Welcome
This newsletter includes articles on a variety of topics. First, a Brief on examining disproportionality is highlighted, including ideas for looking at data when sample sizes are small; this brief also provides a link to a video on producing confidence intervals. Following that is an article highlighting a study of guidance manuals; it describes ideas and lessons learned from leaders who developed state education agency and local education agency guidance manuals for identifying, assessing, and referring English learners (ELs) to special education. Presentations that will be made by NCEO staff in November in St. Paul, Minnesota (MELEd) and February in Portland Oregon (CEC) are also listed in this newsletter. Finally information on products from two NCEO affiliated projects is presented – first, several products from the TIES Center are shown, followed by a description of a module that is now publicly available from the DIAMOND project.
Sheryl Lazarus assumed the directorship of NCEO on October 1, 2019, so this will be the last time I write this “Welcome.” For the next issue Sheryl will assume the “Welcome” note responsibilities, but I will still be part of NCEO and look forward to continuing to work with many of you as my role shifts.
– Martha Thurlow, NCEO Director
Examining Disproportionality of Student Group Participation in Alternate Assessments
The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) and the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (NCIEA) jointly published a Brief titled Guidance for Examining Disproportionality of Student Group Participation in Alternate Assessments. The purpose of this brief is to examine disproportionality with respect to student group participation in Alternate Assessments aligned with Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS). It is a companion to the NCEO brief, Guidance for Examining District Alternate Assessment Participation Rates. This brief provides a more detailed examination and illustration of disproportionality.
Guidance Manuals for Educators of English Learners with Disabilities: Ideas and Lessons from the Field
NCEO published a report, Guidance Manuals for Educators of English Learners with Disabilities: Ideas and Lessons from the Field (NCEO Report 410), written by Elizabeth Burr (WestEd). This report describes ideas and lessons learned from leaders who developed state education agency and local education agency guidance manuals for identifying, assessing, and referring English learners (ELs) to special education.
NCEO Presentations at MELEd and Council for Exceptional Children Conferences
NCEO staff will be involved in several presentations and posters at the 2019 MELEd Conference (MinneTESOL and the Minnesota Department of Education) from November 21 to November 23, 2019 in Saint Paul, MN as well as the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) annual conference to be held from February 2 through February 8, 2020, in Portland, OR. See the article for the full lists.
New TIES Center Publications on Inclusive Education for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities
NCEO’s affiliated center, TIES Center, which is the national center on inclusive policies and practices for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, has several new publications. See this article for more on Taking the Alternate Assessment Does NOT Mean Education in a Separate Setting! (TIES Center Brief #2), Using Systems Change Efforts to Implement and Sustain Inclusive Education Practices in General Education Settings for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities: A Review of the Literature (TIES Center Report #102), and Communication Competence in the Inclusive Setting: A Review of the Literature (TIES Center Report #103).
DIAMOND Project’s “Making Accessibility Decisions for Everyone” Online Professional Development Course Launches
NCEO’s affiliated project, the Data Informed Accessibility – Making Optimal Needs-based Decisions (DIAMOND) project, has released an online professional development module on accessibility features and accommodations, DIAMOND: Making Accessibility Decisions for Everyone. This professional development module is the culmination of the research work conducted by the DIAMOND project, and is designed to give educators the knowledge and tools they need to make, implement, and evaluate sound decisions about accessibility features for the students in their classrooms.
NCEO’s National Assessment Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G160001) 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. 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 Office within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.