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NCEO Synthesis Reports: State Participation and Accommodation Policies for Students with Disabilities: 1999 Update (#33)Formats: PDFThis 2000 report summarizes states' policies on the participation of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment, and the accommodations noted in state policies as available for those students. NCEO also checked for changes in state assessment policies.
Published: April 2000
NCEO Reports: State Spotlights: Reducing AA-AAAS State-Level Participation Rates to Meet the 1.0% Threshold, 2016-17 to 2017-18 (#421)This report highlights the work of states in the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) 1% Community of Practice (CoP) that reduced their alternate assessment participation rates from school year 2016-17 to school year 2017-18. Five states volunteered to share information on their approaches to decreasing the state-level participation rate in their states’ alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). The states highlighted in this report are Arkansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Each state provided information on the strategies that it took; several provided examples of some of the materials they used.
Published: July 2020- NCEO Newsletter: October 2024 issueFormats: Online
NCEO’s October 2024 newsletter features several new NCEO publications. The first article is about several reports published by a project affiliated with NCEO that share findings of research studies about students who shifted from the alternate assessment to the general assessment. The next article is about how states address the federal requirement that 95% of students participate in state assessments used for accountability. This is followed by an article on the unintended consequences of improved accessibility on state tests, and an article about the accommodations research literature.
Published: October 2024 - NCEO Reports: A Historical Review of Alternate Assessment and 1% Cap (#450)Formats: Online
The history of alternate assessments and the 1.0 percent participation cap on state-level participation rates is deeply rooted in federal education legislation. From 1994 to 2025, federal legislation, regulations, and Department of Education guidance to states aimed to ensure that all students, including those with the most significant cognitive disabilities, are included in state accountability systems while maintaining appropriate standards and oversight. This report traces this policy history and the ways in which states have responded through evolving practices, waivers, and compliance strategies. We provide a list of resources, many of which were developed by NCEO, that can help educators implement the federal requirements of the 1.0 percent cap rule.
Published: October 2025 - English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: Deciding Whether an English Learner with a Disability Can Participate in All Domains of an English Language Proficiency Assessment (Tool 4)Formats: PDF
This tool describes a way to ensure that all potential assessment participation decision makers are informed about the state’s English language proficiency assessments. It includes considerations for making a decision about exempting an individual English learner with a disability from participation in a particular English proficiency domain because the disability prevents access to that domain. States may customize this tool as needed to meet their needs.
Published: November 2024 - NCEO Newsletter: October 2023 issueFormats: Online
Effective communication is a cornerstone for fostering collaboration, understanding, and ultimately, student success. Recognizing the importance of communication, we are featuring in this newsletter some of NCEO’s resources for parents and families. This newsletter presents articles on NCEO’s new Empowering Parents Toolkit; several powerful fact sheets that state education agencies, districts, and schools can use to engage parents and families and enhance their understanding of state assessments; NCEO parents resources you may have missed; and other recently published NCEO resources.
Published: October 2023 
NCEO Data Analytics: AA-AAS Participation Rate from 2007-08 to 2016-2017 (#12)Formats: OnlineThis interactive report presents data on the participation rate and percent proficient on the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) by grade and content across years. This report provides the data with an interactive performance map, trends over time, and state profiles.
Published: 2020-01-22- English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: Deciding Whether an English Learner with a Disability Should Participate in State Alternate Assessments of Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science (Tool 5)Formats: PDF
This tool describes a way to ensure that all potential assessment participation decision makers are informed about the state’s content assessments and considerations for determining whether a student who is an English learner with a disability should participate in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) or the general content assessment. A list of resources on decision-making approaches for content assessments is included. States may customize this tool as needed to meet their needs.
Published: November 2024 
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- English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: Planning for the Accessibility Needs of an English Learner with a Disability Who Participates in State Alternate Assessments (Tool 7)Formats: PDF
This tool describes a planning process for determining the access needs of an individual student who is an English learner with a disability and will take state alternate assessments. It includes components of a sample accessibility plan for an English learner with a disability who participates in alternate assessments and a model of a completed plan. The sample accessibility plan is designed to supplement the IEP. States may customize this tool as needed to meet their needs.
Published: November 2024 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: States' Participation Guidelines for Alternate Assessments Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) in 2009 (#75)A report updating information in previous National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) reports that, since 2007, have annually compiled, analyzed, and summarized states' participation guidelines for the Alternate Assessments based on Modified Achievement Standards (AA-MAS). As of October 2009, 14 states had publicly-available participation guidelines for an assessment they considered to be an AA-MAS. Results from this study suggest that states are continuing to develop or update their participation guidelines.
