Transcript Meeting Adequate Yearly Progress for Children with Disabilities Jane Minnema National Center on Educational Outcomes http://education.umn.edu/nceo Michael Burdge University of Kentucky.

Meeting Adequate Yearly Progress
for Children with Disabilities
Jane Minnema
National Center on Educational Outcomes
http://education.umn.edu/nceo
Michael Burdge
University of Kentucky
. . . a reauthorization of ESEA
continuing in the context of the
standards-based reform
movement . . .with an emphasis
on system accountability
NCLB does NOT require
student accountability
(e.g., graduation
exams to get diploma)
NCLB does require
SYSTEM level
accountability to ensure
all students learn to
high levels.
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 the 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.
Requirements
• Each state, school district, and school is
expected to make adequate yearly progress
(AYP) for all students, including students
with disabilities.
• School and district performance publicly
reported in district and state report cards.
• A district or school that continually fails to
make adequate progress will be held
accountable.
Consequences for Schools that Fail
to Make AYP for:
2 consecutive years: parents notified and give
option to transfer their children; priority needs
to be given to the lowest achieving low-income
students in the school; schools must identify
specific areas that need improvement
Another consecutive year: Tutoring and other
supplemental services must be made available
to low-income students at the school
Consequences - continued:
4 years of not AYP – Corrective action (e.g.,
replace school staff, new curriculum, decrease
management authority, appoint outside expert,
extend school year or school day, etc.)
5 years of not AYP – Plan for restructuring
(e.g., reopen as charter school, replace all or
most of the staff, enter into a contract with
private company, etc.)
6 years of not AYP – Restructuring (implement
plan developed in previous year)
Participation is a part of
accountability
95% participation required to meet AYP, in
each subgroup and overall***
***Average participation rate is
now acceptable, based on two or
three year average using data
from previous one or two years.
Students who participate in an
alternate assessment based on
alternate achievement standards can
be counted as proficient for
accountability purposes, but only up
to 1% of the total student population
may count as proficient in this way.
Alternate assessments also may be based on grade level
achievement standards. See December 9 Regulations for
all details.
Overview
Ways to Participate
in Assessments
 Same way as other students
 With accommodations
 In an Alternate Assessment
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
...
Types of Accommodations
Setting
Study carrel
Small group
Individualized
Presentation
Repeat directions
Large print edition
Braille edition
Timing
Extended time
Frequent breaks
Unlimited time
Response
Mark test booklet
Word processor
Use references
Scheduling
Specific time of day
Subtests in different order
Across multiple days
Other
Test preparation
Motivational cues
Good Accommodations Decisions
 Starts with good instructional decisions
 Systematic questions about
accommodations for individual students
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?
 Collection of data to aid decision making
Summary of Research on the
Effects of Test Accommodations
• 1999 through 2001
• 46 Research Studies
• Most Studied State Tests in
Math and Reading
• Presentation Accommodations
Studied Most Often
Across at least 4 studies …
Accommodations that showed a
positive effect on student test
scores:
• Computer administration
• Oral presentation
• Extended time
Limitations
• Unknown variations among
students included in study
• Sample size too small for
adequate statistical support
• Nonstandard administration of
accommodations across proctors
and schools
Stay on top of the literature at:
http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/
AccomStudies.htm
[NCEO’s online accommodations
bibliography with search features]
Is 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
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
Recommendations for IEP Teams
• Know state/district accommodations
policies
• Students should 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)
Universally-Designed Assessments
Universally Designed Assessments
are designed from the beginning to
be accessible and valid for the
widest range of students
Think about universal design in
architecture and tool design
 Curb cuts and ramps
 Elevators that talk to you
 Door handles rather than
door knobs
 Special pen shapes that are easier
to hold
Elements of Universally
Designed (UD) Assessments
 Inclusive assessment population
 Precisely defined constructs
 Accessible, non-biased items
 Amenable to accommodations
Elements of UD - continued
 Simple, clear, and intuitive
instructions and procedures
 Maximum readability and
comprehensibility
 Maximum legibility
The main idea …
… is to provide
optimal standard
assessment
conditions
But, what does that really mean?
• Do we want to change the standard
of performance?
NO
• Can we forget about
accommodations if we do this?
NO
• Is this all figured out – for now and
forever?
