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NCEO Technical Reports: A Summary of the Research on the Effects of Test Accommodations: 2009-2010 (#65)A report providing an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations as well as identifying promising future areas of research. Previous reports by NCEO have covered research published since 1999. The authors summarize the research to review current research trends and enhance understanding of the implications of accommodations use in the development of future policy directions, implementation of current and new accommodations, and valid and reliable interpretations when accommodations are used in testing situations. In 2009 and 2010, 48 published research studies on the topic of testing accommodations were found. The studies in 2009-2010 demonstrated several similarities when viewing them in comparison with previous research, especially in relation to the 2007-2008 studies examined in the previous accommodations research review. However, there were several differences, or shifts, as well.
Published: November 2012- NCEO Newsletter: June 2025 issueFormats: Online
In this newsletter we highlight five key NCEO resources that explore various topics around the Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS). Three of these are new resources, while the other two are popular past resources—our “In Case You Missed It” picks. Also, in this issue we provide information on NCEO presentations at the upcoming National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) and our joint forum with the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Assessment, Standards, and Education of Students with Disabilities (ASES) collaborative. The Forum, titled At a Crossroads: The Intersection of AT, AAC, and AI in the Education of Diverse Learners, will follow NCSA.
Published: June 2025 
NCEO Policy Directions: Educational Accountability for Students with Disabilities (#3)Formats: OnlineThis year 1994 report outlines steps that educators can take towards a new and inclusive accountability system with consistent procedures for all students, including students with disabilities. These steps include considering alternative approaches to accountability, ensuring educators have data needed to demonstrate that education is working for students with disabilities, and ways to overcome potential barriers to obtaining these data. The report concludes with specific recommendations.
Published: November 1994- What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean?Formats: PDF
This report contains the proceedings of a forum held on June 28, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana to discuss issues surrounding meaningful accessibility of assessments. The forum was a post-session to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) and was a collaboration of the Assessment, Standards, and Education for Students with Disabilities (ASES) Collaborative and the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). A specific goal of the forum was to gather representatives from state education agencies (SEAs), assessment vendors, assistive technology experts, and others to discuss the meaningful accessibility of assessments and to identify possible solutions to the challenges that students face when accessing assessments.
Published: November 2023 
NCEO Newsletter: February 2020 issueFormats: OnlineThis newsletter highlights several NCEO resources that can be used to learn more about what the research says about the effectiveness of various accommodations. The newsletter also highlights several new publications, including a report on states’ alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) participation guidelines and definitions of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. A brief on considerations for states providing materials in braille is also highlighted, as well as a parent-educator toolkit developed by an affiliated project, the Improving Instruction for English Learners Through Improved Accessibility Decisions project. Finally, in this issue, we provide information on NCEO presentations and posters at the annual conference of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
Published: February 2020
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- NCEO Reports: The Role of Assessment Data in State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs): An Analysis of FFY 2018 SSIPs (#425)
This report presents the findings of an analysis of states’ FFY 2018 State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs), submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in April 2020. It specifically addresses how assessments were included in states’ State-Identified Measurable Results (SIMRs). For states with assessment-related SIMRs, SSIP evaluation plans were also analyzed to see how assessments were being used for evaluation and reporting. The SSIPs for both regular states (e.g., Alabama, Wyoming, etc.) and unique states (e.g., Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, etc.) were analyzed. As part of OSEP’s new federal accountability framework, Results Driven Accountability (RDA), states are required to develop an SSIP, which is a comprehensive, multi-year plan designed to improve outcomes for children with disabilities, and within this plan, to commit to improving a SIMR focused on student outcomes. Many, but not all states, specified SIMRs that use assessment data as the outcome measure.
Published: February 2021 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS) Participation Policies (#88)A report focusing on participation policies for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). Since 1992, NCEO has analyzed participation and accommodation policies for students with disabilities on state administered assessments, and has developed reports on policies for regular assessments, AA-AAS, and alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). Publicly available participation guidelines were compiled and analyzed for 58 states and entities (Washington DC, Guam, etc.). In addition to providing a national picture of policies, it presents the results of the policy analysis by each of the four content assessment consortia that have been funded to develop new assessment systems: two that are developing regular assessment systems (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers - PARCC, and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium - SBAC), and two that are developing systems for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (Dynamic Learning Maps - DLM, and National Center and State Collaborative - NCSC).
