Welcome
Welcome to the winter NCEO e-newsletter I was honored to become the new director of NCEO last October when Martha Thurlow stepped down. I am very grateful for the support and encouragement that many of you provided during this transition.
I want to recognize the exceptional leadership that Martha provided NCEO over the years. Under her leadership, NCEO led the way in advocating for appropriate testing access, inclusion, and accommodations for students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities. We are very fortunate that Martha will continue to be part of NCEO on a part-time basis in a retirement position.
Prior to assuming my current role, I was the associate director of NCEO. I look forward to building upon NCEO’s incredible history to support the continued growth and development of this forward-thinking organization. This will only be possible because of NCEO’s great staff and partners. Over the years, I’ve been inspired by the passion and energy of the wonderful team at NCEO who are dedicated to improving the instruction and assessment of students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities.
In this issue, we highlight several NCEO resources that can be used to learn more about what the research says about the effectiveness of various accommodations. We also highlight several new publications, including a report on states’ alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) participation guidelines and definitions of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. A brief on considerations for states providing materials in braille is also highlighted, as well as a parent-educator toolkit developed by an affiliated project, the Improving Instruction for English Learners Through Improved Accessibility Decisions project. Finally, in this issue, we provide information on NCEO presentations and posters at the annual conference of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
The NCEO team and I love to hear from you. We welcome your ideas and suggestions for newsletter articles as we work to improve the instruction and assessment of all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities.
Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director
Accommodations Research Literature: Online Bibliographies and Research Summaries
NCEO has several resources that can be used to learn more about what the research says about the effectiveness of various accommodations. These include online searchable databases, and published summaries of the research on effects of test accommodations that go back to 1999.
New NCEO Report on AA-AAAS Participation Guidelines and Definitions of Student with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
NCEO has released a report titled 2018-19 Participation Guidelines & Definitions for Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards. This report provides an updated review of 2018-19 state criteria and guidelines for participation of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS).
New Brief on Considerations for States Providing Materials in Braille
NCEO recently published, Considerations for States Providing Materials in Braille. This brief provides information on, and recommendations for, providing appropriate braille materials for students.
Improving Instruction Parent-Educator Toolkit
The parents of English learners need to be involved in decisions about accessibility features for their children. An NCEO affiliated project, Improving Instruction for English Learners Through Improved Accessibility Decisions, recently developed a Parent-Educator Toolkit which contains a set of concise briefs for parents, teachers, and principals.
NCEO Presentations at Council for Exceptional Children Conference
The Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) annual conference will be held from February 5 through February 8, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. NCEO staff will be involved in several presentations and posters. We list here the conference presentations and posters by NCEO staff members.
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.