Resources
Search Filters
Search Results
- Selected filters():
What New Special Education Directors Need to know about academic assessments toolkitFormats: PDFThis presentation provides information about a toolkit that will help special education directors fulfill their role in ensuring the participation of students with disabilities in assessments. The toolkit is meant to assist directors in locating information and resources on the website of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
Published: 9/27/2022- NCEO Newsletter: October 2020 issueFormats: Online
This issue highlights translations of several NCEO and affiliated center products. One or more publications are now available in each of the following languages: Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. It also highlights a new guidebook on including students with disabilities and English learners in assessments, and the resources available from several webinars that NCEO conducted for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). Additionally, this newsletter highlights two new briefs on access to the general education curriculum by students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, as well as several new distance learning resources.
Published: October 2020 
NCEO Newsletter: February 2018 issueFormats: Online2018 greetings from NCEO. In this issue, a new webpage on the NCEO website is highlighted, as well as a new report on states' alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) participation guidelines and definitions of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Also in this issue is an update on the activities of the DIAMOND project, which is developing professional development materials, including online modules, on accessibility and accommodations. Finally, in this issue, we provide information on sessions at the annual conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).
Published: February 2018
NCEO Brief: Making Accessibility Decisions for ALL Students (#11)A Brief presenting information on steps to take in the transition from a focus on making decisions about accommodations for students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs), to a focus on decisions about accessibility and accommodations required by the new assessment approaches of states and collaboratives of states. These new approaches include making decisions for students without an identified disability or ELL status. Seven steps are highlighted that will be useful for states in organizing professional development for educators who will be making accessibility decisions, and for educators themselves who are seeking information on making optimal decisions about accessibility tools and accommodations that meet individual student needs.
Published: June 2015- NCEO Newsletter: October 2022 issueFormats: Online
This issue highlights several new NCEO activities and products. The first is a toolkit for new state special education directors that is designed to be easy to use and help new directors (and their staff) become experts on how to include students with disabilities in assessments. Next is NCEO’s presence on TikTok. There is also recently published proceedings of the forum on assistive technology interoperability with online assessment platforms and other technology and services. Additionally, there is an article about a recent scan of the national landscape of formative assessment definitions and how students with disabilities are included in them, as well as articles about NCEO presentations at the recent National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) conference and at the upcoming Conference on Test Security (COTS).
Published: 10/3/2022 - NCEO Newsletter: February 2022 issueFormats: Online
This issue highlights (1) information about a participation communication toolkit that NCEO recently released with customizable resources, sample social media posts, and other resources that can be used when communicating about why it is important for students to participate in state tests; (2) a new series for school leaders on including students with disabilities in assessments; (3) two new resources on the assessment of English learners with disabilities; (4) a new publication about including deaf students in assessments; (5) an article that several NCEO staff wrote for the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) on ensuring students with disabilities leave school ready to succeed; and (6) information on sessions on upcoming conferences that include NCEO staff.
Published: February 2022 
NCEO Newsletter: June 2018 issueFormats: OnlineIn this issue, we highlight several upcoming events, plus a couple of new reports available from NCEO. First, the upcoming pre-conference session to the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) in June in San Diego. The pre-conference session will focus on the use of speech-to-text. Following that is a listing of the sessions in which NCEO staff are participating during the NCSA conference, as well as at the International Test Commission Conference in Montreal at the beginning of July. Also highlighted in this issue are two new reports.
Published: June 2018
NCEO Newsletter: June 2020 issueFormats: OnlineThis newsletter highlights several new resources that address various aspects of distance learning, including a new brief on formative assessment strategies to improve distance learning outcomes for students with disabilities. We also are highlighting resources in the continually growing series on distance learning that is being developed by TIES Center, which is a NCEO affiliated project. This series is focused on instruction and engagement of students with significant cognitive disabilities in a distance learning environment. This issue also includes an article about a new brief on multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) for all students, including students with significant cognitive disabilities, as well as an article about several new interactive Data Analytics which enable users to explore and visualize data about assessment participation and performance. We conclude with two articles about products created by a NCEO affiliated project, the Improving Instruction for English Learners Through Accessibility Decision Making project – a report that presents the findings of a literature review on research on test accommodations for English learners and English learners with disabilities, and information about two new professional development modules on accessibility decision making.
Published: June 2020
NCEO Newsletter: October 2016 issueFormats: OnlineThis issue highlights the news of NCEO's continued funding. It also summarizes several new reports. These include a report on the pre-session to the National Conference on Student Assessment, a forum on Common Language for States and Assessment Vendors. Consistent with the need for common language is the Accessibility Manual developed through the Council of Chief State School Officers. Information on the contents and tools in this new manual is provided here, along with links to the manual that is available to all states to adapt as desired. Another report highlighted here is the recent NCEO report that examines high school assessment accommodation policies of ACT, SAT, PARCC, and Smarter Balanced; this report raises issues of differences in policies and procedures that are likely to affect many students with disabilities. Finally, this issue highlights recent snapshot reports of assessment and accommodations data submitted by states' special education divisions to the U.S. Department of Education. These snapshots highlight assessment participation, use of accommodations, and performance on assessments.
Published: October 2016
NCEO Synthesis Reports: 2012 State Policies for Accommodations Used to Deliver Assessments Orally (#91)A report examining the wide variation across states in their accommodations policies for Human Reader, Text to Speech, and Pre-recorded Audio. The results of the analyses in the report can inform states and the general assessment consortia--PARCC and Smarter Balanced--as they plan for the transition to their new assessments. Among other things, the report provides an easy way to develop a crosswalk of policies on these accommodations to the new consortia policies.
