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NCEO Minnesota Assessment Project Reports: Focus Group Input on Students with Disabilities and Minnesota's Basic Standards Tests (#3)Formats: OnlineThis year 1996 report summarizes focus group input on the participation of students with disabilities on Minnesota's Basic Standards Tests.
Published: August 1996
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Learning Progressions in K-8 Classrooms: How Progress Maps Can Influence Classroom Practice and Perceptions and Help Teachers Make More Informed Instructional Decisions in Support of Struggling Learners (#87)A report describing perceptions and practices of Hawaii teachers using progress maps (learning progressions) to inform their understanding of how struggling learners progress during the school year in language arts or mathematics. Participants included (K-8) elementary and middle school teachers from six Hawaii public schools. Each teacher selected five students in his or her classroom to document progress and collect work samples from at least two quarters during the 2010-2011 school year; several of these students were ones who might have been eligible for and participated in an Alternate Assessment based on Modified Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) if Hawaii had developed one. Multiple data collection tools and processes were developed for use in this project and are described in the report. Findings from the year-long effort addressed (a) teachers' reflections on practice (instruction, assessment, and instructional decisions), (b) teachers' perceptions on learners and learning pathways, (c) facilitated collaboration sessions), and (d) unanticipated activities. This report addresses each of those, as well as the implications of the project for professional development support.
Published: January 2012- NCEO Reports: State Discussion Guide for Communicating SSIP Data with Stakeholders (#452)Formats: Online
Federal law requires states to engage stakeholders in the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR), especially for the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP). A communication plan is a crucial tool for this process, helping teams effectively share data and information. NCEO facilitated a Peer Learning Group with 58 participants from 26 states to collaboratively develop a planning guide, ensuring messaging is accessible and meaningful, fostering transparency and trust. Teams can use this guide to create targeted strategies for different audiences and we include a sample SSIP Data Communication Plan that teams can use.
Published: September 2025 - Accommodations Toolkit: Highlighting: States' Accessibility Policies, 2023Formats: Online
This summary of states’ accessibility policies for highlighting is part of the Accommodations Toolkit published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
Published: 12/16/2024 - NCEO Brief: Meeting the 1% AA-AAAS Participation Requirement (#29)
Up to 1.0% of the total tested state student population in a subject area may participate in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). This Brief presents the results of analyses of states’ AA-AAAS participation rates from 2015-16 through 2018-19. Information is presented on: (a) the number of states meeting the 1.0% participation requirement in each year from 2015-16 through 2018-19 for mathematics (i.e., math) and reading/language arts (i.e., reading), and (b) states with decreasing and states with increasing patterns of participation rates across the four years in math and reading.
Published: March 2023 
NCEO Technical Reports: On the Road to Accountability: Reporting Outcomes for Students with Disabilities (#32)Formats: OnlineThis year 2001 report reviews state education documents for the year 1999-2000 to determine the public availability of important student outcome information on students with disabilities. The report describes state assessment systems, the reporting of participation and performance results, and the achievement gaps between students with disabilities and the total population for reading and math at select grades. It concludes with recommendations for public reporting.
Published: December 2001- NCEO Minnesota Assessment Project Reports: Effect of a Multiple Day Test Accommodation on the Performance of Special Education Students (#34)Formats: Online
This year 2000 report presents a study on the effect of allowing students with disabilities to take a reading test over multiple days versus taking the test within one day.
Published: December 2000 - NCEO Minnesota Assessment Project Reports: Participation and Performance of Students with Disabilities: Minnesota's 1996 Basic Standards Tests in Reading and Math (#16)Formats: Online
This year 1998 report summarizes data on the participation and performance of students with disabilities in Minnesota's Basic Standards Test in Reading and Math for 1996.
Published: October 1998 - NCEO Minnesota Assessment Project Reports: Special Education Teacher Responses to the 1997 Basic Standards Testing (#14)Formats: Online
This year 1997 report presents information on how special education teachers made participation and accommodation decisions for students with disabilities in the 1997 administration of the Minnesota Basic Standards Test.
