The Standards and Assessments Peer Review– Pg 8
Inclusion
Critical Element
Participation data must be included and show that all students in the required grades/grade ranges are included in the assessments.
Evidence
Documentation must be provided that shows the participation rate is calculated as a proportion of the students enrolled and the students assessed in total and in each subgroup.
Critical Element
Provide guidelines the State has for including all students with disabilities in the regular assessment system.
Evidence
Documentation must be provided to show how the State is making efforts to include students with significant cognitive disabilities in the regular assessment and that if alternate achievement standards are adopted for these students, guidelines and training are provided for the identification and assessment of these students.
Critical Element
If alternate achievement standards have been adopted/approved for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, provide the following:
- guidelines for IEP teams to use in identifying which students should be assessed with alternate achievement standards;
- how the State ensures that parents are informed that their student will be assessed on alternate achievement standards;
- documentation that, to the extent possible, students with the most significant cognitive abilities are included in the regular assessments;
- documentation on how the State has developed, disseminated information on, and promoted use of appropriate accommodations to increase the numbers of these students participating in the regular assessment system; and
- procedures to ensure that personnel are trained in administration of all assessments including making use of accommodations.
Evidence
Documentation on alternate achievement standards must include all five criteria.
Critical Element
Provide the following:
- Whether they have provided assessments, to the extent practicable, in the language and form most likely to yield accurate and reliable information on what these students know and can do.
- Whether the State requires participation of all LEP students regardless of how long they have been enrolled in U. S. schools.
- Whether the State has adopted policies that LEP students be assessed on reading/English language arts standards in English if they have been enrolled in US schools for three consecutive years or more.
Evidence
For the 2003-04 assessments, students in their first year of enrollment in U. S. schools may be exempt from the State’s reading/language arts assessment.
Provide policies, regulations, guidelines related to inclusion of LEP students including information such as allowed accommodations.
Critical Element
Ensure the identification and inclusion of migrant and other mobile students in the assessment system in the required tested grades.
Evidence
Evidence should include policies, guidelines, and practices used by the State to include mobile students.
*Note:
- Provide participation data for students with disabilities and LEP students (in addition to participation rates for all students).
- Indicate how the needs of students with disabilities and LEP students were considered as part of the test development process.
- Indicate how the assessments are linguistically-accessible for LEP students.
- Describe how the range of assessment options for students with disabilities and LEP students yields scores that are valid and reliable for these groups.
- Describe how the state monitors the application and use of its inclusion policies.
