Basics of Special Education: District-wide Assessments

District-wide Assessments

Must all children with disabilities participate in District-wide assessments?

Make sure that decisions regarding the appropriate accommodations for district-wide assessments (DWA) are made carefully and are based on the child's individual needs and not his/her disability.

Special Connections: Teacher Tools for Assessment Accommodations

IDEA requires that the IEP Team determine how the child with a disability is assessed, not whether the child is assessed. IDEA recognizes that children learn in different ways, with different methods of instruction and assessment. The IEP Team is required to determine which accommodations are necessary, how to instruct the child, and how to assess the child. The IEP Team can have a child with a disability take the regular district wide assessment; the regular district wide assessment with appropriate accommodations such as Braille, additional time, or having the instructions read to the child multiple times; an alternate assessment aligned to grade level standards; or an alternate assessment aligned to alternate achievement standards.

Accommodations for Assessments

A statement is required in the IEP of appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on district-wide assessments, including assessments mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and whether the child will participate in the regular assessment or an alternate assessment.

IDEA 2004 eliminates the term "modifications" in relation to assessment because the term has become associated with changes that alter what the test measures. An accommodation, on the other hand, commonly means changes in format, response, setting, timing, or scheduling that don't alter in any way what the test measures or the comparability of scores.

Accommodations for classroom instruction and classroom tests may differ from accommodations allowed on state assessments. All accommodations and the type of instruction or testing for which they are intended should be included in the IEP.

Assessment Options

The inclusion of all students in district-wide assessment systems was required under the 1997 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IEP teams are now required to make a series of decisions related to how individuals with disabilities will be included in district-wide assessments. All students must participate in either the district-wide assessment or the alternate assessment.

District-wide. A student takes all district-wide/grade level assessments without accommodations.

District-wide with Accommodations. The accommodations must be specified. Best practice would say that only accommodations used during the regular school day should be used for district-wide assessments.

Alternate Assessments. Students who participate in alternate assessments have characteristics of severe disabilities, including significant deficits in language and communication and adaptive behaviors. The student requires intensive, highly individualized instruction in order to acquire knowledge, make generalizations, and/or demonstrate skills across natural environments. The goal is to have 1% or less of the students in Iowa participating in alternate assessments. Students participating in the alternate assessment will have their progress in math and reading assessed via a portfolio that is assembled by the staff. The portfolio is submitted and then scored by Iowa educators using a state-developed rubric. Individual student scores are reported to the schools and districts.

The Basics of Special Education