Resources
Search Filters
Search Results
- Selected filters():
NCEO Technical Reports: Disability Summary Analyses of Select National Data Collection Programs (#11)Formats: PDFThis year 1995 report presents a disability summary analysis of select national data collection programs. Summary analyses were conducted to document the amount and nature of information on individuals with disabilities in our national data collection programs. The rationale for the specific data collection programs, the review procedures and the future use of the information by NCEO are found in a separate document Outcomes for Children and Youth with Disabilities: Secondary Analysis of National data Collection Programs.
Published: August 1995
NCEO Out-of-Level Testing Project Reports: States' Procedures for Ensuring Out-of-Level Test Instrument Quality (#14)This year 2004 report describes a study on how states ensure that out-of-level tests used in their states are of appropriate quality. The report draws on narrative data from technical information on states' large-scale assessment systems and interviews from state assessment directors or others with comparable knowledge about the state's large-scale assessment.
Published: September 2004- NCEO Parent Fact Sheets: State Testing of Your Child Who is an English Learner (Parent Fact Sheet #4)
This Fact Sheet summarizes the resources that are available specifically to students who are English learners who take state tests. The more parents know about these test resources, the more they can ensure that their child’s test performance contributes to measures of how well the school has met the needs of all children in the school. This Fact Sheet offers tips on how to be involved in decisions about providing resources to one’s child, and also how to prepare a child for state tests in academic subjects. It is is part of a set of Fact Sheets developed by NCEO to provide accessible materials for parents about state assessments.
Published: 8/14/2023 - 1% Toolkit: Disproportionality in the Alternate Assessment Calculator: A Tool for State and Local Education Agencies (NCEO Tool #12)
This Brief explains a tool that State and Local Education Agencies (SEAs and LEAs) can use to examine disproportionality with respect to student group participation in their alternate assessment aligned to alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). Examining disproportionality with regard to alternate assessment participation is essentially an inquiry into whether certain groups are over- or under-identified as having a most significant cognitive disability. Participation data for groups of interest (e.g., race/ethnicity, economically disadvantaged, English learner status, chronic absenteeism) can be entered for a SEA or LEA. The tool then calculates the risk ratio, which is a way to describe the relationship of observed versus expected proportions.
Published: January 2023 - NCEO Reports: Test Security and Students with Disabilities: An Analysis of States’ 2020-21 Test Security Policies (#434)
This report provides a snapshot of how accommodated tests for students with disabilities, accessibility, alternate assessments, and other related issues were addressed in states’ test security policies for 2020-21. Strong test security policies and procedures are needed to help ensure the integrity and validity of state assessments, yet some test security measures may affect accessibility. There is a need for thoughtful consideration of ways in which possible test security measures may affect accessibility, and how to balance test security and accessibility. This report is an update of an analysis NCEO of 2013-14 test security policies.
Published: December 2021 - NCEO Reports: A Summary of the Research on the Effects of K–12 Test Accommodations: 2017 (#418)
The purpose of this report is to provide a synthesis of the research on K-12 testing accommodations. In this report, we summarize the research published in 2017. Previous reports by NCEO have covered research published since 1999. During 2017, 14 research studies were published on the topic of testing accommodations in the elementary and secondary education system. The academic literature described here encompasses empirical studies of performance comparability and validity studies as well as investigations into accommodations use, implementation practices, and perceptions of the effectiveness of accommodations.
Published: August 2020 
NCEO Reports: Guidebook to Including Students with Disabilities and English Learners in Assessments (#420)This report provides 10 lessons about how to ensure inclusive assessment practices for students with disabilities and English learners. In addition to the 10 lessons, it provides foundational information on the characteristics of these students that require consideration during all phases of assessment design, development, and implementation. The focus of the Guidebook is large-scale summative assessments rather than interim and formative assessments; it does not address accountability considerations. The purpose of the Guidebook is to remind all assessment, special education, and other personnel in state departments of education of the lessons that have been learned, and to share those lessons with new personnel in state assessment, special education, Title I, and Title III offices.
Published: June 2020
NCEO Brief: Revisiting Expectations for Students with Disabilities (#17)The purpose of this brief is to summarize some of the past exclusionary practices that resulted from low expectations for students with disabilities, and how those were addressed in policies related to standards-based reform. The brief is based on a comprehensive paper that takes a cross-disciplinary approach to examining expectations for students with disabilities, “Students with Disabilities in Educational Policy, Practice, and Professional Judgment: What Should We Expect?” (NCEO Report 413). We highlight answers to critical questions about expectations for students with disabilities, including those with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Suggestions are provided for policymakers, states, and technical assistance providers on how to work with districts, schools, and educators to revisit expectations for students with disabilities.
Published: May 2019
Making Decisions for Everyone Training ModuleFormats: OnlineThis online professional development module gives educators the knowledge and tools they need to make, implement, and evaluate sound decisions about accessibility features for students in their classrooms in situations teachers encounter across the school year. This self-paced module, developed by the Diamond Project, guides teachers through accessibility decision-making using a fun, interactive approach, focusing on one of three students: Beau (a student who is struggling with some reading-related tasks), Daisy (a student with an Individualized Education Program), or Ana (an English learner). The module, offered by the Minnesota Department of Education through the University of Minnesota, provides access to: reference materials, a set of post course group discussion questions, links to a YouTube collection of brief videos by NCEO experts contained in the online course, and a continually updated list of related videos produced by NCEO.
