Participation Guidelines for New Assessments: Thinking through Their Development. NCEO Brief. Number 3

Students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs) participate in state assessment systems. Some participate in the regular assessment and some students with disabilities participate in an alternate assessment. How they participate is guided by each state's assessment guidelines for inclusion. These guidelines define the ways in which students may participate in the assessment system (regular or alternate assessment), and the criteria for determining which assessment a given student will take. As the Race-to-the-Top Assessment Consortia work to develop a common assessment system for member states, they should consider the common participation criteria they will develop, not only for special education students but also for students on 504 plans and ELLs. Where states are coming from in terms of participation rates and participation criteria is important for the Consortia to consider as they move toward common assessments with common participation criteria. This Brief provides a snapshot of the participation of special education students and ELLs on statewide assessments. It focuses on data for grade 8 reading assessments, and suggests points for the Consortia to discuss as they develop common participation criteria. (Contains 2 figures, 2 footnotes and 3 resources.)