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- TIES Center Briefs: Communication Supports for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities: What Parents Need to Know (TIES Center Brief #9)
This Brief describes how families and other members of Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams can help students get the supports they need to build their communicative competence in inclusive classrooms. All students communicate, but some students may need options other than oral speech, or in addition to oral speech. Being able to communicate is an important skill for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Communication does not need to be oral. But it should be sufficient for conveying messages to others.
Published: June 2022 - NCEO Reports: The 95 Percent State Assessment Participation Requirement: Current Landscape, State Challenges, and Recommended Strategies (#429)
This report provides an overview of federal statutory language on student participation in state summative assessments used for accountability as well as the participation requirements for states requesting waivers from the 1% threshold on participation in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). It also includes a review of why it is important that students participate in testing, the reasons why some states have found it challenging to meet the 95% participation rate, and the extent to which states have met federal testing participation requirements.
Published: 9/30/2021 - School Leader Series: Supporting the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Assessment (School Leader Series Brief #1)
This resource is designed to provide guidance to school leaders about supporting the inclusion of students with disabilities in state and district content assessments. Developed in collaboration with CCSSO, the Assessment, Standards, and Education for Students with Disabilities (ASES) and School Leadership Development and Supports (SLDS) state collaboratives made important contributions to this document. This resource highlights what school leaders can do to ensure all students with disabilities are instructed in academic content for their enrolled grade and participate in state and district content assessments. It also gives talking points for school leaders to use when addressing key stakeholders on the topic.
Published: 9/28/2021 - NCEO Brief: Getting Ready for the 2021-22 School Year: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Testing Children with Disabilities (#26)
As states, districts, and schools plan to return for the 2021-22 school year, questions are raised about whether and how to test children with disabilities, including children with the most significant cognitive disabilities and English learners with disabilities. This FAQ addresses some common questions and provides links to useful resources.
Published: August 2021 - NCEO Brief: Alternate Interim Assessments for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities (#23)
This Brief offers preliminary guidance for the development of interim assessment options for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. There are federal requirements that all statewide and districtwide administrations of an assessment must have an alternate assessment. Given the importance interim assessments have now when there is an increased need for timely data on student learning and progress, the creation of high-quality alternate interim assessment options for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities requires urgent attention.
Published: May 2021 - TIES Center Briefs: Grading My Child with Significant Cognitive Disabilities in an Inclusive Classroom (TIES Center Brief #6)
Grades are assigned and report cards given in inclusive classrooms. It is important that thought has been given to how work from students with significant cognitive disabilities will be graded and what will be in the report card. The purpose of this parent Brief is to (a) identify the IEP team’s role in grading and report cards, (b) provide ideas for how to talk to teachers about grades and their meaning, and (c) suggest what to do if the school or district has not yet identified grading and report card considerations for students with significant cognitive disabilities in inclusive classrooms.
Published: February 2021 - NCEO Brief: Pre-assessment to Plan Instruction for Students with Disabilities During Distance Learning (#21)
Distance learning, whether completely remote or in combination with classroom experiences, can pose challenges for teachers, students, and families. Pre-assessment to plan instruction can help guide the instructional planning process and improve the distance learning experience for students with disabilities, as well as for other students. This brief describes pre-assessment to plan instruction and presents 10 tools that can be used for pre-assessment of students with disabilities. Ideas are presented about ways to use each tool during distance learning. Pre-assessment and the 10 tools can also be used during face-to-face learning.
Published: December 2020 - TIES Center Briefs: The General Education Curriculum - Not an Alternate Curriculum! (Brief #5)
This parent brief was developed to help parents determine whether their child with significant cognitive disabilities is provided meaningful access to the general education curriculum. It addresses the myth that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who take the state’s alternate assessment based on the alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). It provides characteristics of an alternate curriculum and the general education curriculum as well as some “look fors,” which are quick ways for parents to determine whether their child with significant cognitive disabilities is being provided meaningful access to the general education curriculum.
Published: August 2020 - NCEO Reports: Text-to-Speech Accommodation Policies in 2018-19 (#417)
The purpose of this report is to provide an updated review of state text-to-speech (TTS) policies across general assessments of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. TTS refers to technology that reads aloud digital text. The report provides an analysis of TTS by the support tier in which it is placed (i.e., accommodation, designated feature, or universal feature), by the specific parts of tests for which it is allowed (i.e., directions, passages/stimuli, or questions), and by the population of students who can use it (i.e., students with disabilities, English learners, or students without disabilities who are not English learners). This report also provides recommendations for state TTS policies.
Published: August 2020 
NCEO Reports: 2018-19 Participation Guidelines and Definitions for Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (#415)The purpose of this report is to provide an update on state participation criteria and guidelines for alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). In this report, we analyze criteria for participation, factors identified by states not to use as the basis for decisions, formats of resources provided, and the existence of explicit definitions of students with “significant cognitive disabilities.” Also included are analyses of information covered in state documents about AA-AAAS participation: the type of information provided to parents, the extent to which English learners are addressed, and the inclusion of information about exemptions.
