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NCEO Technical Reports: Matching Information in National Data Collection Programs to a Model of Post-School Outcomes and Indicators (#17)Formats: PDFThis year 1995 report describes the extent of correspondence between information available on indicators for post-school outcomes in national data collection programs and the post-school outcomes in a model developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes and partnering stakeholders. Findings include: 1) a summary of post-school outcomes for all students represented in ten national data collection programs, 2) the observation that these outcomes are less available for students with disabilities than indicators at the school completion level, and 3) the conclusion that there is a significant exclusion or lack of identification of students with disabilities in national data programs. Recommendations are provided to revise national data collection programs in order to produce useful policy-relevant information regarding post-school completion outcomes for students with disabilities.
Published: October 1995- NCEO Technical Reports: Secondary Analysis of State Assessment Data: Why We Can't Say Much About Students with Disabilities (#10)Formats: PDF
This year 1994 report summarizes activities of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) directed at producing a report on the status of students with disabilities from the secondary analysis of state collected achievement data. Although more than half of the 50 states reported that large-scale achievement data were available for some students with disabilities, potentially usable data were obtained from only six states. The report describes numerous difficulties encountered in attempts to collect and aggregate state achievement data on students with disabilities and concludes that it was not possible to produce a synthesis report on the achievement status of students with disabilities from aggregated state data bases. Recommendations are presented for improving the probability of conducting such analyses in the future.
Published: August 1994 
NCEO State Surveys: State Special Education Outcomes 1993: A Report on State Activities in the Assessment of Educational Outcomes for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA report on NCEO's third survey of states conducted in 1993 to address the needs of state directors, policymakers and others for information about current state activities in multiple outcomes areas: Knowledge, skills, status, and attitudes of students with disabilities. It also addresses issues related to change over time in accountability and assessment activities. The specific objectives of this survey were to: (1) Develop an ongoing system to describe the status of state activities to assess educational outcomes, (2) Develop an ongoing tracking system of procedures and practices used by states to include and make accommodations in the assessment of students with disabilities, (3) Identify persistent barriers and needs of states related to outcomes assessment, and (4) Identify state data bases that might be used to create a national data base of outcomes for students with disabilities.
Published: March 1994
NCEO State Surveys: State Special Education Outcomes 1992: A Report on State Activities in the Assessment of Educational Outcomes for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA report NCEO's second survey of states conducted in 1992 to address the needs of state directors, policymakers and others for information about current state activities in multiple outcomes areas: Knowledge, skills, status, and attitudes of students with disabilities. It also addresses issues related to change over time in accountability and assessment activities. The specific objectives of this survey were to: (1) Develop an ongoing system to describe the status of state activities to assess educational outcomes, (2) Develop an ongoing tracking system of procedures and practices used by states to include and make accommodations in the assessment of students with disabilities, (3) Identify persistent barriers and needs of states related to outcomes assessment, and (4) Identify state data bases that might be used to create a national data base of outcomes for students with disabilities.
Published: March 1993
NCEO State Surveys: State Special Education Outcomes 1991: A Report on State Activities in the Assessment of Educational Outcomes for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFThis is NCEO's first survey of states conducted in 1991 to address the needs of state directors, policymakers and others for information about current state activities in multiple outcomes areas: Knowledge, skills, status, and attitudes of students with disabilities. It also addresses issues related to change over time in accountability and assessment activities. The specific objectives of this survey were to: (1) Develop an ongoing system to describe the status of state activities to assess educational outcomes, (2) Develop an ongoing tracking system of procedures and practices used by states to include and make accommodations in the assessment of students with disabilities, (3) Identify persistent barriers and needs of states related to outcomes assessment, and (4) Identify state data bases that might be used to create a national data base of outcomes for students with disabilities.
