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NCEO Technical Reports: Rules for Audio Representation of Science Items on a Statewide Assessment: Results of a Comparative Study (#64)A report describing a study that investigated an online auditory feature of an assessment designed to provide students who have challenges with print reading with content information. Large-scale educational assessment practice has moved consistently from a paper-and-pencil exercise to online assessments over the past decade. New formats for testing allow for new opportunities to provide students with disabilities access to items so that they may most validly demonstrate their knowledge. In an effort to evaluate the impact of how content is presented in auditory fashion, project personnel at NimbleTools® and the National Center on Educational Outcomes examined three approaches to "scripting" or creating audio representations of items. The results are presented in this report.
Published: June 2012
PARA Accessible Reading Assessment Reports: Developing and Researching an Accessible Reading Assessment for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA report documenting the Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment's (PARA) field test to determine the degree to which its accessible reading assessment provided for accessibility, validity, and comparability for students with learning disabilities (LD), speech-language impairments (SLI), intellectual disabilities (ID), and deafness/hard of hearing (D/HH). The PARA field test of its accessible assessment compared to a proxy state assessment was conducted in the spring and fall of 2010 and included over 3,700 students (over 1,500 special education students and over 2,100 non-special education students). The field test included special education students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) who were categorized as having LD, SLI, ID, or D/HH.
Four primary research questions are addressed in the report:
- Is the PARA accessible reading assessment more accessible than a proxy state reading assessment for students with LD, and for students with disabilities combined (LD, SLI, ID, and D/HH)?
- Are scores from the PARA accessible reading assessment more reliable than scores from the proxy state assessment for students with LD, and for students with disabilities combined (LD, SLI, ID, and D/HH)
- Is there evidence of the validity of scores from the accessible reading assessment?
- Does the PARA accessible reading assessment demonstrate the same characteristics (student performance, reliability, validity) for students in grades 4 and 8?
Published: May 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: An Evaluation of the Extent to Which Teachers Used the "IEP Quality Tutorial-South Dakota" After Training (#63)A report discussing the use of the "IEP Quality Tutorial-South Dakota (IEPQ-SD)." During the 2010-2011 school year, the state of South Dakota piloted an online program called the "IEP Quality Tutorial-South Dakota (IEPQ-SD)". IEPQ-SD was designed to support the implementation of standards-based IEPs in schools throughout the state. Forty-nine educators in South Dakota participated in training on the IEPQ-SD tool, and they were then given access to the tool so that they could use it in their work with IEPs. This report presents the results of an evaluation of the extent to which teachers used IEPQ-SD after training, and their reactions to it. Interviews were conducted with five of the training participants approximately six months after the training session to learn about educator perceptions of the training, how their work with IEPs has been affected by the training, and how student experiences have been affected by the training. They were also asked what the educators liked about the training and what could be improved for future trainings, and if and how participants thought the IEPQ-SD tool should be rolled out to other educators in South Dakota.
Published: April 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: Diploma Options, Graduation Requirements, and Exit Exams for Youth with Disabilities: 2011 National Study (#62)A report documenting results from the fifth in a series of similar studies on state graduation policies and diploma options conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). The present study was undertaken to update the status of graduation policies across the nation. It follows up on previous work, the last study having been conducted in 2006-2007. 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 that result for students when they are required to pass exit exams to receive a high school diploma? And (3) What are the intended and unintended consequences of using single or multiple diploma options for students with disabilities? Results indicated some changes in graduation requirements and diploma options from the previous survey. Trends found include: (a) state and local graduation policies and assessment practices continue to be modified and revised on a regular basis, (b) graduation requirements are increasing in rigor across states, (c) states are continuing to experiment by making available a range of diploma options for students with and without disabilities, and (d) the participation of students with disabilities in high stakes exit exams is increasing and states are granting additional testing allowances and broader use of accommodations.
