1. Access by Design for All A View from New Hampshire NH Department of Education CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 19, 2011

2. “The profound revolution in education will not begin with those students who are in the mainstream. The real revolution... the profound revolution... will begin with those students who are in the most distant margins.” David Rose Keynote Address, Detroit, June, 2010 CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment

3. (1993 – 2006) NHIEAP State Testing, Accommodations allowed for ALL (2004-2010) New England Compact EAG Research Series (NH,RI,VT,ME) Improving Access to Reading and Math for “Students in the Gap” (2005) NH begins collaboration for development & “proof of concept” with newly formed Nimble Assessment Systems (2006) First statewide testing system administration of online accommodations using “NimbleTools.” NHIEAP Gr. 10 Mathematics Test (pre-NCLB) (2008 – Present) New England States scale up online delivery of accessibility tools for all students who need them across 3 states, 2 vendors  NECAP assessment system establishes proof of concept: Multi-state large scale online test accessibility IS feasible! New Hampshire’s Commitment: Find Access to Rigorous Content for ALL Students. New Hampshire’s Commitment: Find Access to Rigorous Content for ALL Students.

4. New Hampshire’s Commitment: Find Access to Rigorous Content for ALL Students. New Hampshire’s Commitment: Find Access to Rigorous Content for ALL Students. 2005 to Present: NH Accessibility Projects (USED federal funds) Knowing what Students with Cognitive Disabilities Know... Lead Beyond Access for Accommodations... UNH & NH Gaining Access to What Students with Cognitive Disabilities Know... UNH & NH NH Alternate Learning Progressions Assessment System (NHALPS) Examining the Feasibility, Effect, and Capacity to Provide Universal Access through Computer-Based Testing... Lead Accessible Portable Item Protocol (APIP) Project... Partner Student Accessibility Assessment System (SAAS).... Lead Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)..... Governing State The Nimble Tools Projects are only one side of the picture....

5. New Hampshire’s Commitment: Find Access to Rigorous Content for ALL Students. New Hampshire’s Commitment: Find Access to Rigorous Content for ALL Students. General Assessment “1%” ? ???

6. New Hampshire’s Commitment: What are we assessing ? The State Content Standards – the same for ALL. Structured Learning Progressions To illustrate, map, and describe patterns of learning To chart and track individual student progress To inform instructional decisions

7. New Hampshire’s Commitment: What Have we Learned? New Hampshire’s Commitment: What Have we Learned? We NEED Access-Based Definitions of the Standards – the CONSTRUCTS we are trying to measure! Teachers need to know... Students need to know... And Item developers urgently need to know...

8. New Hampshire’s Commitment: What Have we Learned? New Hampshire’s Commitment: What Have we Learned? What are the representational boundaries of the constructs we are testing? When is performance no longer within the intended construct? How does skill acquisition change based on sensory processing need? Alternate learning pathways?...progressions?

9. New Hampshire’s Commitment: What Have we Learned? New Hampshire’s Commitment: What Have we Learned? What is reading if you cannot see? How do we know if you are literate in Braille or Nemeth, or in using Tactile Graphics? What exactly counts as “text”? What is writing if you have no arms? When is speech to text ok?.... And when is it not ok What is speaking if you have no voice? What is listening if you cannot hear? How do we know if you are literate in Sign?

11. Access by Design 3 Tiers, over time, progressing toward 1

12. New Hampshire’s Challenge: What Have we Learned? New Hampshire’s Challenge: What Have we Learned? Are we ready? Do we have the will to do what it will take to achieve fair and meaningful access to rigorous content for all from the beginning...by design?