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- NCEO Reports: A Summary of the Research on the Effects of K–12 Test Accommodations: 2021 (#438)Formats: PDF
This report provides an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations. Previous reports by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) have covered research published since 1999. In this report, we summarize the research published in 2021. During 2021, 12 research studies addressed testing accommodations in the U.S. K–12 education system. The research published in the year 2021 addressed several critical areas such as the effects of accommodations on student performance and educators’ knowledge, perceptions, and implementation practices regarding accommodations. The research also identifies emerging trends such as the use of paper-and-pencil accommodations in digital environments, the role of individualized accommodations, and the increased research in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content areas.
Published: February 2023 
1% Toolkit: Who Should Participate in Your State’s Alternate Assessment? A Slide Presentation Tool for Administrators (NCEO Tool #6)This Slide Presentation tool is designed to support the needs that administrators have for brief but substantive information about who should participate in the state’s alternate assessment on academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). In addition to serving as an information resource for administrators, it may be used for in-person or webinar trainings for educators, and as a handout for educators and parents. Developed during NCEO’s Peer Learning Group 3 (PLG 3), they highlight the purpose of the AA-AAAS, the implications of a student taking the AA-AAS, strategies for talking with parents, and identification of students who should participate in this assessment. The slides may be customized.
Published: May 2020
1% Toolkit: Developing a 1% Cap Waiver or Waiver Extension Request (NCEO Tool #1)The Every Student Succeeds Act allows for states to request a waiver from the 1% cap on alternate assessment participation requirements. Waiver request requirements are described in this Tool (the first of several 1% tools NCEO is developing), along with examples of how states responded to each requirement. The Tool also includes a section on Additional Considerations (reporting on stakeholder involvement; addressing approaches to take when the 95% participation requirement for requesting a waiver is not met). This Tool was developed through a collaborative process with the 44 states participating in the 1% Cap Community of Practice (CoP) during its bi-weekly webinar calls in 2018. Although the CoP was formed at the request of states to be for private state conversations, it was with mutual agreement that this Tool should be shared publicly.
Published: September 2019
NCEO Reports: A Summary of the Research on the Effects of Test Accommodations: 2013-2014 (#402)This report provides an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations as well as to identify promising future areas of research. Previous reports by NCEO have covered research published since 1999. We 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. Key issues under investigation include how accommodations affect test scores, how educators and students perceive accommodations, and how accommodations are selected and implemented.
Published: May 2016
NCEO Technical Reports: Matching State Goals to a Model of Outcomes and Indicators for the Post-School Level (#12)Formats: PDFThis year 1995 report describes the extent to which there was a correspondence between state-articulated student outcomes and the outcomes specified in a model developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). The NCEO model of outcomes and indicators, developed using a multi-attribute consensus-building tool with hundreds of stakeholders, is presented. It articulates eight major outcome domains with indicators at keys stages of a student's development: age 3, age 6, grade 4, grade 8, school-completion, and post-school. Information in the model was developed for use by state and local level practitioners involved in the articulation of educational goals, performance standards, assessments, and curriculum frameworks at different age and grade levels.
Published: August 1995
NCEO Reports: State Spotlights: Reducing AA-AAAS State-Level Participation Rates to Meet the 1.0% Threshold, 2016-17 to 2017-18 (#421)This report highlights the work of states in the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) 1% Community of Practice (CoP) that reduced their alternate assessment participation rates from school year 2016-17 to school year 2017-18. Five states volunteered to share information on their approaches to decreasing the state-level participation rate in their states’ alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). The states highlighted in this report are Arkansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Each state provided information on the strategies that it took; several provided examples of some of the materials they used.
Published: July 2020
NCEO Reports: 2014-15 Publicly Reported Assessment Results for Students with Disabilities and ELs with Disabilities (#405)This is the eighteenth report by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) that describes how states publicly report online assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States. This report presents information on publicly reported participation and performance data for students with disabilities for the 50 regular states and the 11 unique states (American Samoa, Bureau of Indian Education, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Department of Defense Education Activities, District of Columbia, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Palau, Puerto Rico, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands). Information on public reporting for English Learners (ELs) with disabilities is also included in this report.
Published: May 2017
NCEO State Surveys: 2016 Survey of States: State Activities Amid Evolving Educational PoliciesA report providing a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues during a period of new education laws and initiatives. This is the fifteenth such survey of states conducted by NCEO. States were continuing to address the need for inclusive assessments while facing new requirements for assessments and accountability systems.
Published: September 2017
NCEO Synthesis Reports: Professional Development to Improve Accommodations Decisions - A Review of the Literature (#84)A report summarizing the research literature for both professional development on accommodations decision making, and traditional and high-quality online teacher professional development. NCEO conducted this literature review to prepare for the online training that the center is developing for Alabama's teacher professional development.
Published: August 2011- NCEO State Surveys: 2025 Survey of States: Trends and Issues in Statewide Assessment of Students with DisabilitiesFormats: Online
This report summarizes the seventeenth survey of states by NCEO, collecting over three decades of data on the participation and performance of students with disabilities in statewide assessments. Forty-five jurisdictions responded, revealing key trends in state practices. Key findings show that states primarily monitored accessibility features by reviewing IEP records and conducting site audits. To support participation in alternate assessments (AA-AAAS), states focused on training and data sharing. However, a major challenge is meeting the federal 1% limit for AA-AAAS, largely due to concerns over inappropriate student identification and the lack of staff training. For Alt-ELP assessments, states ensured proper assignment through revised guidelines and training. Growth models were common for general assessments but rarely used for AA-AAAS and Alt-ELP assessments. States mainly disaggregated general assessment results by disability category to analyze trends. The survey confirms states are prioritizing training and monitoring to align assessment practices with federal requirements.
Published: November 2025 
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 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 Participation Communication Toolkit: Customizable Participation Communication Toolkit Policymaker FlyerFormats: Word
The purpose of this flyer is to provide concise resources about why it is so important that all students participate in state testing. Written for policymakers, it also provides strategies to support students and their families in the policymaker’s state. The flyer is part of the Participation Communication Toolkit developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to identify and describe reasons why all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities should take state tests.
Published: 2021-11-11 - NCEO Participation Communication Toolkit: Customizable Participation Communication Toolkit Student FlyerFormats: Word
The purpose of this flyer is to provide concise resources about why it is so important that all students participate in state testing. Written for students, it also provides strategies to reduce student test anxiety. The flyer is part of the Participation Communication Toolkit developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to identify and describe reasons why all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities should take state tests.
Published: 2021-11-11 
NCEO Synthesis Reports: State Participation and Accommodation Policies for Students with Disabilities: 1999 Update (#33)Formats: PDFThis 2000 report summarizes states' policies on the participation of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment, and the accommodations noted in state policies as available for those students. NCEO also checked for changes in state assessment policies.
Published: April 2000- NCEO Participation Communication Toolkit: Communicating about Annual State Assessment Participation for All Students: A Communication Toolkit—PhotosFormats: Word
A collection of images that state education agencies, districts, and schools can use in social media to connect directly with families, educators, policymakers, and students. This collection of images is part of the Participation Communication Toolkit developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to identify and describe reasons why all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities should take state tests.
Published: 11/9/2021 
NCEO Out-of-Level Testing Project Reports: States' Procedures for Ensuring Out-of-Level Test Instrument Quality (#14)This year 2004 report describes a study on how states ensure that out-of-level tests used in their states are of appropriate quality. The report draws on narrative data from technical information on states' large-scale assessment systems and interviews from state assessment directors or others with comparable knowledge about the state's large-scale assessment.
Published: September 2004