In June 2022, following the National Conference on Students Assessment (NCSA) in Atlanta, Georgia, NCEO, together with the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Assessment, Standards, and Education for Students with Disabilities (ASES) Collaborative, hosted a forum titled Assistive Technology Interoperability with Online Assessment Platforms and Other Technology Products and Services: Making it All Work!
Individuals representing staff from state departments of education, assessment vendors, and technology companies participated in the forum. The participants discussed issues surrounding the use of personal student assistive technology and online assessment participation. A specific goal of the forum was to discuss challenges students with disabilities and English learners, including English learners with disabilities, face when using their personal assistive technology or technology supports to participate in online assessments and to identify possible solutions.
After presentations that provided an overview of technology company and state perspectives, participants self-selected one of four groups: (a) learners with high incidence disabilities, (b) learners with sensory disabilities, (c) learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities, and (d) English learners, including English learners with disabilities. Discussions focused on four questions, although not all were addressed in each group:
- What type of assistive technology are you referencing?
- What is working (the success) for these students?
- In a perfect world, what would interoperability look like for these students?
- In order to have the ideal system, what would states, assessment vendors, and technology providers need to do differently?
The published meeting proceedings summarize both the introductory information provided to forum participants and the facilitated forum discussions that followed.