State and district leaders tasked with developing requests for proposals (RFPs) for interim assessments face an important question: Are our RFPs ensuring that all students—including students with disabilities and English learners—can meaningfully demonstrate their knowledge and skills on these assessments? A new resource from NCEO provides the support you need. In NCEO Report 445, Developing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Interim Assessments that Include All Students, author Wesley Bruce presents clear, actionable guidance to help assessment staff develop RFPs that prioritize accessibility and inclusion from the start. The report includes sample language pulled from actual state RFPs to illustrate a variety of approaches, tailored to fit different state contexts and capacities.

This report responds to urgent gaps identified in a 2021 review conducted by NCEO and the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (NCIEA), which found that no interim assessments at that time met the needs of students who required alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). These gaps not only reflect missed opportunities for inclusion but also raise concerns about compliance with federal laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The report goes beyond high-level recommendations. It outlines key areas to consider when writing RFPs, such as:

• Ensuring test developers build accessibility features into the design of interim assessments rather than adding them as an afterthought.
• Including students who take AA-AAAS in interim assessment design, recognizing that their needs are often overlooked.
• Weighing the time and financial costs of different approaches so that decisions align with state assessment needs and available resources.

For state and district leaders committed to building more equitable assessment systems, this report offers the clarity, flexibility, and specificity needed to create RFPs that truly serve all students—right from the beginning.