1. American Institutes for Research
Modified Academic Achievement Standards for Students with Disabilities: Regulatory Requirements
Dr. Louis C. Danielson
American Institutes for Research

2. Modified Academic Achievement Standards
Requirements for modified achievement standards
Eligibility criteria
How the cap works
Requirements for implementation of state guidelines for IEP Teams
Requirements for standards-based IEPs
Alignment of NCLB and IDEA
Highlight that guidance and reg are places to go for details on requirements, not this power point!

3. Why do we need modified achievement standards?
There is a small group of students whose disability has precluded them from achieving grade-level proficiency within the time frame covered by their IEP.
Prior to these regulations the only options were a grade level assessment or an alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards, neither of which were appropriate.

4. Appropriate Assessments for All Students
General assessment
General assessment with accommodations
Alternate assessment based on grade-level achievement standards
Alternate Assessment based on modified academic achievement standards
Alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards

5. Requirements for Modified Academic Achievement Standards
A modified academic achievement standard is an expectation of performance that is challenging for eligible students, but may be less difficult than a grade-level academic achievement standard.
They must be aligned with the State’s academic content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled.
Only the academic achievement standards are modified, not the content standards on which those modified academic achievement standards are based.
Must also meet Title I requirements for achievement standards, including having at least three achievement levels and being developed through a documented and validated standards setting process.
(See: Section B of the guidance, 34 C.F.R. §200.1(e)(1))

6. Who is eligible?
Eligibility is determined by the IEP team using state-developed guidelines containing criteria that must include certain key elements to ensure students are assessed appropriately.
May be in any of the disability categories.
(See Section C of the Guidance, 34 C.F.R. §200.1(e)(2))

7. Eligibility criteria: Objective Evidence
There must be objective evidence demonstrating that the student’s disability has precluded the student from achieving grade-level proficiency.
Such evidence can include achievement on state assessments or other assessments.

8. Eligibility Criteria: Student Progress
The student’s progress to date in response to appropriate instruction, including special education and related services is such that if significant growth occurs, the IEP team is reasonably certain that the student will not achieve grade level proficiency within the year covered by the student’s IEP.
The IEP team’s determination of student progress must be based on multiple measurements over a period of time for the subjects being assessed.

9. Eligibility Criteria: Standards Based IEPs
IEP goals must be based on the academic content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled.
(See Section E of the Guidance)

10. Assessment Requirements
A state may develop a new alternate assessment or adapt an assessment based on grade-level academic achievement standards.
An out-of-level assessment may not be used as an alternate assessment because it is, by definition, not aligned with grade-level content standards.
(See Section D of the Guidance, 34 C.F.R. §200.6(a)(3))

11. How does the 2% cap work?
The cap is based on number of students in tested grades for which there is an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards.
Number of students is based on enrollment at time of testing, including students who are publicly placed in a private school.
(See Section G of the Guidance)

12. State and LEA Caps State LEA
Table 1. When May a State or LEA Exceed the 1.0 and 2.0 Percent Caps?
Alternative Academic Achievement Standards – 1.0 Percent Cap
Modified Academic Achievement Standards – 2.0 Percent Cap
Alternative and Modified Academic Achievement Standards – 3.0 Percent Cap
State
Not permitted.
Only if State is below 1.0 percent cap, but cannot exceed 3.0 percent cap.
LEA
Only if granted an exception by the SEA.
Only if LEA is below 1.0 percent cap, but cannot exceed 3.0 percent cap.
Only if granted an exception to the 1.0 percent cap by the SEA, and only by the amount of the exception.

13. Guidelines for IEP Teams
For students who are assessed based on either alternate or modified academic achievement standards, the State must:
Establish and monitor implementation of clear and appropriate guidelines for IEP teams to apply in determining which students are eligible to be assessed on each of these options.
Inform IEP teams that students eligible to be assessed may be from any disability category in IDEA.
If a state develops alternate or modified academic achievement standards, the state must develop clear and appropriate guidelines for IEP teams to use for determining which students are eligible to be assessed on each of these options. The state must also monitor the implementation of these guidelines.
The guidelines must also inform IEP teams that eligible students may be from any disability category in IDEA.

14. Guidelines for IEP Teams
Provide a clear explanation of the differences between:
assessments based on grade-level academic achievement standards, and
assessments based on modified or alternate academic achievement standards
including any effects of State and local policies on the student’s education resulting from taking these assessments.
Ensure parents are informed about how their child’s achievement will be measured.

