Results from online focus groups with 232 school and district practitioners in five states are the topic of the report from NCEO’s IVARED project, Voices from the Field: Making State Assessment Decisions for English Language Learners with Disabilities. The purpose of the focus groups was to better understand the current assessment and accommodation decision-making process, test score use practices, and issues and challenges that educators face in making appropriate decisions for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities.

IVARED is an acronym that stands for: Improving the Validity of Assessment Results for English Language Learners with Disabilities. It is a project funded through an Enhanced Assessment Grant awarded to the Minnesota Department of Education. The project represents a collaboration with the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the University of Minnesota, and five states (Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington).

Assessment validity, participation decisions, accommodations decisions, and leadership were common themes across the focus groups conducted in the five states. Common points made by focus group participants included the following:

1. The validity of standardized tests was questioned. This was especially true because educators believed that the cultural and linguistic complexity of the test items and test format were not designed for ELLs with disabilities.
2. There was confusion about federal assessment policies and states’ exemption practices for assessment participation. The Individualized Education Program (IEP), which was the primary process used for making decisions about participation of ELLs with disabilities in assessments, was not as collaborative and multi-disciplinary as intended.
3. Although the IEP process was used to make decisions about accommodations for content assessments, it was less often used to make decisions about accommodations for assessments of English language proficiency.
4. Considerable support and guidance are needed from school and state education leaders for additional qualified staff and training, clear and consistent written assessment policies, and appropriate uses of state accountability test scores.

Several recommendations were generated based on the results of the focus group voices from the field. These are highlighted in the report available at http://www.cehd.umn.edu/nceo/OnlinePubs/IVAREDFocusGroupReport.pdf.