Some states have an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS).  The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) allows up to two percent of students to be counted as proficient with this assessment option. Students who participate in an AA-MAS must have an individualized education program (IEP) and be unlikely to achieve grade level proficiency within the year covered by the IEP.

In 2011 the U.S. Department of Education provided the opportunity for states to request flexibility from some of the ESEA accountability requirements. To receive a flexibility waiver, states with an AA-MAS were required to include a plan to phase out the use of the AA-MAS for ESEA accountability by the 2014-15 school year.

NCEO recently published a report, States’ Flexibility Plans for Phasing Out the Alternate Assessment Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) by 2014-15, that compiled, analyzed and summarized states’ transition plans. As students who participated in the AA-MAS are transitioned to the general assessment, states have a wonderful opportunity to really think thoughtfully about how to best instruct and assess low-performing students with disabilities and other struggling learners.