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NCEO English Language Learners (ELLs) with Disabilities Reports: Policymaker Perspectives on the Inclusion of English Language Learners with Disabilities in Statewide Assessments (#8)This year 2005 report describes how state educational agencies are including English learners with disabilities in statewide assessments and supporting local education agencies in their communication of assessment results to families. The study involved telephone interviews with state department personnel in the areas of assessment, English learner programs, and special education in states with large and small populations of English learners.
Published: August 2005
NCEO Technical Reports: An Analysis of Perceived Desirability, Feasibility, and Actual Use of Specific Criteria for Large-Scale Assessment and Accountability Systems (#21)Formats: PDFThis year 1998 report describes results of a national survey of 222 administrators, teacher and other IEP team members who rated the desirability, feasibility and use of criteria for large-scale assessment and accountability systems for students with disabilities. The criteria addressed participation in assessments, accommodations on the assessments, and the reporting of results for students with disabilities. The report includes a discussion of findings with policy implications for educators and parents.
Published: July 1998- Guidance for Examining District Alternate Assessment Participation RatesFormats: PDF
This document provides states with effective and technically defensible practices for monitoring participation rates for alternate assessments at the district level to comply with the federal 1% policy limit on statewide alternate assessment participation for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Published: 2018-10-01 - NCEO Maryland/Kentucky State Assessment Project: Instructional and Assessment Accommodations in Kentucky (#7)Formats: Online
A report from the past Maryland-Kentucky-NCEO Assessment Project, a federally funded effort supported, in part, by a grant to the Maryland State Department of Education.
Published: January 2000 - NCEO Maryland/Kentucky State Assessment Project: Instructional and Assessment Accommodations in Maryland (#6)Formats: Online
A report from the past Maryland-Kentucky-NCEO Assessment Project, a federally funded effort supported, in part, by a grant to the Maryland State Department of Education.
Published: December 1999 - NCEO APR Snapshot Briefs: 2022-2023 APR Snapshot 32: State Assessment Participation, Performance, and Assigned Accommodations for Students Receiving Special Education Services (#32)Formats: Online
This report provides a snapshot of the participation and performance of grade 8 students receiving special education services on statewide reading/language arts and mathematics assessments for 2022-23. Data are presented for both general and alternate assessments (AA-AAAS), including an analysis of the 1% participation cap for alternate assessments using enrollment-based calculations. This Snapshot also summarizes data on the percentage of students assigned accommodations for state general assessments. Data for other grades are provided for the regular states as well as for unique states that receive special education funds.
Published: March 2026 
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 APR Snapshot Briefs: 2021-2022 APR Snapshot #31: Assessment Participation, Performance, and Assigned Accommodations for Students Receiving Special Education Services (#31)Formats: Online
This report provides a snapshot of the participation and performance of students receiving special education services on statewide reading/language arts and mathematics assessments for 2021-22. Data are provided for mathematics and reading/language arts for general and alternate assessments. This report also summarizes data on the percentage of students assigned accommodations for general assessments.
Published: 6/25/2024 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Universal Design Applied to Large Scale Assessments (#44)The purpose of this report is to explore the development of universal design and to consider its application to large scale assessments. Building on universal design principles presented by the Center for Universal Design, seven elements of universally designed assessments are identified and described in report paper.
Published: June 2002- NCEO Maryland/Kentucky State Assessment Project: Accommodations, Modifications, and Alternates for Instruction and Assessment (#5)Formats: Online
A report from the past Maryland-Kentucky-NCEO Assessment Project, a federally funded effort supported, in part, by a grant to the Maryland State Department of Education.
Published: December 1999 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Issues and Considerations in Alternate Assessments (#27)Formats: OnlineThis 1997 report describes and discusses issues around the design of alternate assessments for students with disabilities.
Published: January 1997
NCEO Synthesis Reports: The Effects of Standards and Assessment on Students in Special Education (#10)Formats: PDFIn this report, the author examines accountability and assessment issues that are relevant to students in special education.
Published: October 1993
NCEO Data Analytics: State Assessment Participation and Performance of Students with IEPs 2013-2014 (#5)Formats: OnlineThis interactive report presents data on the participation and performance of students receiving special education services in statewide assessments used for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) accountability. Using federally submitted data from the 2013-14 school year, we present information on participation and performance in reading and mathematics statewide assessments. This interactive brief is based on "2013-2014 APR Snapshot #10: State Assessment Participation and Performance of Students Receiving Special Education Services."