Published: October 2019
Forum on States and Districts Working Together on the 1.0% ThresholdA report on a forum held on June 26, 2019 in Orlando, Florida to discuss how states and districts can work together to meet the 1.0% threshold on participation in the alternate assessment aligned to alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). The forum was a post-session to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA), and was a collaboration of the Assessing Special Education Students (ASES) State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS) and the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). This report summarizes both the introductory information provided to forum participants, and the facilitated forum discussions that followed.
Published: September 2019
NCEO Reports: A Review of the Literature on Computerized Speech-to-Text Accommodations (#414)This literature review describes what research conducted between 2008 and 2018 tells the field about the use of computerized speech-to-text (STT) technology tools by K-12 and post-secondary students with disabilities. Speech-to-text tools often are installed on school-provided computers or tablets and thus may be widely available to students for instructional use. The report highlights what the available literature tells us about the characteristics of students who used STT for instruction and assessment, and the methodologies and outcome variables associated with those studies; the implementation of STT tools; and the effect of the technology on academic outcomes for students with different types of disabilities.
Published: August 2019
TIES Center Briefs: 10 Reasons to Support Inclusive School Communities for ALL Students (#1)Educators, students, and families have found many compelling reasons to support inclusive education for students with and without disabilities. This Brief delineates ten reasons that supporting inclusive school communities for ALL students is important, but in a nutshell, inclusive learning communities are better, richer, and more effective when all students, including those with disabilities are full participants.
Published: November 2018
Informe sobre el desarrollo de un lenguaje común de la accesibilidad para los estados y proveedores de evaluacionesSpanish translation of the report, "White Paper on Common Accessibility Language for States and Assessment Vendors." This White Paper by DIAMOND project staff addresses the issue that different test platforms use different terminology for the accessibility features and accommodations that they offer to students, which can make it difficult for students, parents, and educators to understand the available options and select the appropriate supports. Content is in Spanish.
Published: February 2017
Variables Used by States in the Calculation of Annual Measureable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs) for Title III ReportingThe purpose of this report is to present information on the approaches used by states to calculate each of three annual measurable achievement objectives (AMAOs) about the language acquisition and academic achievement of English learners (ELs). Although states report their AMAO calculations to the federal government, there is no mechanism of comparison across states. This report provides a snapshot of the inputs states used for calculating AMAOs for the 2014-15 school year.
Published: December 2016
NCEO Brief: Considerations for Consortia as States Transition Away from AA-MAS (#7)A brief addressing the need for consortia to assist their member states in moving away from the alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). It focuses on key considerations for consortia as they address the inclusion of low-performing students in all member states, informed by the lessons learned from the AA-MAS. Topics highlighted in this brief are: including low-performing students in field test designs, customizing non-summative assessments to include low-performing students, and collecting and examining data on this group of students.
Published: February 2014
NCEO Synthesis Reports: States' Flexibility Plans for Phasing Out the Alternate Assessment Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) by 2014-15 (#89)A report compiling, analyzing, and summarizing states' plans for phasing out the alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS) in their approved waiver applications. The U.S. Department of Education offered states the flexibility waiver from some of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) accountability requirements on condition that the states provide a plan to phase out the use of the AA-MAS for ESEA accountability by the 2014-15 school year.
Published: March 2013
NCEO Brief: Including Students with Disabilities in Common Non-Summative Assessments (#6)A brief -- the sixth in a series for the Race to the Top Assessment Consortia -- addressing the Consortia's need to develop an inclusive approach to their non-summative assessments, including their optional interim assessments. Consideration should be given to: (a) the implementation of universal design principles; (b) the development of clear participation criteria and guidelines; and (c) accommodation policies that account for good testing practices, embedded features of technology-based assessments, and additional accommodations. This brief encourages the Consortia to build on what has been learned from inclusive large-scale assessments.
Published: July 2012
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Educating Struggling Learners: Reflections on Lessons Learned about Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (#86)A report presenting a first-person account of someone on the front lines of school reform, specifically focusing on inclusive assessment practices as they influence curriculum, instruction, and assessment at the local and state levels. The author, Valerie Kurizaki, works within the Hawai'i State Department of Education to ensure systemic standards implementation that supports all students, especially struggling learners. Her story suggests many themes that are similar to those in districts around the country where systematic reform has improved outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities.
Published: December 2011
NCEO Brief: Understanding Subgroups in Common State Assessments: Special Education Students and ELLs (#4)A brief -- the fourth in a series for the Race to the Top Assessment Consortia -- presenting information on the characteristics of special education students, English Language Learners (ELLs), and ELLs with disabilities. It highlights the variability in these populations, variability that is multiplied when states are grouped in the Consortia. The brief provides several recommendations for the Consortia to help ensure that they understand the characteristics and variability that exist in their member states. These characteristics and variability should influence their assessment design choices, which in turn will support the validity of the assessment system for all subgroups.
Published: July 2011