Guidebook to Including Students with Disabilities and English Learners in Assessments

Accessibility

A state’s guide to the U.S. Department of Education’s assessment peer review process (2018, September 24). Retrieved from  https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/saa/assessmentpeerreview.pdf

CCSSO (2016). CCSSO accessibility manual: How to select, administer, and evaluate use of accessibility supports for instruction and assessment of all students. Retrieved from https://ccsso.org/sites/default/files/2017.../CCSSO%20Accessibility%20Manual.docx

Chia, M., & Kachchaf, R. (2018). Designing, developing, and implementing an accessible computer-based national assessment system. In Elliott S., Kettler R., Beddow P., Kurz A. (Eds.), Handbook of accessible instruction and testing practices. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Collaboration

Da Fonte, M. A., & Barton-Arwood, S. M. (2017). Collaboration of general and special education teachers: Perspectives and strategies. Intervention in School and Clinic, 53(2), 99–106. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451217693370

Dearman, C. C., & Alber, S. R. (2005). The changing face of education: Teachers cope with challenges through collaboration and reflective study. The Reading Teacher, 58(7), 634-640.

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (1992). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Gomez-Najarro, J. (2019). An empty seat at the table: Examining general and special education teacher collaboration in response to intervention. Teacher Education and Special Education. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419850894

Kangas, S. E. N. (2018). Why working apart doesn’t work at all: Special education and English learner teacher collaborations. Intervention in School and Clinic, 54(1), 31–39. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451218762469

McLeskey, J., Barringer, M-D., Billingsley, B., Brownell, M., Jackson, D., Kennedy, M., Lewis, T., Maheady, L., Rodriguez, J., Scheeler, M. C., Winn, J., & Ziegler, D. (2017, January). High-leverage practices in special education. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children & CEEDAR Center. Retrieved from http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CEC-HLP-Web.pdf

McNulty, B., & Besser, L. (2011). Leaders make it happen! An administrator’s guide to data teams. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Muijs, D., Ainscow, M., Chapman, C., & West, M. (2011). Collaboration and networking in education. London: Springer.

Rationale for Inclusion in Assessments

NCEO. Alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities: Participation guidelines and definitions. Retrieved from https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/NCEOReport406.pdf

NCEO. State policies links for Assessment Participation of Students with Disabilities. https://nceo.info/state_policies/policy/participationswd

NCEO. State policies links for Assessment Participation of ELs. Retrieved from https://nceo.info/state_policies/policy/participationells

U.S. Department of Education Guidance. (2015). Ensuring English learner students can participate meaningfully and equally in educational programs. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-factsheet-el-students-201501.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Letter on Requirements for the cap on the percentage of students who may be assessed with an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards (May 16, 2017). Retrieved fromhttps://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/saa/onepercentcapmemo51617.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Letter on Additional information regarding the requirements to request a waiver from the one percent cap on the percentage of students who may be assessed with an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/saa/ossstateassessmentltr.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Letter on Information regarding consequences for states not meeting the requirement to assess not more than 1.0 percent of students on the alternate assessment. Available from the ESEA Network. Retrieved from https://www.eseanetwork.org/news-and-resources/blogs/others/information-regarding-consequences-for-states-not-meeting-the-requirement-to-assess-not-more-than-1-0-percent-of-students-on-the-alternate-assessment .

Reporting

EdFacts reporting requirements. See https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/edfacts/sy-17-18-nonxml.html , specifically:

• FS138 (Title III English language proficiency test)
• FS175 (Academic achievement in mathematics)
• FS178 (Academic achievement in reading/language arts)
• FS179 (Academic achievement in science)
• FS186 (Assessment participation in mathematics)
• FS188 (Assessment participation in reading/language arts)
• FS189 (Assessment participation in science)
• FS204 (Title III English learners)

Laws and Professional Standards

CCSSO (2014). States’ commitment to high-quality assessments aligned to college- and career-readiness. Retrieved from https://ccsso.org/resource-library/states-commitment-high-quality-assessments-aligned-college-and-career-readiness

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2015). Retrieved from https://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/Elementary%20And%20Secondary%20Education%20Act%20Of%201965.pdf

ESSA Assessment Regulations (2016). Retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-12-08/pdf/2016-29128.pdf

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). Retrieved from https://www.wrightslaw.com/idea/law.htm

IVARED (2013). Assessment principles and guidelines for ELLs with disabilities. Retrieved from https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/ivared/IVAREDPrinciplesReport.pdf

NCEO (2016). Principles and characteristics of inclusive assessment systems in a changing assessment landscape. Retrieved from https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/Report400/NCEOReport400.pdf (Also available in Spanish at https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/Report400Spanish/NCEOReport400Spanish.pdf )

U.S. Department of Education (2018, September 24). A state’s guide to the U.S. Department of Education’s assessment peer review process. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/saa/assessmentpeerreview.pdf

National Organizations and Technical Assistance Providers

Achieve: www.achieve.org

Alliance for Excellent Education: www.all4ed.org

CCSSO SCASS: www.ccsso.org

CPRI (Center for Parent Information and Resources): www.parentcenterhub.org

CSAI: www.csai-online.org

Education Trust: www.edtrust.org

NCEO: www.nceo.info          

NCSI: www.ncsi.wested.org

State Guides

NCEO (2019). 2018-19 Participation guidelines and definitions for alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards. Retrieved from https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/NCEOReport415.pdf

NCEO (2009, June). Improving accommodations outcomes: Monitoring instructional and assessment accommodations for students with disabilities. Retrieved from https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/AccommodationsMonitoring.pdf

U.S. Department of Education (2018, September 24). A state’s guide to the U.S. Department of Education’s assessment peer review process. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/saa/assessmentpeerreview.pdf

Student Characteristics Resources

Alt-ELPA21 student profile: See Appendix A in ELPA21 white paper, Developing an alternate ELPA21 for English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.elpa21.org/sites/default/files/Alt-ELPA%20White%20Paper1.1.pdf .

CSAI (Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation). Retrieved from http://www.csai-online.org

First Contact Survey. Retrieved from https://wvde.state.wv.us/osp/First_Contact_Survey_FAQs.docx

Individual Characteristics Questionnaire: See Appendix A in Characteristics of English learners with significant cognitive disabilities: Findings from the Individual Characteristics. Retrieved from https://altella.wceruw.org/pubs/ICQ-Report.pdf

Learner Characteristics Inventory: see Kearns, Kleinert, Kleinert, & Towles-Reeves (2006).

State and national demographic information for English learners (ELs) and ELs with disabilities (2016). Retrieved from https://tableau.umn.edu/t/ICI/views/DANumber4April2016/Story1

U.S. Department of Education. Our nation’s English learners: What are their characteristics? Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/el-characteristics/index.html#four

Universally Designed Assessments Resources

A state guide to the development of universally designed assessments (2006). Retrieved from https://nceo.umn.edu/docs/OnlinePubs/StateGuideUD/UDmanual.pdf

Top 10 UDL tips for assessment. Retrieved from http://castprofessionallearning.org/project/top-10-udl-tips-for-assessment/

Universal Design of Assessments. Retrieved from https://nceo.info/Assessments/universal_design/overview

Universal Design Project. Retrieved from https://universaldesign.org/