Published: December 2012
NCEO Technical Reports: Tennessee Special Education Teacher Survey: Training, Large-scale Testing, and TCAP-MAAS Administration (#61)A report explaining how Tennessee developed an Alternate Assessment based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards called the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program-Modified Academic Achievement Standards (TCAP-MAAS), that was first administered in 2010. This report from the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) presents the results of a survey of Tennessee special education teachers regarding this assessment option. The authors sought to learn more about the teachers' perceptions of student experiences and outcomes with the TCAP-MAAS. They asked questions about how the teachers received training about this assessment, sought to measure the extent to which information about the new TCAP-MAAS had reached teachers across the state, and asked about accommodations selection and implementation for instruction and assessment. One section of the survey contained a knowledge quiz that was designed to assess teachers' knowledge of the TCAP-MAAS. The perceptions of teachers whose students took the TCAP-MAAS can provide insights into what is working well and where there were challenges.
Published: January 2012- NCEO Newsletter: June 2022 issueFormats: Online
This issue highlights several new products available from NCEO including the updated guide to universally designed assessments, an analysis of how states include students with disabilities in test security policies, and the findings of a survey on how states monitor alternate assessment participation decisions. There is also an article about two resources that address the role of related service providers in making accessibility and accommodations decisions. This issue includes a summary of all the sessions in which NCEO is participating during the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA). Finally, there is an article on the forum that follows NCSA on assistive technology interoperability with online assessment platforms, and other technology and services.
Published: 6/1/2022 - NCEO Technical Reports: Availability of Data on School Completion Outcomes and Indicators (#8)Formats: PDF
This year 1994 report examines the extent to which indicators in the model of outcomes and indicators developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) were found in states at the school completion level. The model contained eight domains or content areas. Data managers from 36 states or territories reported that data were available for indicators in the Presence and Participation and Contribution and Citizenship domains, but few data were available for the remaining six areas. The report discusses the need to establish new instruments and data collection systems in order to report outcomes valued by educators and parents.
Published: January 1994 
NCEO Newsletter: June 2017 issueFormats: OnlineThe June issue of NCEO's e-newsletter highlights recent webinars, products, and upcoming activities. NCEO held a couple webinar conferences recently. One focused on the 1% cap on participation in the alternate assessment. The other, which was jointly hosted with the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT), focused on the state-defined alternate diploma. Also highlighted are a new NCEO Data Analytics, an interactive report that provides multiple ways of examining participation and performance data for students with disabilities, and a resource, Formative Assessment for Students with Disabilities. Finally, you will find an article on the forum that will precede the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA), titled Text Readers for Everyone on All Tests - Getting a Handle on What This Means. It includes information on how to register for this event. Also, we provide a summary of all the sessions in which NCEO is participating during NCSA.
Published: June 2017
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
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Gray Areas of Assessment Systems (#32)Formats: OnlineA 2000 paper clarifying what is meant by "gray areas of assessment" systems, delineating the primary issues that surround and contribute to gray areas, and providing suggestions for developing fully inclusive systems. As part of our nation's educational commitment to equity and excellence for all, we must develop better understanding of what it means to be accountable for all children, and identify more inclusive strategies of assessment and accountability. In response to our national commitment, and to specific legislation such as Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1997 (IDEA '97), states and school districts are in the midst of developing large-scale assessment systems. Some have considered the challenge of students who do not fit into these assessment systems as one of "gray area students." New understanding is emerging that the problem does not lie with the students, but with the systems. This paper provides brief case studies of the assessment practices in two states, thereby highlighting the reality of gray areas as states implement their assessment systems. After a review of the national reform context, it presents a model that provides a basis for defining and addressing gray area concerns.
Published: March 2000- NCEO Brief: The Basics of Accommodations and Modifications (#33)
The purpose of this Brief is to clarify what accommodations and modifications are for both instruction and assessment for students with disabilities. We also disentangle the use of the term “alternate or modified curriculum” from the meaning of modification used for instruction and assessment.
Published: January 2024 - Developing and Improving Modified Achievement Level Descriptors: Rationale, Procedures, and Tools
Procedures and tools to develop and continuously improve achievement level descriptors for alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). This is an archived report because this assessment option is no longer allowed.
Published: 2010-06-01 - NCEO Brief: Interim Assessment Practices for Students with Disabilities (#22)
This Brief contains a scan of the interim assessment landscape, and is focused on the availability of documentation supporting the appropriateness of these assessments for students with disabilities. The purpose of this Brief is to advise the development of guidance that facilitates improved practices related to the use of interim assessments for students with disabilities.
Published: April 2021 
White Paper on Common Accessibility Language for States and Assessment VendorsThis White Paper by DIAMOND project staff addresses the issue that different test platforms use different terminology for the accessibility features and accommodations that they offer to students, which can make it difficult for students, parents, and educators to understand the available options and select the appropriate supports.
Published: June 2016
