Welcome

2024 greetings from NCEO. In this newsletter, we are featuring several NCEO resources that address English learners with disabilities. The number of school-age English learners with disabilities is increasing, and greater attention is being given to their inclusion in state and district assessments. The first article is about an interactive tool that allows the creation of custom reports on the number and percentage of English learners with disabilities by disability category. Other articles discuss a resource on understanding the characteristics of English learners with disabilities, a framework for the identification of students eligible for alternate English proficiency (alt-ELP) assessments, and a guidebook for states on including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities in assessments. There is also an article about several NCEO webpages that contain links to state assessment policies and data for English learners with disabilities.

Additionally, this issue contains an article about a recent National Council of Measurement in Education (NCME) Fireside Chat on considerations for the inclusion of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment in the past, present, and future that featured a NCEO staff member.  This newsletter concludes with lists of upcoming NCEO presentations at the annual Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), American Educational Research Association (AERA), and NCME conferences.

Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director

Number and Percentage of English Learners with Disabilities by Disability Category

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) recently published an interactive web-based tool, titled, Number and Percentage of English Learners with Disabilities by Disability Category, 2012-13 to 2020-21 (NCEO Data Analytics #18). This product 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 for each of the 13 federal disability categories.

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Understanding the Characteristics of English Learners with Disabilities

Since the 1990s, states have been mandated to ensure the inclusion of all students in assessments, including students with disabilities and English learners. English learners with disabilities are students who are in both of these groups. The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has a brief titled Understanding the Characteristics of English Learners with Disabilities to Meet Their Needs During State and Districtwide Assessments (NCEO Brief #24) that highlights federal data on the characteristics of English learners with disabilities, and shows changes in the population over time.

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A Framework for Making Decisions About Participation in a State’s Alternate ELP Assessment

A Framework for Making Decisions About Participation in a State’s Alternate ELP Assessment (NCEO Report 426), which was published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), offers state education agencies guidance on identifying English learners eligible for alternate English language proficiency (alt-ELP) assessments due to significant cognitive disabilities. It emphasizes the challenges in determining eligibility, particularly the interplay between language and cognitive ability.

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Guidebook on Including Students with Disabilities, English Learners, and English Learners with Disabilities in Assessments

The Guidebook to Including Students with Disabilities and English Learners in Assessments (NCEO Report 420) provides 10 lessons about how to ensure inclusive assessment practices for students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities. It is directed to state department of education staff and others interested in ensuring that assessments and assessment policies are inclusive of all students in the most appropriate ways possible.

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Links to State Policies on Assessment of English Learners with Disabilities

Did you know that NCEO regularly compiles and updates information on state policies related to the assessment of English learners with disabilities? If you have questions about what states allow or how states’ policies are worded, check out the webpages.

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Fireside Chat on Including Students with Disabilities in Large-Scale Assessments

The National Center on Educational Outcomes’ (NCEO’s) Andrew Hinkle gave a Fireside Chat for the National Council on Measurement in Education’s (NCME) Large-Scale Assessment Special Interest Groups in Measurement in Education (SIGIMIE) titled, Considerations for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Large-Scale Assessment: Past, Present, and Future.

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Upcoming NCEO Presentations at CEC, AERA, and NCME

NCEO staff will present at the annual conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children
(CEC), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and the American
Education Research Association (AERA).

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The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G210002) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, the contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Project Officer: David Egnor

Welcome

Effective communication is a cornerstone for fostering collaboration, understanding, and ultimately, student success. Recognizing the importance of communication, we are featuring in this newsletter some of NCEO’s resources for parents and families. The first article is about NCEO’s new Empowering Parents Toolkit which includes videos, one-page flyers, and example social media posts on assessments and assessment-related state systemic improvement plans (SSIPs). Be sure to check out my personal favorite in this series: the video on why assessments are important, and why children with disabilities should participate in them. It is available in English and Spanish.

The next article is about several powerful fact sheets that state education agencies, districts, and schools can use to engage parents and families and enhance their understanding of state assessments. In this issue, there is also an article about several resources for parents and families in NCEO’s Participation Communications Toolkit, including 1-page—as well as customizable—flyers for parents and students.

Additionally, in case you missed them, this issue includes information about several “oldies but goodies” for parents and families.

This issue also includes an article about several other recently published NCEO resources. These resources include a Brief on the school psychologist’s role in accommodations decision making, a report on the relationship between student placement and alternate assessment participation rates, and a report sharing the findings of an analysis of states’ 2021-22 participation guidelines and definitions for alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). 

NCEO is active on social media! Follow us to receive regular updates on our activities.