Published: 2019-01-06
NCEO Technical Reports: 2010-11 Publicly Reported Assessment Results for Students with Disabilities and ELLs with Disabilities (#68)A report analyzing public reporting practices for assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States. This report, which is the fourteenth of its kind by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), includes information about both the 50 regular states and the 11 unique states (American Samoa, Bureau of Indian Education, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Department of Defense Education Activities, District of Columbia, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Palau, Puerto Rico, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands).
Published: September 2013
NCEO Technical Reports: Test Administrators' Perspectives on the Use of the Read Aloud Accommodation in Math on State Tests for Accountability (#66)A report describing a study conducted by NCEO, in collaboration with the South Dakota Department of Education, that used focus group methodology to look closer at what happens in the room on test day when the read-aloud accommodation is used on mathematics assessments. Focus groups were conducted with educators who had administered the read-aloud accommodation for the South Dakota state mathematics assessment. Focus group discussions revealed a variety of issues on the read-aloud accommodation. Results from this study may inform local and state level policies on read-aloud administration.
Published: October 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: Using Cognitive Labs to Evaluate Student Experiences with the Read-Aloud Accommodation in Math (#67)A report describing a study of the read-aloud accommodation, which is frequently used on mathematics assessments. However, Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams often find it difficult to make appropriate decisions about this accommodation. NCEO and the South Dakota Department of Education examined how students performed on a math test with the read-aloud accommodation compared to how they performed without it. The study also explored students' perceptions of how the accommodation worked. Results from the study, found in this report, can help inform local and state level policies and procedures.
Published: September 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: Achieving Transparency in the Public Reporting of 2006-2007 Assessment Results (#53)A report summarizing States' reports on the participation and performance of students with disabilities by (a) submitting annual performance reports (APRs) to the U.S. Department of Education, and (b) publicly reporting state assessment data via their Web sites and other communication avenues. Both APRs and public reports provide important information, although the two may be slightly different in how the data are presented. This report analyzes the public reporting of disaggregated data for students with disabilities. It is the eleventh such report by NCEO, and this analysis, for school year 2006-2007, also marks the fifth data cycle since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001.
Published: July 2009
NCEO English Language Learners (ELLs) with Disabilities Reports: Middle School Principals' Perspectives on Academic Standards-Based Instruction and Programming for English Language Learners with Disabilities (#22)A report from a study following up on the findings of earlier NCEO research on instructional services and leadership for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities. This study looked at a group of principals of middle schools making adequate yearly progress with ELLS and students with disabilities, and addressed three issues: (1) services and programs offered for ELLs with disabilities, (2) sources of instructional strategy information specific to ELLs with disabilities, and (3) the principal's role in supporting teachers' use of instructional strategies for ELLs with disabilities.
Published: September 2008- State Defined Alternate DiplomasFormats: Online
Sheryl Lazarus presented "State Defined Alternate Diplomas” in an NCEO and NTACT webinar.
Published: 2017-11-17 - NCEO Participation Communication Toolkit: Communicating about Annual State Assessment Participation for All Students: A Communication ToolkitFormats: Word
This communications toolkit was developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to identify and describe reasons why all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities should take state tests. The purpose of the tool is to provide a concise resource that state education agency staff, and district and school administrators can use when communicating with educators, policymakers, families, and students about why it is so important that students participate in state assessments. It also contains materials that Individualized Educational Program (IEP) teams can use when making state test participation decisions for students with disabilities. This toolkit is intended to provide a neutral but useful mechanism to guide positive, thoughtful conversations about student testing participation.
Published: 2023-03-09 
1% Toolkit: A Five-Step Process for Developing and Reviewing District Justifications for Exceeding 1.0% AA-AAAS Participation (NCEO Tool #8)The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), includes a 1.0% threshold on state-level participation rates in the alternate assessment aligned to alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). This tool presents a five-step process to address the 1.0% threshold requirements for reviewing local education agency (LEA) justifications and providing support, oversight, and technical assistance when appropriate. It includes: (a) three templates for state education agency (SEA) and LEA use; (b) a continuum of support, oversight, and technical assistance SEAs may provide; and (c) additional resources for SEAs and LEAs.
Published: June 2020
NCEO Brief: State Assessment Decision-Making Processes for ELLs with Disabilities (#9)A brief presenting information on what is known about assessment decision-making processes for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities. It highlights information that has been collected by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) as well as information from other sources. Topics addressed in the brief include: (a) required assessment decision-making processes, (b) experts' recommendations about assessment decision making for ELLs with disabilities, (c) resources available to guide assessment decision making, (d) standards-based IEPs, and (e) recommended participants on the decision-making team. Conclusions focus on the six key areas in which policymakers should provide guidance for educators.
Published: June 2014
NCEO Brief: Participation of ELLs with Disabilities in ELP Assessments (#8)A brief presenting information on what is known about the participation of English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities in state English language proficiency (ELP) assessments. It highlights information collected by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), as well as information from other sources. Topics addressed in the brief include: (a) state policies on participation, (b) use and reporting of data on participation in ELP assessments, (c) experts' recommendations about assessment participation, and (d) the understanding of practitioners about the participation of ELLs with disabilities in ELP assessments. Conclusions focus on four recommendations for consideration.
Published: May 2014
NCEO State Surveys: 2012 Survey of States: Successes and Challenges During a Time of ChangeA report providing a snapshot of new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues during this important period of education reform as states document the academic achievement of students with disabilities. This is the thirteenth such survey of states conducted by NCEO. States also reported information about the alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS), and on new developments in assessment such as teacher evaluation and how they are contributing to the consortia. In the three years since the previous survey, states continued to make strong progress, though challenges remained and several new issues emerged.
Published: September 2013