Sandy Thompson and Martha Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes University of Minnesota

1. Effective Implementation of Alternate Assessments for Students with Severe Disabilities Sandy Thompson and Martha Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes University of Minnesota

2. Alternate Assessment – for those students unable to participate in general state assessments New part of state and district assessment systems - Did not exist in most places before IDEA, 1997 - Lots of activity in the past three years!

3. ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN

4. LARA

5. Inform stakeholders about the importance of alternate assessments in the context of school reform. Educate all students in challenging content, with high expectations for their success. Identify partners to support alternate assessment participants in their work toward high standards. Use a practical process to decide how students will participate in assessments. Alternate Assessment Steps

6. 5. Develop standards-based IEPs and integrate with alternate assessments. 6. Use a variety of assessment strategies to collect alternate assessment data. Score, report, and use alternate assessment results. Evaluate alternate assessment implementation. Alternate Assessment Steps

7. Step 1.Inform stakeholders about the importance of alternate assessments in the context of school reform.

8. Standards-Based Reform Context High Standards All Students --- Everything else is negotiable --- schedules, place, time, structure, curriculum, methods of assessment, instructional methods . . . AcCOUNTability

9. IDEA Regulations 1999 General Comments “The new law has a goal of including children with disabilities in the general curriculum and improving results for these children, in contrast to the focus in prior law of simply providing disabled children access to public schools.”

10. Children with disabilities will be included in general state and district wide assessments with appropriate accommodations. SEA or LEA shall develop guidelines for participation; and develop, and, no later than July 1, 2000, conduct alternate assessments Sec 612(a)(17). Participation in State Assessments

11. No Child Left Behind . . . reinforces standards-based education for all students and introduces accountability for results

12. “…to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments” Stated purpose of No Child Left Behind

13. NCLB does NOT require Student Accountability NCLB requires SYSTEM level accountability to ensure all students learn to high levels.

14. Clarification of Assessments Eligibility Assessments Classroom Tests Large-ScaleAssessments Districtwide Statewide National

15. Step 2Educate all students in challenging content, with high expectations for their success.

16. Standards! Content standards = what all children should know and be able to do Performance/achievement standards = how well children must demonstrate what they know and are able to do

17. Title I “While some students with disabilities may need modified instructional approaches, generally all students need to be working toward the same challenging standards.”

18. Focus of Alternate Assessments is Evolving 19992001 Functional skills 16 states 4 states Standards 20 states 43 states No decision 24 states 3 states

19. Broadly define content standards “use math models to solve problems in everyday life” Avoid narrowly defined standards “master principles of trigonometry and the properties of algebraic functions” Tie alternate assessments to the same standards (Kleinert & Kearns, 2001) ALL STUDENTSSAME STANDARDS!!

20. Standard: “Student communicates ideas through speaking to various audiences” Critical Function: “Communicate ideas” Alternate Form: “Use augmentative and alternative communication system” Kleinert & Kearns, 2001 Critical Functions focus on function of standard in enhancing a student’s life

21. Step 3Identify partners to support alternate assessment participants in their work toward high standards.

22. Alternate assessment developers in nearly all states included: State special education and assessment personnel Local administrators, special and general educators, assessment coordinators, and related service providers Parents and advocates A few states included students and adults with disabilities Stakeholders Bring Different Values and Beliefs to the Table

23. Bring info. about standards and assessment to IEP team Bring info about student to IEP meetings Decide how student can work toward standards Provide instruction and support student in work toward standards Make alternate assessment participation decision Conduct alternate assessment Alternate Assessment Roles

24. Step 4Use a practical process to decide how students will participate in assessments.

25. Assessment Decision-Making Process

26. A student with a disability… Who requires substantial modifications to instructional level and learning standards in a content area, and Who requires intensive, individualized instruction in order to acquire and generalize knowledge, and Who is unable to demonstrate achievement of learning standards on a paper and pencil test, even with accommodations Example from MA training -Who should take MCAS-Alt?

27. Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Kentucky’s State-Wide Assessment STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (8.5% of Total Students) 23% Regular Test - No Accommodations 69% Regular Test - With Accommodations ALL STUDENTS 140,757 Students 8% Alternate Portfolio (.7% of Total)

28. Recent article in the Boston Globe (December 22, 2002) Katie Bartlett has spent all of her 17 years exceeding the expectations the world placed on her when she was born with Down syndrome. . . Still no one was quite sure what would happen when Bartlett took the MCAS exam, now a requirement for a high school diploma in Massachusetts. This is what happened: She passed

29. Step 5Develop standards-based IEPs and integrate with alternate assessments.

30. Lara will be fed Lara will be cleaned up Lara will be moved Lara’s IEP Goals Before Alternate Assessment

31. “The minimum that is needed for alternate assessment achievement is one observable, measurable voluntary response.”(for examples, see:www.uncc.edu/aap Diane Browder

32. Step 6Use a variety of assessment strategies to collect alternate assessment data.

33. Variations in Approach • Body of Evidence/ Portfolio 24 states • Checklist 9 states • IEP team determines strategy 4 states • IEP analysis 3 states • Combination of strategies 4 states • Specific performance assessment 4 states • No decision 2 states

34. Step 7Score, report, and use alternate assessment results.

35. Variations in StudentPerformance Measures • Skill/competence 40 states • Independence 32 states • Progress 24 states • Ability to generalize 18 states • Other 7 states

36. Variations in System Performance Measures • Variety of Settings 21 states • Staff Support 20 states • Appropriateness (e.g, age, challenge) 20 states • Gen. Ed. Participation 12 states • Parent Satisfaction 9 states • No system measures 8 states

37. Performance - demonstration of skill while attempting a given task. Each entry is scored Support - assistance provided to a student during performance of tasks. Each entry is scored Appropriateness - The degree to which the tasks 1) reflect the chronological age of a student, 2) provide a challenge for the student, and 3) are representative of real-world activities that promote increased independence. Each entry is scored Settings - settings or environments in which tasks are administered/performed for math entries; and for ELA entries. Scored once for each content area across entries Example: Arkansas Scoring DomainDefinitions

38. Reporting all results ensures inclusion of all students in accountability system Failure to report scores of students with disabilities sends message that they are not important and do not count “What is measured is treasured” Why Report Results

39. Step 8Evaluate alternate assessment implementation.

40. Positive Consequences

41. NCEO Resources Visit: education.umn.edu/nceo or Search for NCEO New links to your state’s Alternate Assessment information!

42. Alternate Assessment: Measuring Outcomes and Supports for Students with Disabilities (2001) by Harold Kleinert and Jacqui Farmer Kearns – Brookes Publishing Curriculum and Assessment for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities(2001) by Diane M. Browder - Guilford Press Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities (2001) by Sandra Thompson, Rachel Quenemoen, Martha Thurlow, and Jim Ysseldyke – Corwin Press Resources on Alternate Assessment