Published: September 1997 - NCEO Minnesota Assessment Project Reports: High School Graduation Requirements in the U.S. for Students with Limited English Proficiency (#13)Formats: Online
This year 1997 report examines state-level graduation requirements to see whether these result in different avenues for exiting high school for English learners.
Published: September 1997 - NCEO Reports: A Summary of the Research on the Effects of K–12 Test Accommodations: 2022 (#444)
This report presents a synthesis of the research literature published in 2022 on testing accommodations for U.S. elementary and secondary students (K–12). The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has reported on accommodations research since 1999. In 2022, NCEO identified four research studies on testing accommodations that met the criteria for inclusion.
Published: August 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 Reports: Students with Disabilities in Educational Policy, Practice, and Professional Judgment: What Should We Expect? (#413)This report provides a cross-disciplinary look at educational policy, practice, and law related to expectations for students with disabilities. It addresses three questions critical to a discussion of expectations for students with disabilities, viewing the questions from an educational perspective and a legal perspective. The report concludes with responses to each of the questions and then provides recommendations for action based on what thoughtful, informed professional judgment of appropriate educational opportunities for students with disabilities should be.
Published: May 2019
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
NCEO Technical Reports: Interpreting Trends in the Performance of Special Education Students (#27)Formats: OnlineThis year 2000 report examines the effect that transitions between regular education and special education across grades had on performance trends for the special education population. It also looks at the effect that changes in exemption rates for students with disabilities had on performance trends. It was found that the reduction in exemption rates from testing as well as the departure of highest achieving special education students returning to general education both contributed to an increase in the performance gap over time. Further, when the same group of special education students were tracked over time, this gap decreased slightly. Findings have significant implications for states in the reporting of disaggregated data on students with disabilities, particularly in tracking performance across time. Recommendations are provided.
Published: October 2000
Learning Modules on English Learners (ELs) with DisabilitiesFormats: OnlineThis free training helps educators look at important issues surrounding students who are ELs with disabilities. Participants follow the story of Emma, a middle school student with a learning disability, while also providing additional case studies of students with other disabilities who need accommodations to access instruction and assessments. The training especially models how educators and parents or guardians can work together to make and implement good decisions about accommodations as members of the featured student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team.
Published: 2013-06-06- NCEO Data ViewerFormats: Online
An interactive database allowing users to access data compiled by researchers at the Institute's National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) on students with disabilities in the U.S. educational system. Two major databases are currently available:
• State policies on assessment participation and accommodations for students with disabilities.
• Annual performance reports from states and other education entities receiving Part B funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Through the database users may create customized reports - including charts and maps - based on criteria they choose.
Published: 2009 - Present 
NCEO Limited English Proficiency Projects Reports: 1999-2000 Participation and Performance of English Language Learners Reported in Public State Documents and Web Sites (#3)Formats: PDFThis year 2002 report summarizes data publicly reported on state education department websites on the participation rate and performance of English learners for 1999-2000.
Published: September 2002- Accommodations Toolkit: Assistive Technology: ResearchFormats: Online
This fact sheet on assistive technology 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 assistive technology as an accessibility feature or accommodation.
Published: 12/16/2024 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: One State's Story: Access and Alignment to the GRADE-LEVEL Content for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities (#57)This year 2005 report presents a case study from the state of Massachusetts for providing students with significant cognitive disabilities with grade-level aligned content. It addresses opportunity to learn, and emphasizes the importance of working to get these students as close as possible to the grade-level standards that typical students are learning, as this is important for the student's education and is an important statement to make about the goal of special education. The author then describes how Massachusetts equips special educators with a conceptual standards roadmap of what is expected of all students, a process for customizing that curriculum for each student., and a method of data collection to document a student's progress learning targeted skills in the student's portfolio that gets used in the school, and later submitted to the state as an alternate assessment.
Published: December 2005