NCEO StateLinksAugust, 2006 September 25 Teleconference Accommodation validity checks: What can states do to improve assessment accommodations decision-making and to document the fidelity of implementation on test day? Registration Reminder: Please register no later than Monday September 18. Late registrations will be accepted ONLY if additional lines are still available.When: Monday September 25, 2006, 2:30 ET. Call lasts 1.5 hours.Key questions that will be addressed include: • Why are issues related to accommodations training and implementation monitoring important to the validity of test results? • What training can be provided to IEP teams to improve the quality of assessment accommodations decision-making? • How can districts and states monitor the fidelity of implementation of these decisions on test day? PRESENTERS: Our presenters include Jim Shriner, Associate Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Illinois, and Principal Investigator of the IEP Quality Improvement: Research and Development of Web-Based Decision Support Project. Jim will share selected data and findings from two OSEP-sponsored projects. From the Maryland Department of Education, Sharon Hall, Section Chief in the Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services, will discuss the training module developed by ASES SCASS and included in the OSEP Toolkit. From the Connecticut State Department of Education, Susan Kennedy, Education Manager—NCLB Office, will describe Connecticut’s approach to monitoring of accommodations implementation.Fall Seminars on Inclusive Assessment: Evaluating and Improving Technical Quality of Alternate Assessments OVERVIEW : A number of national and regional organizations have partnered to offer interactive working seminars on alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS).The seminars are designed to: • Assist participants in recognizing what aspects of their system should remain flexible and what might be more standardized; • Provide participants with a framework for helping states conceptualize the evaluation of technical quality; and • Provide tools for documenting the technical quality of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards. Technical assistance providers, state practitioners, and leading researchers in the areas of students with disabilities, assessment, and accountability will present options for evaluating and improving the technical quality of AA-AAS. The seminars are intended for state teams, preferably consisting of members from the assessment, special education, and curriculum and instruction divisions. All participants must represent a state’s assessment system. If you are a consultant or vendor, you must be invited by a state to participate on its team. Registration is on a first come, first served basis. Attendance at each location is limited to 90 participants. Registrations will not be accepted after the limit is reached. Location 1: Denver,
Colorado October 10th and 11th Location 2: Alexandria,
Virginia October 24th and 25th RESERVATIONS: Reservations for this seminar must be received by Wednesday, September 20, 2006 (by mail), or Friday, September 22, 2006 (online). Reservations for sleeping rooms must be received by Friday, September 22, 2006, to secure the room rates. Seminar registration fee is $130.00 per person (two breakfasts and one lunch included). Online registration is available through the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center Web site at: http://www.aacompcenter.org/inclusive_assessment. For offline registration materials see: http://www.nceo.info/SeminarsInclusiveAssessmentRegistration.pdf. PAYMENT OPTIONS: If paying by check or purchase order, please mail your payment for receipt by September 20, 2006 to: Assessment and
Accountability Comprehensive Center Organizational partners include: National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), National Alternate Assessment Center (NAAC), Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC), National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. (NCIEA), all Regional Resource and Federal Centers, K-8 Access Center, National Drop-Out Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), National Association of State Title I Directors (NASTID). Recent NCEO Reports How to Develop State Guidelines for Access Assistants: Scribes, Readers, and Sign Language Interpreters . Designed as a companion document to an earlier study, Access Assistants for State Assessments: A Study of State Guidelines for Scribes, Readers, and Sign Language Interpreters (Synthesis Report 58), this report is a "how to" manual for developing or revising guidelines for state access assistants. It defines important terms, provides explanations and steps for enhancing or revising current state guidelines, and provides several state examples. Tools for the process are included in the manual appendices. This guide, while focused on scribes, readers, and sign language interpreters, can be applied to other access assistants such as page turners, transcribers, and translators.Dealing with Flexibility in Assessments for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. There are many choice points for state policymakers and assessment leaders regarding the degree of flexibility or standardization they might choose to design into their alternate assessment systems. These choices are contingent on the values of the state regarding the primary purposes of the alternate assessments and the larger assessment system.This report by Brian Gong and Scott Marion of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment helps guide states to both recognize intended and unintended flexibility in their assessment systems and to evaluate what aspects should remain flexible and what parts might be more standardized. It describes the types of and degree of flexibility expected or allowed in both general and alternate assessments along nine dimensions of the assessment and accountability system. It also includes a discussion of how documenting the technical quality of alternate assessment systems requires drawing on existing psychometric and evaluation techniques as well as modifying existing approaches or inventing new ones. This paper will be part of the conceptual framework for the Fall Seminars on Inclusive Assessment in Denver and Alexandria (see front page, column 2). These recent NCEO reports can be found at the NCEO Web site, www .nceo.info under What’s New. |