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NCEO Synthesis Reports: 2003 State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (#56)This year 2005 report analyzes states' 2003 participation and accommodation policies. Authors found that these policies continue to become more detailed compared to previous years. Key findings from this analysis include: (1) Clarifications and specifications attached to specific accommodations in state policies--especially those with implications for resulting scores--are increasing, (2) States are providing guidance to readers, scribes, and sign language interpreters--as well as direction for IEP teams--on the process for using accommodations that are not on an approved list, (3), The number of states permitting the use of accommodations for all students is increasing, and (4) The most controversial accommodations continue to be read aloud (questions), calculator, spellchecker, and proctor/scribe. The authors note that the analysis did not attempt to determine the degree to which state policies complied with federal requirements under IDEA or NCLB.
Published: June 2005
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Access to Computer-Based Testing for Students with Disabilities (#45)This year 2002 report recommends a five step process for the transformation of paper and pencil tests to computer-based tests based on an overview of the opportunities and challenges of computer-based testing and a presentation of research findings and accommodation considerations. This process assumes that the principles of universally designed assessments have been followed and include the following five steps: (1) assemble a group of experts to guide the transformation, (2) decide how each accommodation will be incorporated into the computer-based test, (3) Consider each accommodation or assessment feature in light of the constructs being tested, (4) consider the feasibility of incorporating the accommodation into the computer-based test, and (5) consider training implications for staff and students. Authors also make initial considerations for common accommodations within the categories of timing/scheduling, presentation, response, and setting.
Published: June 2002
NCEO Technical Reports: Read-Aloud Accommodations: Effects on Multiple-Choice Reading and Math Items (#31)Formats: OnlineThis year 2001 report examines the effect of a read aloud accommodation on the state reading and math assessments used by the Missouri assessment program. The study used extant test administration data for multiple-choice math and reading test items administered to 3rd and 4th grade students. Four student groups were created to help control for confounding effects. A differential item function (DIF) analysis was run on the data using BILOG-MG, which compared item difficulty estimates across several groups simultaneously. The findings lead to a discussion of how to determine who should benefit from an accommodation, and whether a reading test measures the reading construct differently for students with a reading disability than for students without disabilities. The report recommends further research and suggests that replicating the study is needed to confirm the results.
Published: September 2001
NCEO Technical Reports: Secondary Analysis of State Assessment Data: Why We Can't Say Much About Students with Disabilities (#10)Formats: PDFThis year 1994 report summarizes activities of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) directed at producing a report on the status of students with disabilities from the secondary analysis of state collected achievement data. Although more than half of the 50 states reported that large-scale achievement data were available for some students with disabilities, potentially usable data were obtained from only six states. The report describes numerous difficulties encountered in attempts to collect and aggregate state achievement data on students with disabilities and concludes that it was not possible to produce a synthesis report on the achievement status of students with disabilities from aggregated state data bases. Recommendations are presented for improving the probability of conducting such analyses in the future.
Published: August 1994- Accommodations Toolkit: Word Prediction: ResearchFormats: Online
This fact sheet on word prediction is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). It summarizes information and research findings on word prediction as an assessment accessibility feature or accommodation.
Published: 8/31/2021 
Moving Your Numbers: Parent/Family Companion Guide: Using Assessment and Accountability to Increase Performance for Students with Disabilities as Part of District-wide ImprovementFormats: PDFA guide, based on the report Moving Your Numbers: Improving Learning for Students with Disabilities as Part of District-wide Reform, providing an in-depth examination of how five school districts with vastly different student populations increased the performance of students with disabilities. While the report was developed primarily for use by those working at the state, school district, and school levels, it provides powerful information that can be used by parents and families interested in working to improve the academic performance of students with disabilities. Because of the very specific requirements of the federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), parents of students with disabilities engage with school personnel frequently via the formulation of their child's Individualized Education Programs and progress reports throughout the year. These parents are in a unique position to recognize, understand, and participate in key practices that improve learning. The findings presented in Moving Your Numbers can help pave the way for parents to become even more effective.