Published: January 1992- NCEO Data Analytics: Number and Percentage of English Learners with Disabilities by Disability Category, 2012-13 to 2020-21 (#18)Formats: Online
This interactive report presents information on the percentage of students with disabilities ages 6-21 who are also English learners (i.e., English learners with disabilities), and the proportion of these students by category for school years 2012-13 and 2020-21. English learners with disabilities are students who receive special education services as indicated in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and who are also developing English proficiency. The U.S. Department of education receives data from states on the number of these students in each of 13 disability categories, and the number and percentage of English learners with disabilities varies over time, by category, and by state. The data in this report allow users to view one or more disability categories for comparison, and provides data by state.
Published: March 2023 
CCSSO Accessibility Manual: How To Select, Administer, And Evaluate Use Of Accessibility Supports For Instruction And Assessment Of All StudentsFormats: WordThe Council of Chief State School Officers' (CCSSO's) Accessibility Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate Use of Accessibility Supports for Instruction and Assessment of All Students establishes guidelines for states to use for the selection, administration, and evaluation of accessibility supports for instruction and assessment of all students, including students with disabilities, English learners (ELs), ELs with disabilities, and students without an identified disability or EL status. Accessibility supports discussed herein include both embedded (digitally-provided) and non-embedded (non-digitally or locally provided) universal features that are available to all students as they access instructional or assessment content, designated features that are available for those students for whom the need has been identified by an informed educator or team of educators, and accommodations that are generally available for students for whom there is documentation on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 accommodation plan. Approaches to these supports may vary depending on state or assessment consortium contexts as well as nature of assessments - be they content assessments, English language proficiency (ELP) assessments, or alternate assessments.
Published: August 2016
Sign Support Guidelines for Accessible Assessments: Insights From Cognitive LabsFormats: PDFA report observing that students who are deaf or hard of hearing (Deaf/HH) and communicate using American Sign Language (ASL) may benefit from sign accommodations on state assessments. However, there have been challenges in standardizing assessment content including how items should be signed. Technology-enhanced assessment offers the opportunity to provide standardized sign support delivered through the test platform. One goal of the Guidelines for Accessible Assessment Project (GAAP) was to develop research-based sign guidelines that can be used across states, consortia, and assessment vendors to produce reliable and valid signed representations of assessment items and tasks for students who communicate using sign language. This report highlights the findings from cognitive labs conducted with students to gain their input and feedback on the proposed guidelines. A total of 46 elementary-, middle-, and high-school-aged students who were Deaf/HH and communicated using ASL participated in cognitive labs. The research findings point to the students' preferences for the provision of the sign support in general and for this support being grounded in ASL rather than representations aligned with other languages.
Published: December 2014
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: 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
NCLB e IDEA: Lo que los Padres de Estudiantes con Discapacidades Necesitan Saber y HacerFormats: PDFA Spanish translation of a guide informing parents of students with disabilities about the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These are two of the nation's most important federal laws relating to public education. While NCLB seeks to improve the education of all children - especially children from low-income families - IDEA focuses on the individual child and seeks to ensure specialized services for children with disabilities so they may benefit from education. NCLB provisions apply to all students, including those whose disabilities require special education. So parents need to understand the requirements of NCLB. IDEA, in its latest update by Congress, has been more closely aligned with NCLB, making it equally important that parents know how the two laws work together to improve academic achievement of students with disabilities. Content is in Spanish.
Published: August 2006
NCEO State Surveys: State Special Education Outcomes 1994: A Report on How States are Assessing Educational Outcomes for Students with DisabilitiesFormats: PDFA report on NCEO's survey of states conducted in 1993 to address the needs of state directors, policymakers and others for information about current state activities in multiple outcomes areas: Knowledge, skills, status, and attitudes of students with disabilities. It also addresses issues related to change over time in accountability and assessment activities. The specific questions this survey focused on were: (1) What effect the activities outlined in Goals 2000: The Educate America Act have on state special education service delivery systems, (2) What efforts states are making to develop learner goals and related assessments, (3) How broadly the NCEO model of educational outcomes and indicators has been disseminated and used within state and local educational agencies, and (4) The extent to which students with disabilities are participating in statewide achievement assessments now being used by states.
