Modified Academic Achievement Standards (AA-MAS)

Martha Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

OSEP Project Directors’ Conference How “Flexible” Are You?

July 22, 2008

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Topics

1.

Current Assessment Approaches

2.

Determining Participation

3.

Accommodations

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Current Approaches

• • •

Information is limited ---

States still deciding what to do No data in Annual Performance Reports until 2009 (for 2007-08) Peer review information available only in summary form

In July 2007 Five States Had an Assessment that They Believed Was an AA-MAS:

• • • • •

Kansas Louisiana North Carolina North Dakota Oklahoma Maryland had information on its Web site about an AA-MAS that the state was developing.

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Type of Assessment/Types of Questions

State KS LA MD NC ND OK

Total Portfolio

X

1 Multiple Choice

X X X X X

5 Constructed Response

X

1 Writing Prompt

X X

2 National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Number of States That Made Selected Changes Change

No. of States

Distractor Removed Fewer Items Simplified Language Shorter Passages Segmentation of Passages 4 4 4 3 1

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Determining Eligibility Criteria for AA-MAS What do we know about the students for whom the AA-MAS is appropriate?

• • •

Previous Studies Current Analyses Peer Guidance Suggestions

Previous Studies

National Center on Improvement of Educational Outcomes Colorado Study Requested by Legislature From Marion, Gong, and Simpson, 2005

Only .06% for Reading and .15% for Math in the gap

Georgia Study of Persistently Low Performing Students

Highlighted again instructional and accommodations issues

From Cortiella (2007), Learning Opportunities for Your

Child Through Alternate Assessments – Alternate Assessments based on Modified Achievement Standards

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

2008 Study

Number of States With Selected

Eligibility

Criteria

No. of States Criteria Student has IEP Student not progressing at expected rate Student is learning grade-level content Student has attempted/failed other tests Student is not receiving instruction on extended/ alternate standards or functional skills Not based on disability category Not based on attendance Not due to social, cultural, language, economic, or environmental factors 5 5 5 10 8 6 6 6 National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Identifying Accommodations for AA-MAS

• • •

State Approaches Accommodations issues for regular assessment Integration of “accommodations” and universal design principles into the regular assessment first, then in the design of the AA-MAS

State Approaches – Accommodations Incorporated into AA-MAS Design

Accommodation

Fewer items/page Larger font size Calculator Breaks as needed Key text underlined/bolded

No. of States

3 3 2 2 1

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Reading Assessment Accommodation Rates in Elementary School: Percentage of Students with IEPs Taking the Regular Reading Assessment with Accommodations 67 32 md 11 41 55 49 52 65 63 40 63 35 Key 42 54 47 39 1 71 2005-2006 8 52 22 71 59 57 45 52 52 66 69 47 36 53 61 33 47 20 62 md 40 77 80 24 69 73 94 59 64 73 72 61 md 79 AS BIE ≥ 75% (n=3 regular states and 1 unique states) 50% - 74% (n=25 regular states and 5 unique states) 26% - 49% (n=13 regular states and 1 unique states) < 25% (n=6 regular states and 0 unique states) md =missing data (n=3 regular states and 3 unique states) 71 md 67 md 59 md 43 CNMI DC FSM GU Palau PR RMI VI National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Reading Assessment Accommodation Rates in High School: Percentage of Students with IEPs Taking the Regular Reading Assessment with Accommodations 66 18 md 5 49 53 23 56 28 43 37 22 41 Key 44 45 53 35 0 59 2005-2006 5 47 md 70 59 81 62 md 73 46 65 53 27 42 43 0 50 0 61 md 36 77 79 46 100 59 59 22 39 42 51 38 57 76 AS BIE ≥ 75% (n=4 regular states and 1 unique state) 50% - 74% (n=17 regular states and 2 unique states) 48 md 61 md CNMI DC FSM GU Palau 26% - 49% (n=17 regular states and 3 unique states) < 25% (n=8 regular states and 1 unique state) md =missing data (n=4 regular states and 3 unique states) 46 md 53 PR RMI VI National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)