Published: April 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: Characteristics of Low Performing Special Education and Non-Special Education Students on Large-Scale Assessments (#60)A report investigating whether the characteristics of the lowest performing students in special education differ from the characteristics of the lowest performing students who are not in special education. The investigation in this report used data from low performing students in four states: Alabama, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Achievement data were disaggregated by three demographic characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, and income status) for students taking the reading or mathematics assessments in fifth or eighth grade. In addition, researchers tracked data for each student over three years to identify how students moved in and out of the low performing category (low performing was defined as the tenth percentile and below for this report) across time.
Published: March 2012
NCEO APR Snapshot Briefs: 2008-2009 APR Snapshot #1: State Assessment Participation and Performance of Special Education Students (#1)Formats: OnlineThis year 2012 report summarizes the participation and performance of eighth grade students with disabilities, in reading and math assessments used for federal accountability in the 2008-2009 school year.
Published: January 2012
A Guide to Educational Acronyms: What's in the Alphabet Soup?Formats: PDFA resource guide providing a glossary of the "alphabet soup" of educational acronyms. NCEO developed this "acronym handbook" as a resource to define, clarify, or remind anyone involved legislative and policy discussions of definitions of routine educational acronyms. This pocket guide will be a useful tool for participants, whether they are state legislators, teachers, parents, or others.
Published: 2012
IVARED WebsiteFormats: OnlineA website presenting the Improving the Validity of Assessment Results for English Language Learners with Disabilities (IVARED) project, which aims to answer three questions:
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Who are English language learners with disabilities?
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How do they learn best?
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How can teachers most effectively support their learning?
Published: 2012-
- Moving Your Numbers WebsiteFormats: Online
A website presenting Moving Your Numbers, which provides examples of real districts -- from small rural communities to large urban centers -- that are positively affecting the performance of all children, including students with disabilities, through collective and focused actions of adults. While different in demographics, each of these districts has publicly committed to improving teaching and learning for every child through effective data use and changing the ways in which adults across the system work and learn together.
Published: 2012 
Moving Your Numbers: A Synthesis of Lessons Learned: How Districts Used Assessment and Accountability to Increase Performance for Students with Disabilities as Part of District-wide ImprovementFormats: PDFA guide summarizing the lessons learned by school districts profiled in the Moving Your Numbers series. Moving Your Numbers features the work of ten districts with varying demographics that have used assessment and accountability as an impetus for positive change. In each case, districts used the increasing demand for accountability for all students and groups of students to change the conversation and practice across the district, "moving their numbers" in a positive direction for all children as a result. The stories of the ongoing journey of each district, while far from done, describe the actions of adults committed to improving their own practice as a way to support higher levels of learning for all children. While each district had its own framework or set of guiding core beliefs for organizing its work, each of them implemented a set of practices that was very similar. Evidence suggests that these six practices, when used in an aligned and coherent manner, are associated with higher student achievement:
- Use data well;
- Focus your goals;
- Select and implement shared instructional practices;
- Implement deeply;
- Monitor and provide feedback and support; and
- Inquire and learn
The lessons learned from featured districts are presented in this synthesis guide across each of the practice areas delineated above.
Published: 2012
Moving Your Numbers: District Self-Assessment Guide for Moving Our Numbers: Using Assessment and Accountability to Increase Performance for Students with Disabilities as Part of District-Wide ImprovementFormats: PDFA guide for use by district leadership teams and school-level leadership teams in gauging the district's degree of implementation and scale of actions associated with effective practices identified in the Moving Your Numbers series.
