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NCEO Reports: Guidance Manuals for Educators of English Learners with Disabilities: Ideas and Lessons from the Field (#410)This report describes ideas and lessons learned from leaders who developed state education agency guidance manuals for identifying, assessing and referring English learners (ELs) to special education. To ensure that students are receiving optimal instruction, appropriate interventions, and assessments, state, district, and school leaders need to develop or improve the systematic processes educators and administrators work through. Providing manuals with consistent and practical guidance (and appropriate professional learning on their use) is a means to do so. This report presents findings from telephone interviews conducted with the authors of six state manuals, probing the impetus for getting started; the manual development process; dissemination and professional learning; and lessons learned during manual development. The report concludes with implications for state and local leaders.
Published: April 2019
NCEO Newsletter: June 2019 issueFormats: OnlineIn this issue, we highlight sessions in which NCEO will participate during the upcoming National Conference on Student Assessment in Orlando, Florida. We also highlight recent NCEO reports, including two that address expectations for students with disabilities—one a longer report that examines what we know in the context of policy, practice, and evidence from the implementation of reforms (Students with Disabilities in Educational Policy, Practice, and Professional Judgment: What Should We Expect?); and the second a brief that provides suggestions for policymakers, states, and technical assistance providers (Revising Expectations for Students with Disabilities). A new Data Analytics that provides national and state trends on students with disabilities and their categories of disability also is highlighted. A report that updates state graduation policies for students with disabilities concludes the NCEO reports highlighted in this issue. We conclude this issue by summarizing a new report from the DIAMOND Project, Additional Educators’ Perspectives on Classroom Implementation of Accessibility Features and Accommodations.
Published: June 2019
Additional Educators’ Perspectives on Classroom Implementation of Accessibility Features and AccommodationsA second report from the DIAMOND project on phone interviews conducted with educators to highlight effective practices being used to implement accessibility features and accommodations in their classrooms during instruction and during assessments. Educators were asked about two kinds of accessibility features (universal features and designated features) and about accommodations. This report on the second cohort of interviewees presents separate findings as well as an overall summary for the two cohorts.
Published: April 2019- Challenges Teachers Experience in Making Decisions about Accessibility Options in Instruction and AssessmentFormats: PDF
This presentation addressed challenges teachers experience in making decisions about accessibility options in instruction and assessment. It was presented at the 2019 American Education Research Association (AERA) annual conference.
Published: 2019-04-07 - Trends in Participation, Performance, and Accommodations Received by Special Education StudentsFormats: PDF
This presentation described trends in participation, performance, and accommodations received by special education students. It was presented at the 2019 National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) annual conference.
Published: 2019-04-04 
NCEO Reports: Diploma Options, Graduation Requirements, and Exit Exams for Youth with Disabilities: 2017 National Study (#409)This report presents the results of a study undertaken to update what is known about the status of graduation policies across the nation. Three research questions served as the focus of this national study of high school graduation requirements and diploma options for students with and without disabilities: (1) What is the range and variation in state graduation requirements and diploma options across the United States for students with and without disabilities? (2) What are the intended and unintended consequences for students when they are required to pass exit exams to receive a high school diploma? (3) What are the intended and unintended consequences of using single or multiple diploma options for students with disabilities? This study found great variability in state graduation requirements for students with and without disabilities, and offers several recommendations to help guide state and local district decision making when implementing state graduation requirements and different diploma options for students with disabilities.
Published: March 2019- Using Online Modules to Learn about Accessibility Features and AccommodationsFormats: PDF
This presentation focused on using online modules to learn about accessibility features and accommodations. It was presented at the 2019 National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) annual conference.
Published: 2019-03-08 - Trends in Accommodations and Accessibility Features English Learners Received on Statewide AssessmentsFormats: PDF
This presentation addressed trends in accommodations and accessibility features received by English learners in statewide assessments. It was presented at the 2019 National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) annual conference.
