Welcome
2018 greetings from NCEO. In this issue, a new webpage on the NCEO website is highlighted, as well as a new report on states’ alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) participation guidelines and definitions of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Also in this issue is an update on the activities of the DIAMOND project, which is developing professional development materials, including online modules, on accessibility and accommodations. Finally, in this issue, we provide information on sessions at the annual conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).
– Martha Thurlow, NCEO Director
New Webpage on Assessment SSIPs/SIMRs
NCEO recently added a new webpage to its information on state policies. The new page provides information on those states that have selected an assessment-related State-Identified Measureable Result (SIMR) as part of their State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP). The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)-required SSIP is a comprehensive multi-year plan that states develop and report on annually to improve results for children with disabilities.
New NCEO Report on AA-AAS Participation Guidelines and Definitions of Student with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
NCEO has published a report titled Alternate Assessments for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities: Participation Guidelines and Definitions (NCEO Report 406). This report documents the status of states’ alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) participation guidelines and definitions of students with significant cognitive disabilities as of August, 2017. The report includes the factors that states indicated should and should not be considered when making decisions about participation in the AA-AAS.
Update on NCEO’s DIAMOND Project Activities
NCEO’s DIAMOND project, a collaboration of nine states, is entering its final year. The project is an Enhanced Assessment Grant awarded to the Minnesota Department of Education. The project has completed (or is close to completing) activities designed to provide information for the development of learning modules to support educators’ understanding of accessibility features and accommodations, and how to make good decisions about them.
NCEO Presentations at Upcoming CEC Convention
The 2018 annual convention of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) takes place February 7–10 in Tampa, Florida. NCEO staff members are presenting on several topics. For the entire list, see the article.
NCEO at AERA and NCME Conferences
The 2018 conferences of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) are great forums for researchers and policymakers. The 2018 conferences, which are held at approximately the same time and in the same location, are being held in New York City on April 13-17. NCEO staff members will participate in both meetings.
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.
Text readers are now available in many states for all students. On June 27, 2017 NCEO, the Assessing Special Education Students (ASES) State Collaborative on Assessments and Student Standards (SCASS), and the English Learners (EL) SCASS held a joint forum on issues surrounding the use of text readers on tests. This a report on the discussions about availability of text readers for everyone on all tests, the differences in terminology for text readers, ways to develop common language around text readers, and challenges associated with text readers.
NCEO has published its 2016 state survey report, titled 2016 Survey of States: State Activities Amid Evolving Educational Policies. 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.
NCEO has published Meeting the Needs of ELs (English Learners) with Disabilities in Your State: Making EL Exit Decisions (NCEO Brief #13). This Brief summarizes key findings from a 2016 survey of Title III directors that asked about state policies and practices for exiting ELs with disabilities from EL services.
NCEO staff members, Martha Thurlow and Sheryl Lazarus, will lead two YOU PICKS discussion sessions at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). YOU PICKS sessions are designed to be interactive sessions where states have the opportunity to reflect, share, question, and so forth.
Please join NCEO’s Kathy Strunk for a session at the Teacher Education Division (TED), Council on Exceptional Children (CEC) Conference in Savannah, Georgia, titled Using Formative and Interim Assessments to Improve Student Learning. This session will be held on November 9 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
NCEO presented a webinar on April 27, 2017 on Strategies for Meeting the 1% Cap on Participation in the State Alternate Assessment, covering what the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) says about the 1% cap on participation in the alternate assessment, the provisions in regulation for requesting a waiver from the 1% cap, and several strategies for meeting the 1% cap.
NCEO and the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) hosted a webinar on state-defined alternate diplomas for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
NCEO published the fifth Data Analytics report, State Assessment Participation and Performance of Students with IEPs, 2013-2014. The online interactive data report highlights the Annual Performance Report (APR) data for 2013-14 state-level assessment participation and performance results for students with IEPs.
NCEO’s Sheryl Lazarus is the co-author of a resource, Formative Assessment for Students with Disabilities, that was recently published by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). This report provides practical suggestions and information about how formative assessment can be used with all students, including students with disabilities.
Please join NCEO, the ASES SCASS, and the EL SCASS for a pre-session on June 27 at the National Conference on Student Assessment in Austin, Texas titled Text Readers for Everyone on All Tests – Getting a Handle on What This Means. This pre-session will bring together states, assessment vendors, and other educational stakeholders to address the need to develop clarity on the implementation of text readers.
The 2017 National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) is the premiere forum for assessment practitioners to discuss what is happening in the real world of educational assessment—what is new, what is going on at the state and federal level, what works, and what does not. NCEO staff members will participate in several sessions.
To try to understand the diploma options available for students with disabilities, Achieve and NCEO partnered to analyze the diplomas available in each state for the graduating class of 2015. The report,
NCEO and the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) recently jointly published a Brief, 
NCEO recently published a new report, 
In 2015, the National Center on Educational Outcomes and nine state partners (Minnesota, Alabama, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the Virgin Islands) began a two-year Enhanced Assessment Grant project called “Data Informed Accessibility—Making Optimal Needs-Based Decisions (DIAMOND).” The DIAMOND project will improve the validity of state English language arts, mathematics, and English language proficiency (ELP) assessment results by developing decision-making guidelines for choosing accessibility features and accommodations for K-12 students. We present updates that include a new project website and presentations at upcoming conferences.
NCEO has been awarded a five-year grant by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, to continue its work as a national technical assistance center. Starting October 1, 2016, NCEO’s knowledge development and technical assistance activities focus on increasing the participation and improving the results of students with disabilities on state and districtwide assessments.
An accessibility manual was recently published by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). It establishes guidelines for states to use for the selection, administration, and evaluation of accessibility supports for instruction and assessment of all students, including students with disabilities, English learners (ELs), ELs with disabilities, and students without an identified disability or EL status.
NCEO recently published a new report on high school accommodations policies, 2015-16 High School Assessment Accommodations Policies: An Analysis of ACT, SAT, PARCC and Smarter Balanced. Many students with disabilities and ELs use accommodations to access the ACT, SAT, PARCC, and Smarter Balanced assessments. This report analyzes differences in the accessibility framework, decision-making process, and terminology across the four assessments.
States annually report through an Annual Performance Report (APR) on their progress toward meeting the targets in their State Performance Plan (SPP). NCEO recently published several APR Snapshots that use 2013-14 APR data to look at how students with disabilities are included in assessments used for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) accountability.