why students learn), representation (what they learn), and action/expression (how they demonstrate learning). Rather than retrofitting for individual needs, educators using UDL recognize that learner variability is normal and proactively design instruction to be accessible and effective for everyone.

V

Validity: The extent to which assessment data accurately measures what it is intended to measure, particularly important when considering accommodations for students with disabilities.

W

Where am I going?: The first component of the Instruction and Assessment Cycle, focused on establishing clear learning goals based on grade-level standards.

Where am I now?: The second component of the Instruction and Assessment Cycle, centered on using multiple assessment data to determine current student understanding and progress.

Where to next?: The third component of the Instruction and Assessment Cycle, focused on using assessment data to adjust instruction and support student learning.