Published: March 2010- NCEO Newsletter: February 2024 issueFormats: Online
NCEO’s February 2024 newsletter features several NCEO resources that address English learners with disabilities. The number of school-age English learners with disabilities is increasing, and greater attention is being given to their inclusion in state and district assessments. Articles highlight NCEO’s publications and webpages that focus on English learners with disabilities. The newsletter also has an article on considerations for the inclusion of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment in the past, present, and future, and upcoming presentations that NCEO staff will present.
Published: February 2024 - English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: Deciding Whether an English Learner with a Disability Should Participate in the State Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessment (Tool 3)Formats: PDF
This tool provides states with components to help ensure that all potential decision makers are informed about the state’s English language proficiency (ELP) assessments. It also provides considerations for making the decision about whether a student who is an English learner with a disability should participate in the alternate ELP assessment or the general ELP assessment. States may customize this tool as needed to meet their needs.
Published: November 2024 - Assessment Participation of Students with DisabilitiesFormats: Online
This page has links to states with assessment participation policies that include information on students with disabilities.
Published: 2021-02-01 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: States' Participation Guidelines for Alternate Assessments Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) in 2010 (#82)A report updating the information gathered by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) in previous reports. Since 2007, NCEO has annually compiled, analyzed, and summarized states' participation guidelines for the Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-MAS). The purpose of this report is to update the information gathered from previous reports. As of November 2010, 17 states - California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia - had publicly available participation guidelines for an assessment the state considered to be an AA-MAS. As of February 2011, four states - Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas - had successfully completed the U.S. Department of Education's peer review process that determines whether the assessment fulfills the necessary requirements for the state to receive federal funds.
Published: May 2011- "Welcome to NCEO" VideoFormats: Online
This short video provides an overview of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
Published: July 2021 
NCEO State Surveys: State Special Education Outcomes 1994: A Report on How States are Assessing Educational Outcomes for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA report on NCEO's survey of states conducted in 1993 to address the needs of state directors, policymakers and others for information about current state activities in multiple outcomes areas: Knowledge, skills, status, and attitudes of students with disabilities. It also addresses issues related to change over time in accountability and assessment activities. The specific questions this survey focused on were: (1) What effect the activities outlined in Goals 2000: The Educate America Act have on state special education service delivery systems, (2) What efforts states are making to develop learner goals and related assessments, (3) How broadly the NCEO model of educational outcomes and indicators has been disseminated and used within state and local educational agencies, and (4) The extent to which students with disabilities are participating in statewide achievement assessments now being used by states.
Published: March 1995
NCEO Brief: Guidance for Examining Disproportionality of Student Group Participation in Alternate Assessments (#18)The purpose of this brief is to examine disproportionality with respect to student group participation in Alternate Assessments aligned with Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS). It is a companion to the NCEO brief, Guidance for Examining District Alternate Assessment Participation Rates. This brief provides a more detailed examination and illustration of a particular issue, disproportionality. The companion brief outlined a broad framework and general principles to guide the examination of AA-AAAS participation rates, particularly in light of the challenge of small n-sizes and associated uncertainty. It begins by reviewing the framework with respect to its application to address disproportionality in participation in the alternate assessment aligned to alternate academic achievement standards. This is followed by an illustration of specific analytic steps, and concludes by providing guidance for further inquiry that links back to the guiding principles in the framework.
Published: August 2019- A Framework for Making Decisions about Participation in a State’s Alternate ELP Assessment (NCEO Report 426)
This report provides information on how to identify which English learners who may have a most significant cognitive disability are eligible to take an alternate English language proficiency (alt-ELP) assessment. It does so by summarizing federal assessment requirements for English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities, describing characteristics of students in this population, offering a framework for identifying students who are eligible to participate in the alt-ELP assessment, and incorporating a list of recommended resources for more information.
Published: 10/28/2021 
NCEO Reports: Principios y Características de Sistemas Inclusivos de Evaluación en un Escenario de Evaluación Cambiante (#400 Spanish)This document is a Spanish translation of the fourth in a series of Principles documents produced by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). NCEO revisited and revised its 2008 Principles for inclusive assessment systems to respond to the many changes in the current educational assessment context. The revised Principles reflect a broader perspective that acknowledges that the Principles should apply not only for students with disabilities but also for English learners (ELs) and ELs with disabilities, as well as to all types of assessments in assessment systems. Similar to previous documents, it is designed to identify the principles and characteristics of inclusive assessment systems. Content is in Spanish.
Published: January 2016