The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), limits participation in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) to 1% of a state’s tested population. The AA-AAAS is designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. States may submit a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education if they anticipate exceeding the 1% limit. One eligibility criterion for states seeking a waiver or waiver extension to the 1% cap is to show that at least 95% of all students, as well as 95% of students with disabilities, participated in the required state assessments used for accountability.

Two things that might have an effect on a state’s participation rate are how the state addressed the participation rate in its ESEA Consolidated State Plan and in its assessment opt-out policy. To learn more about how the 95% participation rate is addressed in ESEA consolidated state plans and in opt-out policies, the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) recently conducted two analyses. The findings were published in a report titled Two Pieces of a Puzzle: The 95% Participation Requirement in State Plans and States’ Opt-out Policies.

Consolidated State Plans

States have Consolidated State Plans that describe how ESEA will be implemented in their State. The plans describe how the state factors the 95% participation requirement into its statewide accountability systems, including a method for calculating the percentage of students who participate in statewide assessments.

To learn more about how the 95% participation rate is addressed in the ESEA Consolidated State Plans, NCEO analyzed states’ plans. This study found that although all 50 states plus the District of Columbia addressed the 95% participation requirement in their state plans, only 28 states included consequences of failing to meet the requirement. The most common consequences included requiring the development of an improvement plan, penalties such as dropping a grade level in the accountability system, and monitoring or audits conducted by the state. Ten states also indicated that consequences would escalate over multiple years for districts or schools that continued to not meet the participation requirement.

Opt-out Policies

A state’s assessment opt-out policy may have a bearing on assessment participation rates. Many states have developed these policies in response to the parental movement to opt students out from assessments. ESEA does not preempt a state or local law regarding the decision of a parent to not have the parent’s child participate in academic assessments.

To learn more about states’ opt-out policies, NCEO analyzed states’ policies. Information about opt-out policies was found on state websites or in state plans for 40 states. Of these states, 13 states prohibited opt-out, and 11 allowed opt-out. Additionally, 13 states addressed opt-out but had no state policy.