1. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes Current Status of State Alternate Assessments And Challenges of Validating Alternate Assessments Status based on 2003 NCEO Survey of State Special Education Directors Martha L. Thurlow

2. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes 2003 State Survey Participants: State directors of special education assisted by other state officials representing special education, standards, assessment, and accountability States: All 50 states and 9 of 11 federally funded entities (unique states) Purpose: to provide a snapshot of new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues

3. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes 2003 State Survey Results are presented in eight sections: Consequences Participation and Performance Accommodations Alternate Assessments Accountability Emerging Practices Current and Emerging Issues Preferred Forms of Technical Assistance

4. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes Some States Have More than One Alternate Assessment Option 33 regular states and 5 unique states offer a single type of alternate assessment 8 states offer two alternate assessment options 3 states offer three or more options tied to their alternate assessment.

5. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes N = # of states 199920012003 Functional Skills1642 State Standards2043 Developing/Revising2432 IEP Team Decides-- 3 Focus of Alternate Assessments Has Evolved Over Time

6. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes

7. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes Variations in Student Performance Measures (2003) Independence33 states Skill/competence27 states Progress21 states Ability to generalize21 states Self-determination12 states Social Relationships9 states

8. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes Variations in System Performance Measures (2003) Variety of Settings23 states Appropriateness (e.g, age, challenge) 19 states Alignment to Standards17 states Access to Support12 state Staff Support11 states Gen. Ed. Participation6 states Parent Satisfaction1 state

9. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes States with a Standard-setting Process for Alternate Assessments

10. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes How many students participated in states’ alternate assessment(s) during 2000-2001 [before NCLB accountability came into force]?

11. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes 2000-2001 Alternate Assessment Participation Data Data from States’ Biennial Performance Reports

12. N C E O National Center on Educational Outcomes Validation Challenges (a few...) NCLB is looking for specific characteristics (alignment, standards-setting procedures, comprehensiveness, validity, reliability) while: Many states are dealing with groups of students never instructed academically before Expectations for students are all over the place Many states have never thought about assessing these students in a way that allows for their scores to be aggregated and reported What to score and how to score these assessments is controversial