No Child Left Behind: Considerations for the Assessment of Students with Disabilities

1. No Child Left Behind:Considerations for the Assessment of Students with Disabilities Martha Thurlow and Sandra Thompson National Center on Educational Outcomes University of Minnesota

2. No Child Left Behind . . . a reauthorization of ESEA continuing in the context of the standards-based reform movement . . .with an emphasis on system accountability

3. Purpose of No Child Left Behind “…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”

4. NCLB does NOT require student accountability (e.g., graduation exams to get a diploma) • NCLB does require SYSTEM level accountability to ensure that all students learn to high levels.

5. Requirements • State standards for what a child should know in math and reading now, and in science by 2005-06 • Test every student's progress toward the standards. Beginning in 2005-06, test in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school in math and reading. Beginning in 2007-08, science achievement must also be tested.

6. Under NCLBAssessments shall provide for… • Participation of all students • Reasonable adaptations and accommodations for students with disabilities (IDEA & 504), and alternate assessment • Inclusion of limited English proficient students with accommodations, including, if practicable, native-language versions of the assessment • Assessment in English of reading/language arts for any student in US for 3 consecutive school years

7. But, isn’t IDEA our law? Why do we have to worry about NCLB?

8. IDEA 1997 . . . a reauthorization created within the context of the standards-based reform movement . . . with another reauthorization coming in 2003

9. Key Provisions in IDEA 97 • Statement of present levels, needs, and how they affect involvement and progress in general curriculum • Annual goals and objectives to allow involvement and progress in the general curriculum

10. Key Provisions in IDEA 97 • General educator collaboration • Assessment – full integration into standards-based reform The key provisions in IDEA 97 really address equity concerns – access to common standards, challenging curriculum, and effective instruction

11. How do IDEA and NCLB “fit together?” NCLB Requirements IDEA Requirements Together, they require us to address content standards, achievement standards, assessment and access to the general curriculum

12. Assumptions that underlie both NCLB and IDEA point to the benefits of standards-based systems for all students • All children can learn • We need to be responsible for the learning of all children

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

14. This is SO important … “It is not possible to predict which children will be in the top half of the achievement distribution at any given level of general intelligence.” Kevin McGrew (2003)

15. IQ=75 + 5 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 Child A in School What should our expectations be for “Child in School” in reading?

16. Educators’ views of expected reading achievement performance based on IQ of 75 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 BRS Basic Rdg Skills SS (for GIA SS = 70-80)

17. Regression-based expected score Where will most of the Child A’s of the world achieve in reading? How can this be ? 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 BRS Basic Rdg Skills SS (for GIA SS = 70-80)

18. “For most students with below average IQ scores, it is NOT possible to predict individual levels of expected achievement with the degree of accuracy that would be required to deny a student the right to high standards/expectations.” Kevin McGrew (2003) http://www.iapsych.com/iapdirector.htm

19. Data Are Emerging New York Regents Exam, 2001: Number of students with disabilities passing is higher than the number taking in the past Trend data across grades in large southern state – special education population changes over time mask closing of gap between special education and general education students

20. 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

21. Critical Assessment Issues • Decision Making • Accommodations • Universally Designed Assessments • Alternate Assessments

22. 3 Ways to Participate in Assessments • Same way as other students • With accommodations • In an Alternate Assessment But, this does not mean that it is simple

23. Decisions and the IEP team The IEP team has authority to make decisions. . . But this does not mean that it is simple • WHO needs to be part of the discussion? • WHAT external opportunities and constraints must be considered? • IMPLICATIONS of decisions must be identified and discussed, recorded, and reconsidered each year.

24. Accommodations Accommodations are changes in instructional and assessment materials or procedures that allow the student’s knowledge and skills to be developed and assessed. Accommodations provide students with disabilities access to instruction and assessments, so that ALL can have access, participate, and make progress . . .

25. Good Accommodations Decisions • Start with good instructional decisions • Systematic questions about accommodations for individual students • Collection of data to aid decision making What helps student learn or perform better? What has student or parents told you? What gets in the way of the student showing skills? What has the student been taught to use?

26. Setting Presentation Study carrel Repeat directions Small group Large print edition Individualized Braille edition Timing Response Extended time Mark test booklet Frequent breaks Word processor Unlimited time Use references Types of Accommodations Scheduling Other Specific time of day Test preparation Subtests in different order Out-of-level Across multiple days Motivational cues

27. Report on a Case Study: Out-of-Level Testing in a School District Jane Minnema

28. Research Questions • Student instruction? • Student and teacher perceptions? • Student selection?

29. Data Collection Strategies • IEP reviews (n=14) • Teacher provided student data (n=65) • Face-to-face interviews • Conducted on-site in the schools

30. Conclusions • Instructed below grade of enrollment • Not reported in accountability programs • Test scores not usable for instructional decisions • Policy implementation inconsistencies • Lacked understanding of future effects

31. Definitional Issues Some accommodations are considered to change what is assessed, and others are viewed as “ok” – But the terms used to describe what is and isn’t “ok” vary across the states and districts. Know what terms mean in your state and district!

