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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 Synthesis Reports: Common Misperceptions and Research-Based Recommendations for Alternate Assessment Based on Alternate Achievement Standards (#73)A report exploring misperceptions about assessments and the students who are assessed using Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS). The misperceptions have been encountered by the National Alternate Assessment Center (NAAC) and National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) in their collaborative work with states and educators on the AA-AAS. AA-AAS are designed so that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities can be included in large-scale accountability testing, and promote their access to the same interesting and challenging curriculum as their peers. This report explores common misperceptions related to three major themes: (a) the characteristics of students who participate in AA-AAS; (b) the content that should be taught and assessed by teachers; and (c) issues regarding the purpose and the validity of AA-AAS outcomes. For each misperception, it proposes research-based recommendations to address them, and refers to the recent literature on assessment, curriculum, and instruction for students with the most significant disabilities to support its analysis and recommendations.
Published: February 2010
NCEO Technical Reports: States Challenged to Meet Special Education Targets for Assessment Indicator (#55)All states are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to submit Annual Performance Reports (APRs) to the federal government. The purpose of this report is to reflect the progress made, according to state APRs submitted in 2008, toward meeting targets for components of APR Indicator 3 on assessments administered in school year 2006-2007. An additional purpose is to present an analysis of improvement activities used by states to facilitate progress in their assessment systems.
Published: February 2010
PARA Accessible Reading Assessment Reports: Examination of a Reading Pen as a Partial Auditory Accommodation for Reading AssessmentA report evaluating the effectiveness of a reading pen as a Partial Auditory Accommodation for large scale reading assessments when the pen is used only to pronounce words on demand. Four research questions were addressed:
- To what extent does use of the reading pen on a standardized test of reading affect scores?
- To what extent is there a different effect for students with disabilities and students without disabilities?
- Regardless of disability status, to what extent does use of the reading pen affect the scores of students with adequate fluency?
- What are students' perceptions of the helpfulness of the reading pen?
Published: February 2010- AA-AAAS BibliographyFormats: Online
This searchable bibliographic database presents information related to alternates based on alternate academic achievement standards. Users may search by publication type, research type, keyword, or specific journals.
Published: 2010 
NCEO Policy Directions: Using Growth for Accountability - Considerations for Students with Disabilities (#21)Formats: PDFA report providing considerations and recommendations on growth models for students with disabilities. The academic progress of students is an important indicator of educational success. For school accountability systems, using a growth model to report on a student's academic growth can be viewed as an addition to or a replacement for a status model. Status models compare the performance of a cohort of students in a grade one year with the performance of another cohort of students in the same grade the preceding year. Growth models typically track the achievement of individual students from year to year.
Published: January 2010
The Characteristics of Low Performing Students on Large-Scale Assessments (NCEO Brief)Formats: PDFA brief reporting the findings of a longitudinal analysis of three years of student-level demographic and performance data for four states: the 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07 school years. Data sets were compiled for each state for students who were in grades 5 and 8 during the 2006-07 school year, and included student performance data on the regular Reading/English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics assessment. The goal of this analysis was to learn more about the characteristics of low performing students.
Published: 2010
NARAP Reports: Accessibility Principles for Reading AssessmentsFormats: PDFA report presenting evidence-based principles for making large scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading, while maintaining a high level of validity for all students taking the assessments. The National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects (NARAP), of which the Institute's Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment is a member, have been conducting research to identify ways to increase the accessibility of reading assessments. This document is the culmination of one of NARAP's goals: to develop evidence-based principles for making large scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading, while maintaining a high level of validity for all students taking the assessments. Some of the principles clarify and underscore the importance of well-accepted and widely used practices in designing reading assessments. Other principles have been developed from theory to respond to the needs of specific groups of students. The principles are to be viewed as a whole, representing a coherent and integrated approach to accessibility. They provide a vision of accessible reading assessments. This document was written primarily for personnel in state assessment offices and for test developers of regular large scale reading assessments used for accountability purposes. Other audiences also may find the document to be of interest and useful for other types of assessments.
Published: September 2009
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Characteristics of States' Alternate Assessments Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards in 2008 (#72)A report describing an assessment option permitted by federal regulations that give states the flexibility to offer an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). This assessment option is for a small group of students with disabilities who can make significant progress but may not reach grade-level proficiency within the time period covered by their Individualized Education Program. Students who participate in an AA-MAS must have access to grade-level content. States are not required to offer this option. This report compiles, analyzes, and summarizes states' participation guidelines for the AA-MAS.
Published: September 2009
Minnesota Manual of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in Instruction and Assessment: A Guide to Selecting, Administering, and Evaluating the Use of AccommodationsFormats: PDFThis manual presents a five-step process for Individualized Educational Program (IEP) teams, 504 Plan committees, general and special education teachers, administrators, and district level assessment staff to use in selecting, administering, and evaluating the effectiveness of the use of instructional and assessment accommodations by students with disabilities.
Published: August 2009
TARA Reports: Field-based Perspectives on Technology Assisted Reading Assessments: Results of an Interview Study with Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVIs)Formats: PDFThe purpose of this study was to gather information to inform the design and development of a technology-assisted reading assessment for students with visual impairments or blindness.
