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- NCEO Annual Performance Reports and State Performance Plans: Biennial Performance Reports: 2000-2001 State Assessment DataFormats: PDF
A report summarizing assessment data from State Performance Plans.
Published: December 2002 
NCEO Newsletter: June 2013 IssueFormats: OnlineAn e-newsletter issue highlighting the whirlwind of changes affecting assessments - the CCSS, the assessment consortia, shifting assessment policies, flexibility waivers, and more - and how they all relate to students with disabilities.
Published: June 2013
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS) Participation Policies (#88)A report focusing on participation policies for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). Since 1992, NCEO has analyzed participation and accommodation policies for students with disabilities on state administered assessments, and has developed reports on policies for regular assessments, AA-AAS, and alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). Publicly available participation guidelines were compiled and analyzed for 58 states and entities (Washington DC, Guam, etc.). In addition to providing a national picture of policies, it presents the results of the policy analysis by each of the four content assessment consortia that have been funded to develop new assessment systems: two that are developing regular assessment systems (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers - PARCC, and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium - SBAC), and two that are developing systems for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (Dynamic Learning Maps - DLM, and National Center and State Collaborative - NCSC).
Published: December 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: Tennessee Special Education Teacher Survey: Training, Large-scale Testing, and TCAP-MAAS Administration (#61)A report explaining how Tennessee developed an Alternate Assessment based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards called the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program-Modified Academic Achievement Standards (TCAP-MAAS), that was first administered in 2010. This report from the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) presents the results of a survey of Tennessee special education teachers regarding this assessment option. The authors sought to learn more about the teachers' perceptions of student experiences and outcomes with the TCAP-MAAS. They asked questions about how the teachers received training about this assessment, sought to measure the extent to which information about the new TCAP-MAAS had reached teachers across the state, and asked about accommodations selection and implementation for instruction and assessment. One section of the survey contained a knowledge quiz that was designed to assess teachers' knowledge of the TCAP-MAAS. The perceptions of teachers whose students took the TCAP-MAAS can provide insights into what is working well and where there were challenges.
Published: January 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: 2008-09 Publicly Reported Assessment Results for Students with Disabilities and ELLs with Disabilities (#59)A report analyzing the public reporting of assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States; this is NCEO's 13th annual report on this subject. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required states to disaggregate performance data at the state and district level. Although reporting practices for regular assessments have changed little for 2008-09 compared to the previous years, this year did mark the first time all 50 states reported disaggregated data for at least some state assessments in ESEA accountability systems. Although there were increased mean gaps between students with disabilities and regular students on regular assessments across all grades and content areas, the mean performance for students in both populations showed improvement in all grades and content areas. However, compared to students with disabilities, regular students showed larger mean gains compared to last year. Public reporting on English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities is also examined in this report.
Published: August 2011
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Common Misperceptions and Research-Based Recommendations for Alternate Assessment Based on Alternate Achievement Standards (#73)A report exploring misperceptions about assessments and the students who are assessed using Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS). The misperceptions have been encountered by the National Alternate Assessment Center (NAAC) and National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) in their collaborative work with states and educators on the AA-AAS. AA-AAS are designed so that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities can be included in large-scale accountability testing, and promote their access to the same interesting and challenging curriculum as their peers. This report explores common misperceptions related to three major themes: (a) the characteristics of students who participate in AA-AAS; (b) the content that should be taught and assessed by teachers; and (c) issues regarding the purpose and the validity of AA-AAS outcomes. For each misperception, it proposes research-based recommendations to address them, and refers to the recent literature on assessment, curriculum, and instruction for students with the most significant disabilities to support its analysis and recommendations.
Published: February 2010
Multi-Attribute Consensus Building ToolFormats: PDFA tool that can be used to help groups prioritize strategies, decisions, recommendations, or policies. It has been used by NCEO for over a decade and the use of the Multi-Attribute Consensus Building (MACB) method has been well-received.
Published: September 2013
Accountability for the Results of Educating Students with DisabilitiesFormats: OnlineThis report from 1998 describes the findings of a conference NCEO convened to define issues and develop recommendations related to state and district-wide assessments and accountability needed to attain the benefits of the 1997 IDEA amendments and achieve better results for children with disabilities.
Published: April 1998
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Issues and Considerations in Alternate Assessments (#27)Formats: OnlineThis 1997 report describes and discusses issues around the design of alternate assessments for students with disabilities.
Published: January 1997
NCEO Synthesis Reports: The Effects of Standards and Assessment on Students in Special Education (#10)Formats: PDFIn this report, the author examines accountability and assessment issues that are relevant to students in special education.
Published: October 1993- 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 Brief: The Basics of Accommodations and Modifications (#33)
The purpose of this Brief is to clarify what accommodations and modifications are for both instruction and assessment for students with disabilities. We also disentangle the use of the term “alternate or modified curriculum” from the meaning of modification used for instruction and assessment.
Published: January 2024 
NCEO Technical Reports: 2011-12 Publicly Reported Assessment Results for Students with Disabilities and ELLs with Disabilities (#69)A report analyzing public reporting practices for assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States -- the 15th NCEO report to do so. The publication presents information on publicly reported participation and performance data for 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). For the 2011-12 school year, 49 of the 61 states reported participation and performance data for students with disabilities for all general assessments within the ESEA accountability system. Fifty-one states reported participation and performance data for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) that were within the ESEA system. Information about state assessments outside of ESEA is also presented. This report additionally includes information on public reporting for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities, and includes recommendations for future public reporting of disaggregated data for students with disabilities.
Published: July 2014
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Alternative Routes to the Standard Diploma (#54)This year 2005 report investigated alternative routes that states provide for students, with or without disabilities, to get a high school diploma. The report studied 16 states that indicated previously in an NCEO survey that an alternate route was available to students. Of these 16 states, 10 had an alternative route for all students (including students with disabilities) as well as alternative routes just for students with disabilities. Three of the remaining six states had alternative routes for all students only, and three had alternative routes just for students with disabilities. Analysis includes state eligibility criteria, who initiates the alternate route request, who makes decisions, description of process, and the comparability of the alternate route to the standard route. A key finding in the comparability of alternate and standard routes was that 71% of the alternative routes for all students were judged comparable to the standard routes, whereas only 35% of the alternative routes for students with disabilities were judged to be comparable. Authors make several suggestions to states based on the analysis.
Published: March 2005- Empowering Families Flyer #2: What are the purposes of the different kinds of tests?Formats: PDF
This flyer define the different types of tests and their objectives. It describes various test purposes, and their role in improving instruction and outcomes for all students. This flyer is part of the Empowering Families Toolkit developed by NCEO to provide accessible materials for parents about assessment topics.
Published: August 2023 - What New Special Education Directors Need to know about academic assessments toolkitFormats: PDF
This 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 - National Center on Educational Outcomes YouTube ChannelFormats: Online
A YouTube channel displaying videos created by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), which works with states across the country to provide leadership to include students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs) in large-scale state assessments.
Published: 2014 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: A Compilation of States' Guidelines for Including Students with Disabilities in Assessments (#17)Formats: PDFThis report provides a listing of states' written guidelines on the participation of students with disabilities in assessments (1993).
Published: February 1995- NCEO Brief: Interim Assessment Practices for Students with Disabilities (#22)
This Brief contains a scan of the interim assessment landscape, and is focused on the availability of documentation supporting the appropriateness of these assessments for students with disabilities. The purpose of this Brief is to advise the development of guidance that facilitates improved practices related to the use of interim assessments for students with disabilities.
Published: April 2021