Published: 2012
Moving Your Numbers: Higher Education Guide to Moving Your Numbers: Guide for Administrator Preparation ProgramsFormats: PDFA guide connecting the report, Moving Your Numbers, to the curriculum of administrator preparation programs. It makes the connection by (1) showing how the booklet fits with curricula in such preparation programs (i.e., programs to prepare candidates for various administrative roles), (2) providing discussion questions based on the case studies presented in the booklet, (3) suggesting activities that draw on and extend the content of the case studies, and (4) presenting additional resource materials for exploring the essential educational practices that the booklet targets. Moving Your Numbers provides administrator preparation programs with real-world examples of districts in which a focus on the education of all children--including those with disabilities--guides educators' thinking and practice. These exemplar districts contrast with other districts in which low expectations about certain students' capabilities limit those students' opportunities for learning and eventually depress their academic achievement. Recent policy language characterizes this outcome as the achievement gap, and remedying achievement gaps has become a critical concern in many school districts.
Published: 2012
Moving Your Numbers: Higher Education Guide to Moving Your Numbers: Guide for Teacher Preparation ProgramsFormats: PDFA guide connecting the report, Moving Your Numbers, to the curriculum of teacher preparation programs. It makes the connection by (1) showing how the booklet fits with curricula in such preparation programs (i.e., programs to prepare candidates for various teaching roles), (2) providing discussion questions based on the case studies presented in the booklet, (3) suggesting activities that draw on and extend the content of the case studies, and (4) presenting additional resource materials for exploring the essential educational practices that the booklet targets. Moving Your Numbers provides teacher preparation programs with real-world examples of districts in which a focus on the education of all children--including those with disabilities--guides educators' thinking and practice. These exemplar districts contrast with other districts in which low expectations about certain students' capabilities limit those students' opportunities for learning and eventually depress their academic achievement. Recent policy language characterizes this outcome as the achievement gap, and remedying achievement gaps has become a critical concern in many school districts.
Published: 2012
Moving Your Numbers: Key Practices GuideFormats: PDFA guide describing six essential practices for increasing achievement of students with disabilities and other at-risk learners as part of whole-district reform efforts. All six practices are described within the context of the district achievement profiles included in this publication. They are also organized for easier reference as a pull-out insert that provides suggestions for state education agency personnel, district and school personnel (including regional technical assistance providers), and parents/family members who might be interested in learning more about what questions to ask, or how to initiate and/or contribute to a conversation in their state, region, or district that supports all students to learn at higher levels.
Published: 2012
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
Moving Your Numbers: Regional/Intermediate Unit Providers: The Critical Role of Regional Providers in Facilitating School District Capacity to Improve Learning and Achievement for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA guide, based on the Moving Your Numbers report, offering insights into the direction regional providers should take to more effectively support districts and schools in improving outcomes for all students.
Published: 2012
Moving Your Numbers: State Education Agencies: The Critical Role of SEAs in Facilitating School District Capacity to Improve Learning and Achievement for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA guide offering insights into the direction state education agencies should take to more effectively support districts and schools in improving outcomes for all students.
Published: 2012- NCEO APR Snapshot Briefs: 2008-2009 APR Snapshot #2: Assessment Accommodations Use by Special Education Students (#2)Formats: Online
This year 2012 report provides information on the number of students with disabilities using accommodations on statewide reading and math assessments used for federal accountability purposes. Using federally submitted data from the 2008-2009 school year, the authors present information on accommodations for reading and mathematics statewide assessments administered to grade 8 students (and grade 4 to show a comparison to grade 8 data).
Published: January 2012 
NCEO Brief: Performance of Special Education Students: Implications for Common State Assessments (#5)A brief -- the fifth in a series for the Race to the Top Assessment Consortia -- presenting information on the performance of special education students, highlighting the range in performance of these students in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Consortia states, as well as the nature of gaps between special education and non-special education students. Changes in the percentage of special education students proficient and above on state tests over time are also provided. This brief provides concluding thoughts about the performance of special education students and suggestions for steps that Consortia and states might take to look at their own data. This is one of a series of NCEO Briefs for the Race to the Top (RTTT) Assessment Consortia that address the opportunities, resources, and challenges facing cross-state collaborative assessment efforts as they include students with disabilities and English language learners.
Published: January 2012
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