15. Guidelines for IEP Teams
For students who are assessed based on modified academic achievement standards, the state guidelines must also ensure:
IEP goals are based on the academic content standards for the grade in which a student is enrolled; and
Are designed to monitor a student’s progress in achieving the student’s standards-based goals.
There are additional requirements for State guidelines for students who are assessed based on MAAS. These requirements provide safeguards to ensure that a student assessed on these standards has access to grade-level content.

16. Guidelines for IEP Teams
Students have access to the curriculum, including instruction, for the grade in which the students are enrolled.
Students are not precluded from attempting to complete the requirements, as defined by the State, for a regular high school diploma.

17. Guidelines for IEP Teams
Students may be assessed based on modified academic achievement standards in one or more subjects.
IEP team reviews annually its decision to assess a student based on modified academic achievement standards to ensure that those standards remain appropriate.
(See: Section F of the guidance, 34 C.F.R. §200.1(f))

18. Standards-based IEPS
For students assessed based on modified academic achievement standards:
IEP must include goals based on academic content standards for grade in which student is enrolled.
Goals address the skills specified in the content standards and define the instruction and services student will receive to access grade-level content.
IEP must be designed to monitor student’s progress in achieving standards-based goals.
Short-term objectives or benchmarks are not required.
(See: Section E of the guidance, 34 C.F.R. §200.1(e)(2))
Incorporating State standards in IEP goals is not a new idea. Many educators have been working toward incorporating State content standards in IEP goals since enactment of the 1997 reauthorization of the IDEA, which first required that the IEPs of students with disabilities support their involvement and progress in the general curriculum.
Some States already require standards-based IEP goals and have developed extensive training materials and professional development opportunities for staff to learn how to write IEP goals that are tied to State academic content standards.
The regulations require standards-based IEP goals for students eligible who take alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards. To ensure high expectations for all students with disabilities and ensure their access to the general education curriculum as required by IDEA, it makes sense to develop standards-based IEPs for all students with disabilities.

19. Why Standards-based IEP Goals?
Ensures students receive instruction in grade-level content so that they can make progress towards meeting grade-level proficiency.
Focuses the IEP Team on grade-level content and the student’s achievement level relative to those academic content standards, as well as the educational supports and services that the student needs to reach those standards.
Improves students’ exposure to subject matter and focuses instruction to meet challenging goals.
The rationale behind the requirements for standards based goals is that it is critical to ensure that students who are assessed based on modified academic achievement standards receive instruction in grade-level content.
The primary reason for requiring IEP teams to incorporate grade-level content standards in the IEP is to focus IEP teams on identifying the educational supports and services that the student needs to reach those standards.
Monitoring students’ achievement of standards-based IEP goals will help ensure that the student’s instruction is aligned with the general education curriculum in which the student is enrolled and the assessment the IEP team determines is most appropriate for the student.

20. Alignment of NCLB and IDEA
The 2% regulations amend IDEA's regulations to better align assessment requirements.
SEA/LEA provides guidelines for IEP Teams to identify the appropriate assessment option and accommodations for students with disabilities.
Under NCLB and IDEA, a student must receive a valid score on an assessment to be considered a “participant.”
Guidelines must identify appropriate accommodations for each assessment that do not invalidate the score.
State instructs IEP Teams to select only accommodations that do not invalidate a student’s score.
Similar reporting requirements.
(See: Section E of the guidance, 34 C.F.R. § )
Important changes were made to the IDEA regulations to further align IDEA with NCLB.
Now a “participant” means the same thing for reporting purposes under both the IDEA and NCLB.
Now under IDEA, consistent with NCLB, a student who takes an accommodation that invalidates the test score will not be reported as a “participant” in the assessment.
Under the new regulations, States must identify the accommodations for each assessment that do not invalidate the score and instruct IEP teams to select only from those accommodations.
This is an important change because if a student takes an assessment with an accommodation that invalidates the score, the assessment is no longer measuring what it was intended to measure. So the score will not inform parents and teachers about where the student needs help or how instruction should be changed.

21. IDEA and NCLB’s Shared Goals
The regulations reinforce IDEA and NCLB’s shared goals, including:
High expectations for all students,
Holding all students to challenging standards, and
Accountability for all students.