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/NationalCenteronEducationalOutcomes
• X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/NCEOinfo   
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/national-center-on-educational-outcomes-nceo
• TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@nceoinfo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nceo.info/
• Threads: www.threads.net/@nceo.info
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnvPMaguIvwYqWrBSgZKlUA

Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director

Engaging and Enabling Parents: Empowering Parents Toolkit

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) recently published the Empowering Families Toolkit. The purpose of the toolkit is to provide accessible materials for parents about topics related to assessments, and assessment-related State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs) and State-Identified Measurable Results (SIMRs) that states commit to reaching. These materials are designed to help support parent participation in stakeholder meetings.

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Building Trust Through Two-Way Communication: Assessment Fact Sheets for Parents

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) recently published four parent fact sheets with information about student participation in state tests. These engaging Fact Sheets provide easily accessible basic information about state tests, as well as instruction.

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Unlocking the Power of Communication: NCEO’s Participation Communication Toolkit

State test participation has benefits for students, their families, and their schools. The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) recently updated its Participation Communications Toolkit. It is intended to provide a neutral but useful mechanism to guide positive, thoughtful conversations about student testing participation.

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Oldies But Goodies: NCEO Parent Resources You May Have Missed

One of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO’s) all-time most popular resources for parents is an infographic about the implications of assessment participation decisions. Start with the End in Mind: An Infographic to Guide Decisions about Student Participation in the Alternate Assessment provides guidance about IEP team decision making for a student’s participation in the state’s alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS).

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Other Recently Published NCEO Resources

In addition to the parent resources highlighted in this newsletter, NCEO recently published several other new products, including School Psychologists’ Role in Accommodations Decision Making (NCEO Brief #32), The Relationship between Student Placement and AA-AAAS Participation Rates (NCEO Report #439), and 2021-22 Participation Guidelines and Definitions for Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (NCEO Report #440).

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The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G210002) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, the contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Project Officer: David Egnor

Welcome

Summer greetings from NCEO! In this issue, we highlight some new NCEO products, as well as several upcoming events. The first article is about two new tools that can be used to develop state and district assessment participation action plans. Next is an article about gaps in the accommodations research literature.

This issue includes a summary of all the sessions in which NCEO is participating during the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA). Finally, there is an article on the forum on What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean? that follows NCSA. The article includes information on how to register for the forum.

– Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director

Tools for Developing State and District Assessment Participation Action Plans

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allows for states to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education if they think they will exceed the 1% cap on alternate assessment participation for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. However, in order for a state to receive a waiver, it must meet the ESSA requirement that 95 percent of all students, as well as 95 percent of students with disabilities, participated in accountability assessments. For states wanting to improve student assessment rates, NCEO published two new companion resources.

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Gaps in the Accommodations Research Literature

There is an urgent need for additional knowledge about how to appropriately use accommodations to ensure that assessments are accessible and validly measure what students know and can do. A recently published NCEO Brief, Gaps in the Accommodations Research Literature (NCEO Brief #31), presents consolidated information about gaps in the research literature on assessment accommodations.

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NCEO at the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA)

The Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) annual National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) provides an opportunity for assessment practitioners to learn and reflect upon current and emerging trends in education and educational assessments. This year’s NCSA theme will be Improving Student Learning for All: Advancing Innovative Uses of Assessment Data. NCSA will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 26-28, and NCEO staff members will participate in several sessions.

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Forum on What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean?

Most of us use technology devices every day. Yet, many of the same technologies that we take for granted to access our world and that students use in their day-to-day lives are not always available to them in the classroom and are not permitted on assessments. On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., NCEO and the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Assessment, Standards, and Education of Students with Disabilities (ASES) collaborative will jointly hold a forum on issues surrounding the use of technology students use in their day-to-day lives and what that means for assessment participation.

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The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G210002) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, the contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Project Officer: David Egnor

Welcome

Greetings from NCEO in a new year. The year 2023 arrived quickly, and a lot already is happening. I always enjoy working with the team that pulls together the NCEO eNewsletters. As we work to select which products and activities to highlight, it is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the many things that NCEO is doing

In this issue we share information about four new products: a disproportionality calculator tool that can be used to examine disproportionality with respect to student subgroup participation in the alternate assessment; a brief on including students with disabilities in K-2 assessments; a brief on involving students with disabilities in selecting accessibility features and accommodations; and a policy analysis of how states’ policies address the qualifications and training requirements for test administrators, proctors, and accommodations providers.

Additionally, this issue contains an updated list of accommodations included in the NCEO Accommodations Toolkit. There is both a research summary and a policy analysis for each accommodation included in the toolkit. 

Finally, in this issue, we provide information on sessions at the annual conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and the American Education Research Association (AERA) that include NCEO staff.

