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- Unlocking Potential: Harnessing AI for Inclusive LearningFormats: PDF
This report contains the proceedings of a forum held on June 26, 2024 in Seattle, Washington to discuss issues surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and accessibility in education. A specific goal of the forum was to bring together representatives from state education agencies (SEAs), assessment vendors, AI experts, and others to discuss the implications of AI for accessibility in instruction and assessment. Participants explored current challenges, potential benefits, and key considerations for implementing AI in ways that enhance rather than hinder accessibility for all students.
Published: October 2024 - NCEO Brief: Cross-agency Collaboration to Improve Assessments and Outcomes for Students with Disabilities (#36)Formats: Online
This Brief focuses on collaboration between special education and assessment offices, but other offices (e.g., curriculum and instruction, accountability) may also need to be involved. The Brief describes the reasons for collaboration and its benefits, provides suggestions for who needs to be involved, and provides specific examples of successful collaboration.
Published: October 2024 - NCEO Newsletter: October 2024 issueFormats: Online
NCEO’s October 2024 newsletter features several new NCEO publications. The first article is about several reports published by a project affiliated with NCEO that share findings of research studies about students who shifted from the alternate assessment to the general assessment. The next article is about how states address the federal requirement that 95% of students participate in state assessments used for accountability. This is followed by an article on the unintended consequences of improved accessibility on state tests, and an article about the accommodations research literature.
Published: October 2024 - English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: State Assessments for English Learners with Disabilities: State Data Display Templates (Tool 2)Formats: PDF
This State Data Display Templates tool is designed to provide state education agencies with templates to use to display state assessment participation and student characteristics data for English learners with disabilities. The templates are designed for a closer look at State assessment data but may be adapted for use with other types of assessments.
Published: September 2024 - English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: Using Data to Understand the Characteristics of English Learners with Disabilities in Your State (Tool 1)Formats: PDF
This tool is designed to provide state education agencies (SEAs), particularly assessment staff, with templates to use to display data on the characteristics of English learners with disabilities. The tool includes templates for examining languages spoken at home, disability categories, and English language proficiency (ELP) levels on both the general and alternate ELP assessments. States may customize this tool as needed to meet their needs.
Published: August 2024 - NCEO Reports: A Summary of the Research on the Effects of K–12 Test Accommodations: 2022 (#444)Formats: PDF
This report presents a synthesis of the research literature published in 2022 on testing accommodations for U.S. elementary and secondary students (K–12). The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has reported on accommodations research since 1999. In 2022, NCEO identified four research studies on testing accommodations that met the criteria for inclusion.
Published: August 2024 - MIDAS Project Reports: Parents’ Perspectives on Their Child’s Move from the AA-AAAS to the General Assessment (#104)Formats: PDF
This report presents the findings of interviews that were conducted with parents of students who moved from the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) to the general state assessment used for accountability. The purpose of the interviews was to learn more about their experiences as parents of students on the cusp between the two assessments.
Published: August 2024 - MIDAS Project Reports: A Mixed Methods Study on Teaching Students Who Moved From the AA-AAAS to General State Assessment (#102)Formats: PDF
This report presents the findings of a study that examined the successes and barriers that teachers faced when instructing students with disabilities who have moved from the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) to the general state assessment. For this study, classroom observations and teacher interviews were conducted in three states.
Published: July 2024 - MIDAS Project Reports: Teachers’ Perspectives on Using Multiple Measures of Academic Achievement to Inform Instruction of Students on the Cusp Between the AA-AAAS and the General Assessment (#103)Formats: PDF
This report presents the findings of online focus groups conducted with teachers to learn more about their experiences using multiple measures to inform instructional decision making for students on the cusp between the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) and the general state assessment used for accountability.
