Accommodation Policies for States’ Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS) (Synthesis Report 90)
Since 1992, the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has analyzed participation and accommodation policies for students with disabilities on state administered assessments. This report focuses on accommodation policies for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). In addition to presenting a national overview of policies, we also address the results of our policy analysis by the four content assessment consortia (PARCC, SBAC, Dynamic Learning Maps, and the National Center and State Collaborative). This summary of the results of our analysis of accommodation policies for AA-AAS is organized under three areas of focus: the terms states used to describe changes in assessment administration, the specific accommodations addressed in policies overall, the accommodations addressed for ELLs and accommodation guidelines provided by states. Detailed information overall and by the four consortia are provided in the report appendices.
This is a very well-designed review; it provides an excellent synthesis and summary of state policies. This topic is of great interest among the states participating in the DLM and NSCS consortia. This brief will be very informative and helpful to policymakers and contains interesting findings on a topic that does not have a wide research body; it is a very useful contribution to the field.