Assessment and Accommodations
By Stephen D. Luke, Ed.D. & Amanda Schwartz, Ph.D.

What About Alternate Assessments?

Alternate assessments are designed to evaluate the progress of students who are unable to participate in regular assessments, even with accommodations. For many students with disabilities, alternate assessments are the only appropriate way to evaluate how much they know, have learned, or can do. The IDEA requires that this alternative be available to students who need it, as decided by their IEP teams.
            When an IEP team determines that a statewide or districtwide assessment is not appropriate for a specific student, they must include in that student's IEP:

• An explanation as to why the regular general assessment is not appropriate for the student, and
• A description of how the student will be assessed instead.

While an important topic in its own right, alternate assessments are beyond the scope of this Evidence for Education. However, not to leave you in the lurch, should information on this topic be appropriate to your student, we would like to refer you to the following resources on alternate assessment.

• Raising Achievement: Alternate Assessments for Students with Disabilities. http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/raising/alt-assess-long.html
  This guidance from the U.S. Department of Education discusses the use of assessments for students with the most severe cognitive impairments and reviews federal requirements under NCLB and IDEA 2004.
  
  
• The National Alternate Assessment Center.
  http://www.naacpartners.org/Default.aspx
  The Center offers comprehensive information and technical assistance on the design and administration of high-quality alternate assessments.
  
  
• Alternate Assessments - Frequently Asked Questions.
  http://www.osepideasthatwork.org/parentkit/AltAssessFAQ.asp
  This FAQ is available as part of the OSEP Ideas That Work Toolkit.
  
  
• Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC).
  http://www.aacompcenter.org/cs/aacc/print/htdocs/aacc/home.htm
  The Center offers a national perspective on research-based resources and access to established collections of effective models, processes, research syntheses, toolkits, software systems, products, and strategies to fulfill specific state assessment and accountability needs.
  
  
• See also the Federal Guidance box on The Big Picture: Expectations, Content, and Testing

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Assessment and Accommodations:

-Introduction
-The Big Picture: Expectations, Content, and Testing
-Deciding Which Accommodations a Student Needs
-Types of Accommodations
-What Does the Research Say?
-What About Alternate Assessments?
-The Value of Progress Monitoring
-Conclusion
    -References