32. Stay on top of the literature at: http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/ AccomStudies.htm [NCEO’s online accommodations bibliography with search features]

33. Is the the choice of accommodations appropriate? • Aligned with instructional accommodations, but not an excuse not to teach • Student needs it to demonstrate knowledge and skills – or to participate in assessment • Implications of using this accommodation have been identified and carefully considered • Not determined by test publisher, but by student need, what is being measured (construct), and the purpose of the test

34. Legal Cases Are Changing Views About Accommodations Oregon – a new view of accommodations (innocent until proven guilty) California – cannot require a special waiver to use needed accommodations

35. Oregon Case “Accommodations shall be considered allowable, valid, and scorable if they are used during instruction1 or classroom assessment and are listed on a student’s IEP or Section 504 plan, unless ODE can show that the accommodation invalidates the score interpretation.2 Rather than consider all accommodations first invalid until proven valid, ODE shall consider all accommodations valid unless ODE can show that the accommodation would invalidate the score interpretation.” Oregon ASK Settlement Agreement

36. California Case U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer said the state may administer its first mandatory statewide high school exit exam this week as planned. But he ruled that special education students can be afforded any testing accommodation that they have been determined to need, including the use of calculators, spell- checkers, or extra time, during the testing set for March 5-7…. The judge has yet to rule on how the state should grade the tests of students with disabilities, as well as other contentious issues. Education Week, March 6, 2002

37. Issues: • Tendency to allow too many accommodations, possibly reducing expectations for student learning. • Poor decision making about accommodations, reflecting lack of knowledge about instructional accommodations. • Use of accommodations as an excuse to exclude students scores on reports or accountability.

38. Promising Practices: • States keeping track of how many students use accommodations and which ones. • Out-of-the-box thinking about the use of accommodated test scores. • Clear decision-making criteria (e.g., alignment to instructional accommodations) and training on how to make decisions. • Teaching students about the tests they take and about the accommodations that they need.

39. Recommendations for IEP Teams • Develop a process for making decisions about accommodation use • Choose accommodations based on individual student needs and preferences • Teach students to use selected accommodations routinely in the classroom, at home, and in the community – evaluate effectiveness

40. Recommendations for IEP Teams • Know state/district accommodations policies • Give students opportunities to use selected accommodations on practice tests • Make sure test administrators know about accommodations a student will use • Record accommodations use accurately on test booklet (or other form)

41. Individualized accommodation decisions should be linked to what is being assessed, access tools a student uses for learning, and the student’s characteristics FOR EXAMPLE: Purposeful reading – reading to select and apply relevant information for a given task Does this allow different ways of interacting with print? And, what are the implications for accommodations?

42. The “door” we need to go through: What is meant by ‘reading’ What about ‘literacy?’ The answer(s) to these questions will determine the accommodations that can be used when certain content standards are taught and assessed!

43. Visual Tactile (feeling print) Auditory (listening to printed messages) Multi-modal (using any combination of the above modalities) Printed text; ASL Article in Braille and Nemeth Codes Listen to taped articles (Radio or TV?) Computer-based “assistive” reading/ viewing programs– (e.g., digital talking news) Ways to interact with print: with examples of accommodations

44. Moving to universally designed instruction and assessment Universally Designed Instruction and Assessmentsare designed to be accessible and valid for the widest range of students

45. Think about universal design in architecture and tool design • Curb cuts and ramps • Elevators that talk to you • Door handles rather than knobs • Special pen shapes that are easier to hold

46. Elements of Universally Designed Assessments • Inclusive assessment population • Precisely defined constructs • Accessible, non-biased items • Amenable to accommodations

47. Elements of UD Assessments (continued) • Simple, clear, and intuitive instructions and procedures • Maximum readability and comprehensibility • Maximum legibility

48. “Think aloud” • Recently interviewed 90 students using think aloud protocol • 4th and 8th grade • Used multiple choice and constructed response items from state math test

49. StudentCharacteristics

50. Overall Observations • Students who were confident of content did not have problems with design • Students who had no idea how to solve the problem did not have problems with design • Students “in the middle” – not sure of content, some reading difficulty, design made a difference