Welcome
Summer greetings from NCEO! In this issue, we highlight some new NCEO products, as well as several upcoming events. The first article is about two new tools that can be used to develop state and district assessment participation action plans. Next is an article about gaps in the accommodations research literature.
This issue includes a summary of all the sessions in which NCEO is participating during the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA). Finally, there is an article on the forum on What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean? that follows NCSA. The article includes information on how to register for the forum.
– Sheryl Lazarus, NCEO Director
Tools for Developing State and District Assessment Participation Action Plans
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allows for states to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education if they think they will exceed the 1% cap on alternate assessment participation for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. However, in order for a state to receive a waiver, it must meet the ESSA requirement that 95 percent of all students, as well as 95 percent of students with disabilities, participated in accountability assessments. For states wanting to improve student assessment rates, NCEO published two new companion resources.
Gaps in the Accommodations Research Literature
There is an urgent need for additional knowledge about how to appropriately use accommodations to ensure that assessments are accessible and validly measure what students know and can do. A recently published NCEO Brief, Gaps in the Accommodations Research Literature (NCEO Brief #31), presents consolidated information about gaps in the research literature on assessment accommodations.
NCEO at the National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA)
The Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) annual National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) provides an opportunity for assessment practitioners to learn and reflect upon current and emerging trends in education and educational assessments. This year’s NCSA theme will be Improving Student Learning for All: Advancing Innovative Uses of Assessment Data. NCSA will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 26-28, and NCEO staff members will participate in several sessions.
Forum on What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean?
Most of us use technology devices every day. Yet, many of the same technologies that we take for granted to access our world and that students use in their day-to-day lives are not always available to them in the classroom and are not permitted on assessments. On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., NCEO and the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Assessment, Standards, and Education of Students with Disabilities (ASES) collaborative will jointly hold a forum on issues surrounding the use of technology students use in their day-to-day lives and what that means for assessment participation.
The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G210002) 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. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, 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 Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Project Officer: David Egnor