NO
Student Characteristics
Just one of many reasons
that we need to be talking
about universally
designed assessments!
Finish these well-known phrases for me:
1. A penny saved is . . .
2. Don’t bite the hand that . . .
3. It’s always darkest before . . .
4. Strike while the . . .
5. If at first you don’t succeed, . . .
What seems obvious and clear
to test developers -- may not
be all
that obvious and clear to
students.
It takes consistent effort and
guidelines to make sure that
test items and tests really are
accessible to all students.
One example . . .
of why we need
to be thinking
about universally
designed
assessments
When an item is developed:
• Start with the standard, and maybe a
test blueprint or test specification
• Generate an item that is the correct
content for the grade level that
matches the standard
For example, a simple item might ask for a
demonstration that the student understands
the meaning of a fraction, such as ¾.
Remember this?
OFFICIAL BALLOT, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA
Design is
Important in
a Lot of
Things –
Including
Assessments!
Teacher Concerns, Solutions,
and Successes
Presented as part of OSEP strand
CEC Conference, New Orleans, LA
April, 2004
Mike Burdge
All teacher storiesInclusive
and successes
are fromScale
Moore, L.
and Olsen, K. and
(in press).
Alternate Assessments: Why
Large
Standards
Assessment
Bother?. Lexington, KY: Alliance for Systems Change/Mid-South Regional Resource Center,
Interdisciplinary
Institute
Interdisciplinary Human
Development InstituteHuman
, UniversityDevelopment
of Kentucky
“It’s Different” Concerns
• Curriculum: functional vs. general
– IDEA 97: “access to the general curriculum”; IEPs must
“enable the child to be involved in and progress in the
general curriculum”
– NCLB: “academic content standards”; “academic
achievement standards”; “promote access to the
general curriculum”
• School structure
– Separate but equal really isn’t
– Collaboration is not facilitated
• Content delivery
– Special education teachers are experts in lots of things
but usually not content
“It’s Different” Solutions
• Develop and use a common and
rigorous curriculum for all students
– Houston Indp. Schools study, ’94-95: text books,
off-the-shelf programs, teachers’ heads
– Fallacies: cooking, cbi, student expectations, etc.
• Don’t stretch the standards in terms of
content
– Signing “more drink” isn’t math
– Shopping for food items isn’t science
– Pointing to the urinal isn’t reading
STANDARDS
CURRICULUM
LESSON PLAN
INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES
ACTIVITY(IES)
SKILL
Special Educator
General Educator
ASSESSMENT
“It’s Different” Successes
• The student that I had the pleasure to work with has gotten more out
of it (working in general education classrooms on grade level content
as encouraged by alternate assessment) than most dedicated
believers would believe possible. The student has become a more
responsible young lady who is the first in her family to go to high
school. She is proof that all the work is worth every minute of it. Just
ask her or anyone who has observed her. -NH teacher
• I don't know what the special education teachers in my school are
doing but those kids could learn some of this. When I get home, I'm
going down the hall and invite those kids into my class. -Wyoming
general education math teacher (after a collaborative work session
between general and special education teachers re: alternate
assessment)
• Working on the same standards as all the other teachers in my school
has made me feel like more of a teacher. Now I have something to
talk about in the staff lounge! -NH teacher
“It’s Different” Successes
 Encouraged teachers to set higher standards in the areas of
reading and math resulting in students with significant cognitive
disabilities being taught skills that may have not previously been a
priority for this population. –NC principal
 Encouraged collaborative partnerships between teachers,
therapists, parents and other caregivers for the purpose of
ensuring instruction across a variety of settings and people. –NC
principal
 These requirements have given my students greater and more
meaningful access to the general curriculum. –VA teacher
“It’s Different” Successes
• I have a student that has not had any success with sight words,
but since Cyrano de Bergerac in 11th grade English, he has
learned to read eight words. Can read them at home too!