Published: March 1995
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Recommendations for Making Decisions About the Participation of Students with Disabilities in Statewide Assessment Programs: A Report on a Working Conference to Develop Guidelines for Statewide Assessments and Students with Disabilities (#15)Formats: PDFThis report is a summary of a meeting held in the Washington, DC area on May 17 and 18, 1994. The purpose of the meeting was to: (1) Discuss participation of students with disabilities in state assessment programs, (2) Discuss adaptations in assessments or assessment procedures to accommodate students with disabilities, (3) Attempt to arrive at agreement on a reasonable set of practices in making participation and accommodation decisions, and (4) Identify major technical and implementation issues that might be part of state or federal research agendas on participation and accommodations in assessment programs. This report proposes a set of recommendations for making participation and accommodation decisions, and indicate the fundamental assumptions that underlie participation of students with disabilities in state assessment programs. We describe the rational for the development of a consistent system for making decisions about participation and accommodations in state assessment programs.
Published: July 1994- NCEO Technical Reports: Matching Information in National Data Collection Programs to a Model of School Completion Outcomes and Indicators (#7)Formats: PDF
This year 1994 report presents results from a study comparing the National Center on Educational Outcomes' (NCEO) comprehensive system of Educational Outcomes and Indicators for Students Completing School and indicators included in national data collection programs. The results indicated that important school completion outcomes for all students were substantially represented in the national data collection system. Across 13 national data collection programs, 91% of the NCEO school completion outcome indicators were found to be represented by at least one measure. However, it was not possible to produce comprehensive reports about the status of students with disabilities due to the significant exclusion of such students from data collection programs and the variable or nonexistent identification of such students in national data collection programs. Recommendations are provided to realize the potential present for producing useful policy-relevant information regarding school completion outcomes for students with disabilities.
Published: January 1994 
Including Students who are Deaf or Hard-of-hearing in English Language Proficiency Assessments: A Review of State PoliciesFormats: PDFA report documenting participation and accommodation policies for English language learners (ELLs) who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing (HH) on English language proficiency (ELP) assessments used for Title III accountability. Accommodations policies are discussed with reference to five accommodations commonly used by ELLs who are Deaf/HH, including: Sign Interpret Directions, Sign Interpret Questions, Visual Cues, Sign Response, and Amplification Equipment. Over time, states' policies on participation and accommodations on ELP assessments for ELLs who are Deaf/HH have continued to evolve and become more detailed. Still, there is room for improvement. States should continue to evaluate the construct being measured by each domain and evaluate how specific accommodations impact the validity of student scores. Controversial accommodations should be re-evaluated to make sure that the greatest numbers of students have access to the assessment while maintaining the construct being measured. States should also determine whether and in what circumstances selective participation by domain is appropriate for ELLs who are Deaf/HH.
Published: 2014
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
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
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
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Appeals Processes for Students Who Fail Graduation Exams: How Do They Apply to Students with Disabilities? (#36)Formats: OnlineA report of findings about high stakes tests for students with disabilities, as of the year 2000, and the appeals processes for those who need an alternative way of demonstrating skills. High stakes tests that determine whether students earn a standard high school diploma are on the rise. They are viewed as the way to make sure that students meet high standards and graduate with the skills needed to be successful employees. At the same time that more and more states are investing in graduation exams, there are concerns about students who have met high standards, yet are unable to pass a test. To determine the extent to which there are other options for demonstrating skills, and to check the availability of these to students with disabilities, the authors studied state Web sites for information on appeals processes and the availability of waivers. They found only six states with appeals processes, and these varied considerably from locally set procedures to relatively specific requirements. In one state, the appeals process is viewed as the avenue for students with disabilities to have access to accommodations. In most states, there is no evidence that students with disabilities have been considered. Further, states do not have data on the number of students involved in appeals processes, much less disaggregated for students with disabilities. The difficulty they experienced in finding information about an appeals process is certainly encountered by students and families whose lives are affected by graduation exams. Without appeals processes, or easily found information on such processes, the likelihood that lawsuits will be viewed as the only avenue for recourse is dramatically increased.
Published: July 2000