Published: 2012
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Assessing Educational Outcomes: State Activity and Literature Integration (#1)Formats: PDFIn October 1990 the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) for Students with Disabilities was established at the University of Minnesota. Its mission is to provide national leadership in the development of educational outcomes and a system of indicators for students with disabilities. For NCEO it is necessary to give attention not only to the most recent research related to outcomes indicators in general but also to research that has been conducted in special education. The purpose of this document is to provide a synthesis of information that is available in the current literature. Topics of relevance to this literature review include (1) Educational reform and its current status in the United States, (2) Definitions of key terms, (3) Current models of educational indicators in both general education and special education, (4) Current states of outcomes indicators activities in both general education and special education, and (5) Critical issues in the development of a comprehensive system of educational indicators. This document will be revised annually in order to incorporate new literature and current events that pertain to the educational outcomes of students with disabilities.
Published: July 1991- Issues and Consequences for State-Level Minimum Competency Testing Programs (Wyoming Report 1)Formats: Online
A report from the past Wyoming Assessment Project, a federally funded effort.
Published: January 1999 
NCEO Technical Reports: Steady Progress: State Public Reporting Practices for Students with Disabilities After the First Year of NCLB (2002-2003) (#40)This 2005 report examines the extent to which states report to the public on the participation and performance of students with disabilities for year 2002-2003. It provides descriptions of state assessment systems, summarizes achievement gaps by content and grade level, and provides recommendations for clear reporting.
Published: May 2005- Accommodations Toolkit: Multiple Days: ResearchFormats: Online
This fact sheet on testing over multiple days is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). It summarizes information and research findings on the use of testing over multiple days as an assessment accessibility feature or accommodation.
Published: 8/31/2021 
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- 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 
NCEO State Surveys: 2007 Survey of States - Activities, Changes, and Challenges for Special EducationThis year 2007 report summarizes a state survey given to all states addressing participation rates, use of accommodations, the number of students achieving grade level proficiency, and more.
Published: October 2008- Accountability for the Results of Educating Students with DisabilitiesFormats: Online
This 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 - Linking Inclusion to Conclusions: An Empirical Study of Participation of Students with Disabilities in Statewide Testing Programs (Oregon Report 1)Formats: Online
A report from the past Oregon Assessment Project, a federally funded effort.
Published: October 1997 
NCEO Technical Reports: Where's Waldo? A Third Search for Students with Disabilities in State Accountability Reports (#25)This year 2000 report analyzes state education reports to determine what types of information are provided on students with disabilities. It is the third such study conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and was based on 170 reports from state accountability offices and state special education offices. Findings reported include the following: (1) despite IDEA requirements for public reporting of assessment participation and performance data for students with disabilities, only 14 states included participation data and 17 states included performance data for students with disabilities in state assessments, (2) participation levels varied from 33% to 97% of students with disabilities, and (3) information on performance levels varied widely. The report presents several recommendations to states. These include the need for states to indicate how they will move toward meeting IDEA requirements for reporting data on students with disabilities, to consider how best to present these data to avoid unintended consequences, and to ensure an accounting of participation data for each performance score that is reported.
Published: April 2000- NCEO Data Analytics: Participation Rate for 2007-08 to 2016-17 (#14)Formats: Online
This interactive report presents the annual performance data for students with disabilities on state assessment data for 2007-08 to 2016-17 which were analyzed to investigate trends in participation, performance, and accommodations received by special education students in grades 3-8 and high school for each state. In addition, results included the comparison between states and grade levels, as well as state profile.
Published: September 2020 - 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 - Understanding English Learner Accommodations : Electronic TranslatorsFormats: Free Video
The video describes one of the testing accommodations allowed for English learners on West Virginia state assessments. It describes the West Virginia policy on using an electronic translator as an English-language support. The video is part of a series called “Understanding English learner accommodations,” a set of resources created for the West Virginia Department of Education.
Published: 11/3/2022 - Accommodations Toolkit: Text-to-Speech (Computer-Generated Voice): ResearchFormats: Online
This fact sheet on text-to-speech is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). It summarizes information and research findings on the use of text-to-speech with computer-generated speech as an assessment accessibility feature or accommodation.
Published: 12/16/24