Published: August 2009- TARA Reports: Students with Visual Impairments and Assistive Technology: Results from a Cognitive Interview Study in Five StatesFormats: PDF
The purpose of this study was to better understand use of assistive technology in instruction and assessment by students with visual impairments. The aim was to gather information that would be relevant to the creation of a new large-scale assessment that addressed reading as an activity that involved the use of a variety of technologies. In order to adequately determine assistive technology (AT) use, students themselves were interviewed and observed.
Published: August 2009 - TARA Reports: Survey of Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments: Students Served and Their Access to State Assessments of ReadingFormats: PDF
The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of teachers on a number of aspects related to reading. This survey targeted specifically teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs).
Published: August 2009 
Training Guide for Minnesota Manual of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in Instruction and Assessment: A Guide to Selecting, Administering, and Evaluating the Use of AccommodationsFormats: PDFThis training guide is designed as a companion to the Minnesota Manual of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in Instruction and Assessment and the Procedures Manual for the Minnesota Assessments. Together, these documents serve to outline five key steps in making decisions about accommodations and to identify Minnesota's policies for the use of accommodations on state assessments.
Published: August 2009- NCEO Annual Performance Reports and State Performance Plans: 2006-2007 State Assessment DataFormats: PDF
A report summarizing the 2006-2007 state assessment information that was submitted by states in their Annual Performance Reports. States and other educational entities receiving Part B funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) submitted their Annual Performance Reports and Section 618 Table 6 data together to the U.S. Secretary of Education on or before February 2008. This report contains information on large-scale assessment participation and performance data for the 2006-2007 school year.
Published: July 2009 
NCEO Technical Reports: Achieving Transparency in the Public Reporting of 2006-2007 Assessment Results (#53)A report summarizing States' reports on the participation and performance of students with disabilities by (a) submitting annual performance reports (APRs) to the U.S. Department of Education, and (b) publicly reporting state assessment data via their Web sites and other communication avenues. Both APRs and public reports provide important information, although the two may be slightly different in how the data are presented. This report analyzes the public reporting of disaggregated data for students with disabilities. It is the eleventh such report by NCEO, and this analysis, for school year 2006-2007, also marks the fifth data cycle since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001.
Published: July 2009
Improving Accommodations Outcomes: Monitoring Instructional and Assessment Accommodations for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA document presenting a five-step process for schools, districts, and states to use in monitoring accommodations for instruction and assessment. It was designed to be a companion to the "Council of Chief State School Officers' Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate Use of Accommodations for Instruction and Assessment of Students with Disabilities" (2005), which applies to students with disabilities who participate in large-scale assessments and the instruction they receive. Each step provides monitoring questions to ask, current examples from states, samples of forms that might be used, a checklist for evaluating a state's activities for each step, and space for action planning and questions. Appendices contain a glossary of terms related to monitoring and sample forms that can be adapted for use.
Published: 2009
NCEO Technical Reports: State Reports on the Participation and Performance of English Language Learners with Disabilities in 2006-2007 (#54)A report reviewing state reports on the participation and performance of English Language Learners (ELLs) with Disabilities in 2006-2007. Previous data reports suggested that ELLs with disabilities tend to have a lower percentage of students scoring proficient than their English proficient peers on regular assessments. But in 2006-2007, ELLs with disabilities out-performed the total number of students taking alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards. This improvement surprised researchers, leading them to speculate on possible causes. However, not all states reported this data and, even among those that did, the number of students in these data is low, leading the researchers to urge caution in interpreting the practical significance of the differences in performance. On English language proficiency assessments, ELLs with disabilities usually scored lower than ELLs without disabilities on measures of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Published: May 2009
NCEO Limited English Proficiency Projects Reports: Grade-Level Standards-Based Science Outcomes for English Language Learners and Language Minority Students - A Review of the Literature (#6)This year 2009 report presents findings from a review of a peer-reviewed literature on the topic of standards-based science outcomes for ELs, as well as a broader group of students who speak a language other than English at home.
Published: April 2009
PARA Accessible Reading Assessment Reports: Disabilities and Reading: Understanding the Effects of Disabilities and Their Relationship to Reading Instruction and AssessmentA report providing common ground on the issues surrounding reading and students with various disabilities to facilitate discussion of accessible reading assessment. The information in this report was obtained through a broad review of literature and Web sites of national agencies and organizations, along with input and feedback from professionals in the disability areas. It is not intended to be a comprehensive research review of disabilities or reading-related issues, but nevertheless should prove useful for understanding the effects of disabilities and their relationship to reading. Seven disabilities are discussed in the order of their prevalence: specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, emotional/behavioral disabilities, autism, deaf or hard of hearing, and visual impairments. Although these disabilities do not comprise all of the possible disability categories or even the most common disabilities, they do represent those often considered most challenging for reading assessment. This report provides:
- An overview of the characteristics of students with each disability
- A description of common approaches to reading instruction for students with each disability
- Assessment approaches and issues that surround the assessment of reading for students with each disability.
Published: March 2009