Published: July 2024 - Webinar: Teacher Perceptions and Perspectives on the Selection and Implementation of AccommodationsFormats: Free Video
This webinar presents research on teachers’ preferences for and perceptions of accommodations, as well as suggestions for how to incorporate these into accommodations decision-making (see NCEO Brief #34
). The primary audience for this webinar is State Education Agency (SEA) special education and assessment staff, especially those who are involved in monitoring accommodations.Published: 7/3/2024 - NCEO Data Analytics: Number and Percentage of English Learners with Disabilities by Disability Category, 2013-14 to 2022-23 (#20)Formats: Online
This interactive report presents information on the percentage students with disabilities who are also English learners, and the proportion of these students by disability category for school years 2013-14 to 2022-23. The data in this report allow users to view one or more disability categories for comparison, and provides data by state.
Published: June 2024 - NCEO APR Snapshot Briefs: 2021-2022 APR Snapshot #31: Assessment Participation, Performance, and Assigned Accommodations for Students Receiving Special Education Services (#31)Formats: Online
This report provides a snapshot of the participation and performance of students receiving special education services on statewide reading/language arts and mathematics assessments for 2021-22. Data are provided for mathematics and reading/language arts for general and alternate assessments. This report also summarizes data on the percentage of students assigned accommodations for general assessments.
Published: 6/25/2024 - NCEO Reports: Two Pieces of a Puzzle: The 95% Participation Requirement in State Plans and States’ Opt-out Policies (#443)
This report presents the findings of an analysis of states’ Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Consolidated State Plans in regards to the 95% participation requirement. Since state-level assessment opt-out policies may impact participation rates, this report also provides an overview of how states’ policies addressed opt-out.
Published: June 2024 - A State Discussion Guide to Understanding, Developing and Sustaining Balanced Assessment Systems That Are Inclusive of All Students
This state discussion guide is designed to facilitate discussions within state education agencies about how to create and sustain a balanced assessment system that is inclusive of all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities. It is co-published by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and NCEO.
Published: June 2024 - NCEO Newsletter: June 2024 issueFormats: Online
NCEO’s June 2024 newsletter features several NCEO resources that address accommodations. Articles highlight several resources on student and teacher perspectives about accommodations, what the terms “accommodations” and “modifications” mean for both instruction and assessment for students with disabilities, and information about NCEO’s updated Accommodations Toolkit. This issue also includes information about a video series NCEO published several years ago that shares the story of how accommodation decisions were made and implemented for a student. The issue finishes with all the sessions in which NCEO is participating during the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) and an article on the forum on Unlocking Potential: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Inclusive Learning that follows NCSA.
Published: June 2024 - NCEO Brief: Avoiding Unintended Consequences of Improved Accessibility of State Tests (#35)
There has been a paradigm shift from accommodations to the identification of levels of accessibility (e.g., universal features, designated features, and accommodations). A consequence of this shift is that many students with disabilities who previously were assigned accommodations now access many of them as universal or designated features. This Brief highlights what states and IEP teams can do to avoid possible unintended consequences of the paradigm shift.
Published: May 2024 - Webinar: What Do Students Prefer? Considering Students’ Perceptions and Preferences when Selecting AccommodationsFormats: Free Video
This webinar presents research on students’ preferences for accommodations as well as suggestions for how to incorporate these preferences and perceptions into accommodations decision-making (see NCEO Brief #30
). The primary audience for this webinar is State Education Agency (SEA) special education and assessment staff, especially those who are involved in monitoring accommodations.Published: 4/24/2024 - Accommodations Toolkit: Word Prediction: States’ Accessibility Policies, 2023Formats: Online
This summary of states accessibility policies for word prediction is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
Published: 4/22/2024 - Accommodations Toolkit: Math Charts/Tables: States’ Accessibility Policies, 2023Formats: Online
This summary of states accessibility policies for math charts/tables is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
Published: 4/22/2024 - Accommodations Toolkit: Manipulatives: States’ Accessibility Policies, 2023Formats: Online
This summary of states accessibility policies for manipulatives is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
Published: 4/22/2024