Published: 2019-03-07 
NCEO Data Analytics: Percent of Students with Disabilities by Disability Categories for 2005-06 to 2016-17 (#8)Formats: OnlineThis interactive report presents data on the number and percent of students receiving special education services by trends over time, category, and by state. The U.S. Department of Education receives data from states on the number of students with disabilities who receive special education services as indicated in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in each of 13 disability categories. This report presents information on the percent of students with disabilities ages 6-17, and the percent of these students by category for school years 2005-06 to 2016-17, for the 50 regular states.
Published: February 2019- Planning for Successfully Including and Accommodating Your Students in AssessmentsFormats: PDF
This presentation addresses how to plan successfully to include and accommodate your students in assessments. It was presented at the 2019 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) annual conference.
Published: 2019-02-02 - Meeting the Educational Needs of ELs with Significant Cognitive DisabilitiesFormats: PDF
This presentation addressed how to meet the educational needs of English learners with significant cognitive disabilities. It was presented at the 2019 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) annual conference.
Published: 2019-02-01 - Successfully Making Decisions about the Use of Scribing and Speech-to-TextFormats: PDF
This presentation addressed how to successfully make decisions about using scribes and speech-to-text. It was presented at the 2019 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) annual conference.
Published: 2019-02-01 
NCEO Newsletter: February 2019 issueFormats: OnlineIn this newsletter, we highlight several publications that have been released since our October, 2018 newsletter. They include a brief on approaches to examining district alternate assessment participation rates, a proceedings document on the 1% Cap National Convening, and a brief on suggestions for showing that proficiency on a state’s alternate achievement standards are consistent with the requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Also in this issue is an update on news from the TIES project (including recent publications and the project’s Facebook page). Finally, in this issue, we provide information on sessions at the annual conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).
Published: February 2019- Accommodations Considerations in Pre-College and Postsecondary Assessments for Deaf IndividualsFormats: PDF
This presentation focused on accommodations considerations in pre-college and postsecondary assessments for deaf individuals. It was presented at the 2019 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) annual conference.
Published: 2019-01-30 - Pros and Cons of Alternate Diplomas: Benefits for Student Transition Success?Formats: PDF
This presentation describes the pros and cons of alternate diplomas, focusing on possible benefits for students to have successful transition experiences. It was presented at the 2019 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) annual conference.
Published: 2019-01-30 
NCEO Brief: Suggestions for Aligning Alternate Achievement Standards with WIOA (#16)This Brief provides information on alternate achievement standards and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, and makes several suggestions about ways to show that a student who meets a state’s alternate academic achievement standards is on track to pursue postsecondary education or competitive integrated employment. Recommendations are also provided for states on how to build a strong system to support the realization of the intent of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and WIOA requirements for their students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Published: January 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
Proceedings of the 1% Cap National Convening: Supporting States in Implementing ESSA's 1% State-level Cap on Participation of Students in the AA-AAASThis Proceedings document was developed to provide a summary of the 1% National Convening that took place in Boston on October 18 and 19, 2018. More than 200 individuals gathered to listen to each other, share ideas, and develop state-level action plans. The purpose of the Convening was to support states as they work with local education agencies to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirement of a 1% cap on the participation of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in the alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). The Proceedings document includes appendices and links to resources that were shared by states and others at the Convening.
Published: December, 2018
TIES Center Reports: How States Interpret the LRE Clause of IDEA: A Policy Analysis (#101)The purpose of this report is to analyze how states interpret special education regulations associated with the Individuals with Disabilities (IDEA) regulations, specifically around least restrictive environment (LRE), the continuum of alternative placements, and placement for students with disabilities. Findings indicate that there was variation in how states organized the regulations. The interaction between policy and practice presents an on-going need for reevaluation of intent and praxis that has the potential to spotlight issues that may need to be addressed improve education and outcomes for students with disabilities.
Published: November 2018
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