NCEO’s 2016 state survey report, titled 2016 Survey of States: State Activities Amid Evolving Educational Policies, is now available. This report presents the results of the 15th survey of states by NCEO. The purpose of the report is to provide a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues in states during a period of new education laws and initiatives. Among the findings of this survey are the following:
- States were concerned about the possibility of exceeding the 1.0% cap on participation in the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards.
- Only a small number of states were planning to develop a state-defined alternate diploma.
- States were challenged by the need to train educators to make decisions about accessibility features and accommodations (regular states) or arranging for these to be implemented (unique states).
- More than one-half of states had made major revisions to their alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards since 2014.
A variety of other topics are addressed in the report, including ELs with disabilities, college and career ready high school assessments, reporting practices, assessment audits, measuring growth, graduation requirements, and assessment technology investments.