As always, we welcome feedback and ideas about what you would like to see in future issues of NCEO’s eNewsletter. We enjoy hearing from you.

– Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director

Disproportionality Calculator for Alternate Assessment Participation

Students who do not have the most significant cognitive disabilities may sometimes be inappropriately assigned to participate in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). There is concern that a disproportionate percentage of students from some racial and ethnic subgroups may be over-identified as having a most significant cognitive disability and inappropriately assigned to this assessment.

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Including Students with Disabilities in K-2 Assessments

Many states and school districts have implemented K-2 academic assessments. These assessments are often used to measure progress or growth, for instructional decision-making, to predict grade 3 summative assessment performance, or to track literacy for reading guarantees. They may also be used in some State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs), as either the State-Identified Measurable Result (SIMR) or as a measure of progress in a state’s evaluation plan for its SSIP.

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Involving Students in Selecting and Implementing Accommodations

Many students with disabilities use accessibility features and accommodations during instruction and when taking assessments. It is important to consider student perceptions about what works and their preferences when making accessibility and accommodations decisions. Students are often the best source of information about their strengths and needs, and what helps.

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New Report Documents State Policies for Test Administrators, Proctors, and Accommodations Providers

To help ensure that assessments are properly administered, states have developed policies about who can administer or proctor assessments and the training they must have. Similarly, states have policies regarding who can provide accommodations to help ensure that the accommodations are provided appropriately. Little is known about these policies.

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Updated Accommodations Toolkit

NCEO publishes an Accommodations Toolkit that continues to expand. This toolkit provides easy-to-use summaries of the academic research literature on specific accommodations for students with disabilities as well as companion state policy analyses summarizing how each accommodation is included in states’ assessment accessibility policies.

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Upcoming NCEO Presentations at CEC, NCME, and AERA

NCEO staff will present at the annual conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and the American Education Research Association (AERA).

read entire article

The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G210002) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, the contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Project Officer: David Egnor

Welcome

In this issue we highlight several new NCEO activities and products. The first article is about a toolkit for new state special education directors. The toolkit is designed to be easy to use and help new directors (and their staff) become experts on how to include students with disabilities in assessments. Next is an article about NCEO’s presence on TikTok. We are excited to use social media in new ways that reach a broader audience. There is also an article about the recently published proceedings of the forum on assistive technology interoperability with online assessment platforms and other technology and services that followed the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA). Additionally, there is an article about a recent scan of the national landscape of formative assessment definitions and how students with disabilities are included in them, as well as articles about NCEO presentations at the recent National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) conference and at the upcoming Conference on Test Security (COTS).

– Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director

New Toolkit to Help Special Education Directors With Academic Assessments

What New Special Education Directors Need to Know about Academic Assessments is a toolkit for new state special education directors. It provides them with easy access to information to ensure students with disabilities participate in state, district, and school assessments and do so in a manner that is appropriate for each student’s instructional and assessment needs.

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NCEO is on TikTok

NCEO launched a social media campaign in August for What New Special Education Directors Need to Know about Academic Assessments. To disseminate the toolkit, NCEO created a series of nine short form videos, often called Reels, that range from around a minute and a half to three minutes. NCEO chose to use the social media platform TikTok because it is centered around these short videos and is now one of the dominant social media platforms in the world.

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NCEO Forum on Assistive Technology Interoperability with Online Assessment Platforms and Other Technology Products and Services

In June 2022, following the National Conference on Students Assessment (NCSA) in Atlanta, Georgia, NCEO, together with the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO)  Assessment, Standards, and Education for Students with Disabilities (ASES) Collaborative, hosted a forum titled Assistive Technology Interoperability with Online Assessment Platforms and Other Technology Products and Services: Making it All Work! 

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The Formative Assessment Practices Landscape for Students with Disabilities

Formative assessments are increasingly used to measure student progress towards desired learning outcomes and to determine which students may need additional instructional support. Yet not every state education agency (SEA) defines formative assessment in the same way and students with disabilities may not be explicitly included in formative assessment practices. The report The Formative Assessment Practices Landscape for Students with Disabilities: An Analysis of State Definitions and Practices, 2021 provides a scan of the national landscape of formative assessment definitions.

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NCEO Presentations at NASDSE

NCEO recently participated in the 84^th annual conference of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Upcoming NCEO at Conference on Test Security (COTS)

The 2022 Conference on Test Security (COTS) will be held in Princeton, New Jersey on October 26-28. This conference provides an opportunity for test security experts from a variety of organizations to share research and discuss important relevant issues. NCEO staff members will participate.

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The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G210002) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, the contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Project Officer: David Egnor

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