Published: August 2013; revised January 2014- NCEO Newsletter: February 2026 issueFormats: Online
This February issue of NCEO’s newsletter focuses on two new resources, a timely past product, and a popular section of our website. The new resources are NCEO’s 17th Survey of States where NCEO surveyed state special education and assessment directors to identify trends and issues in statewide assessment of students with disabilities, and the proceedings from the NCEO forum held at the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) on Assistive Technology, Alternate and Augmentative Communication, and Artificial Intelligence. As states enter testing season, we share a popular brief that provides quick access to information on what school leaders need to do before, during, and after the assessment window. Finally, we feature our State Policies Webpage, your centralized hub for locating state assessment manuals and other state accessibility information.
Published: February 2026 
NCEO Newsletter: October 2017 issueFormats: OnlineIn this issue, we share several new reports available from NCEO. One is a report on a forum held prior to the National Conference on Students Assessment to discuss text readers and their availability to all students on many assessments. Another report now available on the NCEO website presents the results of the 2016 survey of states. Another report is a brief on making decisions about exiting English learner (EL) services for ELs with disabilities. NCEO also announces a new center on inclusive policies and procedures in this issue. Finally, in this issue we look forward to two future activities. At the end of October, NCEO will attend the annual conference of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education to lead two discussion sessions known as YOU PICKS on the 1% cap and the alternate diploma. And, in November, NCEO will share information on using formative and interim assessments to improve student learning at the annual conference of the Teachers of Education Division of CEC.
Published: October 2017
NCEO Newsletter: June 2015 issueFormats: OnlineAn issue providing a preview of the National Conference on Student Assessment pre-conference forum that NCEO is holding with the Assessing Special Education Students SCASS - Implementing Accessibility Frameworks for ALL Students. It focuses on the challenges and opportunities of the new context of many assessments - technology based, with new tools available to all students, some accessibility features available to students with documented needs, and accommodations for a defined set of students. The discussion is free and open to the public. Also highlighted in this issue is a new approach that NCEO is taking to present some of its rich data-based reports. NCEO's new series of Data Analytics reports allows the user to obtain customized information about state data and policies. The first report, highlighted in this issue, focuses on graduation requirements for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Look for other topics in the near future! The last article tells how Martha Thurlow was honored at the 2015 Council for Exceptional Children conference in San Diego in April with the CEC Lifetime Achievement Award.
Published: June 2015
NCEO Technical Reports: Rules for Audio Representation of Science Items on a Statewide Assessment: Results of a Comparative Study (#64)A report describing a study that investigated an online auditory feature of an assessment designed to provide students who have challenges with print reading with content information. Large-scale educational assessment practice has moved consistently from a paper-and-pencil exercise to online assessments over the past decade. New formats for testing allow for new opportunities to provide students with disabilities access to items so that they may most validly demonstrate their knowledge. In an effort to evaluate the impact of how content is presented in auditory fashion, project personnel at NimbleTools® and the National Center on Educational Outcomes examined three approaches to "scripting" or creating audio representations of items. The results are presented in this report.
Published: June 2012- NCEO Newsletter: June 2023 issueFormats: Online
In this issue, we highlight some new NCEO products, as well as several upcoming events. The first article is about two new tools that can be used to develop state and district assessment participation action plans. Next is an article about gaps in the accommodations research literature. This issue includes a summary of all the sessions in which NCEO is participating during the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA). Finally, there is an article on the forum on What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean? that follows NCSA. The article includes information on how to register for the forum.
Published: June 2023 
Lessons Learned About Assessment from Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in College and Career Ready AssessmentsFormats: PDFThe new large-scale assessments rolled out by consortia and states are designed to measure student achievement of rigorous college- and career-ready (CCR) standards. Recent surveys of teachers in several states indicate that students with disabilities adjusted well to the new assessments, and liked many of their features, but that there also are challenges. Some of these challenges are related to assessment issues that need to be addressed to improve accessibility and student outcomes. This Brief was prepared to provide information and suggestions for state education agencies (SEAs) and other technical assistance (TA) providers who work with local education agencies (LEAs). It highlights three main challenges identified by the teachers, and then addresses the implications for assessment and the implications for TA providers.
Published: March 2016
NCEO State Surveys: 2003 State Special Education Outcomes - Marching OnThis year 2003 report summarizes findings of a survey given to all states that addresses new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues as states document the academic achievement of students with disabilities.
Published: December 2003- Accountability for the Results of Educating Students with Disabilities: Assessment Conference Report on the New Assessment Provisions of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education ActFormats: Online
A year 1998 conference report on the assessment provisions of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), and its component Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requested that NCEO convene a working conference in Washington DC to define issues and develop recommendations related to State and district-wide assessments and accountability. This report describes the findings of this conference.
Published: April 1998 
NCEO State Surveys: 2014 Survey of States: Initiatives, Trends, and AccomplishmentsA report providing a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues during this important period of education reform as states documented the academic achievement of students with disabilities. This is the fourteenth such survey of states conducted by NCEO. States were cognizant of the benefits of inclusive assessment and accountability systems, and continued to improve assessment design, participation, accessibility and accommodations policies, monitoring practices, and data reporting.
Published: September, 2015
NCEO Newsletter: June 2014 issueFormats: OnlineAn issue highlighting some of NCEO's recent work on the survey of states which will be sent in the fall of 2014, the transition from the alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS), and sessions of interest at the National Conference on Student Assessment in New Orleans, June 25-27, 2014.
Published: June 2014