Hmmmm, something is working! -TN teacher
• My principal and assistant principal walked by the door when we
were practicing a play in English class. All students were to recite
the first 17 lines of Julius Ceasar’s monologue. My students,
along with peer tutors, learned to say one line each in
sequence. The first student said her line, "Friends, Romans,
country men lend me your ears." Each student continued with the
last student reciting, "And Brutus is an honorable man." The
assistant principal said, "They did a really good job!" The principal
clarified, "No, that wasn’t a ‘good job’ - that was Shakespeare! -KY
teacher
“It Takes Away From Teaching”
Concerns
• Not related to what is currently being taught
– Only academic content standards are required to be
assessed
• Takes a whole different set of teaching skills
– Progress and independence on academic content
(data)
– Participation in general education
– Generalization
– Age appropriateness
– Self determination
– Social relationships
(taken from 2003 State Special Education Outcomes: Marching On,
“It Takes Away From Teaching”
Solutions
• Provide professional development
opportunities
• Restructure preservice training
• Make assessment frequent and generative
of useable and accessible results
“It Takes Away…” Successes
• My own experience with alternate assessment has been very
positive. Working with a very low functioning student with
Angelman's Syndrome, who was fully included in his 3rd grade
classroom definitely led me to some creative ways of assessing his
progress. It also made me focus on all the things this child actually
could do, which turned out to be a much longer list than I thought.
His inclusive setting also made me explore more ways to modify
curriculum and activities to make them appropriate to the student,
and still include him with his peers. Through my work on his
alternate assessment, I became an even firmer believer in the
efficacy and appropriateness of inclusion, even for our moderate to
severe populations. Throughout the NORMAL school day, there are
many opportunities and different settings in which to work on
functional, communication and motor skills in ways that can easily
include peers and other natural supports. I really feel the Alternate
Assessment is a very positive and necessary aspect of our work
with children who cannot take traditional standardized testing.
-DoDEA teacher
“It Takes Away…” Successes
• I came to KY 10 years ago, a couple years after the alternate
assessment was developed. The first Health and P.E. entry I saw was
a student belted into a Rifton chair watching a P.E. class, rarely
allowed out of the chair due to aggression. That student benefited
greatly from improved instruction guided by the alternate assessment
and he has since graduated - walked across the stage with his peers,
wore a tux and attended the prom. We have come a long way. -KY
teacher
• Because of the alternate assessment, I have started doing at least one
general education curriculum activity a day with my students. They
constantly surprise me with what they learn and some have even
started to anticipate what the activity is going to be next. It's become
their favorite part of the day. -Iowa teacher
• I didn't believe in it at first but did it because I was required to. I have
to admit it made me a better, more reflective teacher and my kids
learned stuff I never ever would have expected or given them the
opportunity to learn. -KY teacher
“It Takes Away…” Successes
• I would say that for many students in the Commonwealth, the alternate
assessment program has changed the level of service and instruction
in profound ways. Many of these students were not following student
schedules, not attending general educational classes, and not
involved in the greater community at large. Many students in these
classrooms were still relegated to self contained rooms with limited
interaction with their general education peers. Because of Virginia's
alternate assessment program and the demands of our specific
alternate assessment rubric, teachers and students have been
encouraged to provide a "whole
school/community" experience for our students with more significant
disabilities. –VA AA coordinator
“It Counts” Concerns
• AYP
– Unrealistic but a target
– Alternate achievement standards
• “expectation of performance that differs in
complexity from a grade level achievement
standard” (Federal Register, Part II, 34 CRF, Part
200, Title I. December 12, 2003)
• Has to do with proficiency levels specified w/in AA
• Must reflect challenging curriculum based upon
academic content standards
• Program vs. student accountability
– History of lack of effective teaching practices
– Measure of student achievement in order to improve
instruction
“It Counts” Solutions
• Put focus on what needs to change in order
for the student to learn/make progress
• Use assessment data for instructional
improvement
“It Counts” Successes
• Everyone at our school is responsible for every student and the
criteria in our state's alternate assessment looks at that. Because
we have a good program for those students with special needs
specifically, our school scores have risen dramatically with the
inclusion of those students' scores in our accountability index. -KY
principal
• Has increased the credibility of parental concerns regarding the
quality of instruction for their child. –NC principal
• Provided parents with an annual progress report on their child’s
achievement that is more objective than what has previously been
provided through IEP progress notes. –NC principal
“It Counts” Successes
• It seems to me that alternate assessment systems
have brought certain populations and classrooms of special
education students and teachers "to the table" in this grand concept
of school reform and accountability. After all, the heart of
accountability is improving the level and quality of instruction
provided to America's
students. –VA AA coordinator