Published: February 2017
Hints and Tips for Addressing Accommodations Issues for Peer ReviewFormats: PDFA report examining the key accommodations issues that have arisen for states in the recent federal standards and assessments peer review process. The report by the Institute's National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) was developed in collaboration with the Assessing Special Education Students (ASES) State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS), and results from an analysis of peer review comments on accommodations. This publication highlights examples of assessment accommodations that were considered acceptable and unacceptable for peer review and includes NCEO recommendations for best practices with regard to assessment accommodations.
Published: 2007
NCEO English Language Learners (ELLs) with Disabilities Reports: A Review of 50 States' Online Large-Scale Assessment Policies - Are English Language Learners with Disabilities Considered? (#5)This year 2004 report provides an assessment policy review on the extent that the needs of English learners with disabilities are considered in public state assessment policy documents.
Published: September 2004
NCEO Data Analytics: 2016-17 Publicly Reported Assessment Results for Students with Disabilities and ELs with Disabilities (#11)Formats: OnlineThis interactive report presents data on public reporting practices for assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States. This brief is based on 2016-17 Publicly Reported Assessment Results for Students with Disabilities and ELs with Disabilities
. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether states report data for students with disabilities "to the public with the same frequency and in the same detail as it reports on the assessment of nondisabled children," as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The report also summarizes the extent to which states report participation and performance for English Learners (ELs) with disabilities and examines public reporting of accommodations.Published: 2020-01-06
NCEO Newsletter: October 2016 issueFormats: OnlineThis issue highlights the news of NCEO's continued funding. It also summarizes several new reports. These include a report on the pre-session to the National Conference on Student Assessment, a forum on Common Language for States and Assessment Vendors. Consistent with the need for common language is the Accessibility Manual developed through the Council of Chief State School Officers. Information on the contents and tools in this new manual is provided here, along with links to the manual that is available to all states to adapt as desired. Another report highlighted here is the recent NCEO report that examines high school assessment accommodation policies of ACT, SAT, PARCC, and Smarter Balanced; this report raises issues of differences in policies and procedures that are likely to affect many students with disabilities. Finally, this issue highlights recent snapshot reports of assessment and accommodations data submitted by states' special education divisions to the U.S. Department of Education. These snapshots highlight assessment participation, use of accommodations, and performance on assessments.
Published: October 2016
NCEO Synthesis Reports: English Language Learners with Disabilities in State English Language Proficiency Assessments: A Review of State Accommodation Policies (#66)Formats: PDFThis year 2007 report documents states' participation and accommodations policies for English learners (ELs) with disabilities on their English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessments for 2005-06. Findings show 31 states addressed accommodations for ELs with disabilities. Of these 31 states, 13 states allowed the exclusion of a student based on his or her disability characteristics for one or more domains of the ELP assessment. Other participation findings show exclusion based on severity of disability, such as for students needing to participate in an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards. Of the accommodation findings, the most controversial accommodation was spellchecker/ assistance /dictionary use. The authors note that continued attention to the participation and performance of ELLs with disabilities in ELP and other state assessments is essential.
Published: December 2007
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Massachusetts: One State's Approach to Setting Performance Levels on the Alternate Assessment (#48)This year 2002 report describes Massachusetts' approach to setting performance levels on its Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Alternate Assessment. The state's portfolio approach was based on "expanded" state standards describing academic outcomes appropriate for students with significant disabilities. The report explains the technical phase of standard setting and describes the context of earlier conversations and theoretical debates that came before their decisions in the development process of the alternate assessment. The report further describes how performance levels were calibrated between the alternate and general assessments, due to the alternate being used for high school diploma requirements, and the ways performance levels in each strand were combined to produce an overall performance level.
Published: November 2002
NCEO Synthesis Reports: 2001 State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations (#46)Formats: OnlineThis year 2001 report analyzes state participation and accommodation policies nationwide. Among the major findings are: (1) participation options beyond the usual three (participation without accommodations, participation with accommodations, alternate assessment) have become more evident -- generally these are: partial participation, additional alternate assessments, and out-of-level testing, (2)"emotional anxiety" is more frequently noted as a reason for students to not participate in assessments, (3) policies for both participation and accommodations are becoming more specific, often indicating implications for how accommodated students' scores are reported, (4) the number of states that allow accommodations for specific groups (i.e., all students and students no longer on IEPs), and (5) that most controversial accommodations continue to be read aloud, calculator, and scribe. The analyses suggest that states continued to adjust their policies to ensure that students with disabilities have opportunities to participate in statewide assessments, and at the same time to understand the meaning of the scores from their assessments.
Published: July 2002