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State Accountability Assessments and Students with Special Needs

State Accountability Assessments and Students with Special Needs. Students with IEPs, English Language Learners (ELL) and Students will 504 Plans. Special Needs Students and Accommodations. Appropriate accommodations can ‘level the playing field’ for special needs students.

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State Accountability Assessments and Students with Special Needs

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  1. State Accountability Assessments and Students with Special Needs Students with IEPs, English Language Learners (ELL) and Students will 504 Plans

  2. Special Needs Students and Accommodations • Appropriate accommodations can ‘level the playing field’ for special needs students. • Appropriate accommodations can make the items more accessible so that students can most fully demonstrate their knowledge and skills. • Actions or strategies that change the construct of an assessment are MODIFICATIONS and should not be provided to students.

  3. Accommodations Considerations • What specialized instruction does the student need to achieve grade level content standards? • Is the accommodation necessary for the student to access instruction and assessments? • Is the accommodation regularly used during instruction and on classroom assessments? • What are the results of assignments and classroom assessments when accommodations are used and not used? (quantitative measure of effectiveness of the accommodation) • Does the student feel the accommodation is helpful? Other IEP members?

  4. More Accommodations Considerations • What difficulties, if any, did the student experience when using the accommodation? • Is there a plan for scaffolding or “diminishing support” of an accommodation to ensure the student does not become overly dependent upon the accommodation? • Is the accommodation allowable on state assessments? • Is the accommodation appropriate for the skill area impacted by the disability? • Is the student willing to learn the suggested accommodation?

  5. Prepare for Students’ Accommodations Well in Advance • All accommodations must be reviewed at least annually to determine ifthe accommodation(s) need to be: • Continued • Continued with changes • Discontinued • If new accommodations are added, ensure there is sufficient time (at least 5 weeks) for the student to learn and use the accommodation during instruction and classroom assessments before the actual testing date.

  6. Accommodations • Well before your testing window read pages 15-17 in the WCSD Primer for Testing and discuss the information with all staff working with special needs students, especially the following: • IEP students’ accommodations forms MUST match their IEPs. • Only those accommodations afforded to students routinely in their classrooms throughout the school year should be written into their IEPs, 504 plans and ELL forms and afforded them during large scale assessments.

  7. Accommodations • Be sure to provide accommodations as outlined in the students’ IEP, LEP or Section 504 Accommodations Form. • We want to make every effort to provide fair access to the testing process; however, matching a history of need with the appropriate accommodation is important.

  8. More Accommodations • The NDE continues to allow Former LEP students exited LESS THAN 2 YEARS to receive testing accommodations. • Things to remember: • students cannot receive testing accommodations unless they are consistent with instructional accommodations they are already receiving. • It is bad practice, often leading to poorer performance, to add accommodations just in a hope that student performance will improve. • The allowable accommodations for FORMER LEPs are the same as those for current LEPs. The same processes used for current LEPs need to be followed for Formers.

  9. Accommodations • The size of a “small group”, by NDE definition, is 1-20 students; therefore, there is no need to specify one-on-one testing in IEPs or accommodations forms. The optimum size of a small group remains less than 10.

  10. Good Practice… • Not all students benefit from being given all accommodations. • It is not good practice to simply afford students all of the available accommodations on the form. In fact, this practice may be harmful to many, if not all, students.

  11. Are Students Ready for the Test Experience? • Make sure that all special needs students are familiar with the person(s) who will be administering the test with accommodations. • Provide “Dry Run” practice with all accommodations (i.e. calculator use, read-aloud, dictating responses, dictionary use, use of approved assistive technology).

  12. Read-Aloud Accommodation • If you are a Special Education or ESL teacher, or otherwise help with special needs accommodations, and will be giving the accommodation to read the math or science test(s) ONLY, word for word, text only, in English, to students, remember: 1. You must read and sign the confidentiality agreement; 2. you must NOT verbalize, explain, sign or define mathematical or scientific symbols (this means numbers, also).

  13. Read-Aloud • The read-aloud accommodation may be provided on an “as-needed” basis reading portions of a test aloud to students as they ask for the service, or… • The accommodation may be read in its entirety to a small group who all have the same version of a test book. • Be sure that the adult reader and the students are practiced in the use of agreed-upon, planned place holder word for the signs, symbols and numerals that cannot be read aloud. NOTE: This is a departure from previous WCSD guidance.

  14. Also Good Practice… • Whenever possible assign veteran or highly accomplished staff to be administrators in rooms serving students with special needs. • It’s OK to assign regular education teachers to be test administrators to students with accommodations. • If you use regular education teachers to administer tests to students with accommodations, it is necessary to provide them with copies of the students’ accommodations forms and to train those teachers in the proper way to test with accommodations.

  15. Practicalities • It is good practice to produce a spreadsheet listing every test-eligible special needs student, the accommodations, if any, they require, the testing room(s) they will be in and the test administrator and proctors they will have. • This spreadsheet should be kept updated and should be shared with all staff involved in the testing of special needs students.

  16. Questions? Need Advice/Assistance? • Call Student Support Services: • Zone 1: 333-5361 • Zone 2: 861-4466 • Zone 3: 333-5039 • Zone 4: 861-4453

  17. Questions? Need Advice/Assistance? • Call/Email the Assessment Department: • 348-0248 • assessmentsupport@washoeschools.net

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