Special Topic Area:
Accountability for Students with Disabilities

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Publications and Other Accountability Resources

Online resources available at NCEO’s Web site (the publications are listed chronologically, with the most recent first; Policy Directions will give a general overview of the issues with other publications providing greater depth).

Some of the files below require Acrobat Reader. These are marked with an Acrobat logo. If you don't have this software, go to the Acrobat Reader Web site for a free download.

• 2007 Survey of States: Activities, Changes, and Challenges for Special Education - NEW!
  HTML format / PDF format
• 2005 State Special Education Outcomes: Steps Forward in a Decade of Change / PDF Version (3MB) (2005)
• Progress Monitoring in an Inclusive Standards-based Assessment and Accountability System (Synthesis Report 53) / PDF format (2004)
• 2003 State Special Education Outcomes: Marching On / PDF format (2003)
• Putting it All Together: Including Students with Disabilities in Assessment and Accountability Systems (Policy Directions 16) / PDF Version (2003)
• Rethinking Basic Assumptions of Test Development: Assessment Frameworks for Inclusive Accountability Tests (Policy Directions 17) / PDF Version (2003)
• Preparing Educators to Teach Students with Disabilities in an Era of Standards-based Reform and Accountability (Educational Policy Reform Research Institute Topical Review 5 / 2003) 
• Reporting on the State Assessment Performance of Students with Disabilities (Educational Policy Reform Research Institute Topical Review 3 / 2001) 
• High Stakes: Exit Documents and Students with Disabilities (Educational Policy Reform Research Institute Topical Review 2 / 2002)
• Creating Performance Goals and Indicators in Special Education (Educational Policy Reform Research Institute Topical Review 1 / 2002)
• Are We There Yet? Accountability for the Performance of Students with Disabilities (Technical Report 33 / 2002)
• Civil Rights, No Child Left Behind, Assessments, Accountability, and Students with Disabilities (Presentation to US Commission on Civil Rights / 2003)
• On the Road to Accountability: Reporting Outcomes for Students with Disabilities (Technical Report 32 / 2002)
• A Self-Study Guide to Implementation of Inclusive Assessment and Accountability Systems: A Best Practice Approach (2001) Please Note: This is a PDF file.
• Principles and Characteristics of Inclusive Assessment and Accountability Systems (Synthesis Report 40 / 2001)
• Models for Reporting the Results of Alternate Assessments within State Accountability Systems (Synthesis Report 39 / 2001)
• 2001 State Special Education Outcomes: A Report on State Activities at the Beginning of a New Decade (2001)
• Students with Disabilities in Standards-based Assessment and Accountability Systems: Emerging Issues, Strategies, and Recommendations (Synthesis Report 37 / 2001)
• Accountability Systems and Counting Students with Disabilities (Technical Report 29 / 2000)
• Interpreting Trends in the Performance of Special Education Students (Technical Report 27 / 2000)
• The Appeals Process for Students Who Fail Graduation Exams: How Do They Apply to Students with Disabilities (Synthesis Report 36 / 2000)
• Social Promotion and Students with Disabilities: Issues and Challenges in Developing State Policies (Synthesis Report 34 / 2000)

For reports before 2000, see NCEO's Online Publications.

Additional Resources:

Cross, R. W., Rebarber, T., & Torres, J. (Eds.). (February, 2004). Grading the systems: The guide to state standards, tests and accountability policies. Washington, DC: Fordham Foundation.

Gagnon, J. C., & McLaughlin, M. J. (Spring, 2004). Curriculum, assessment, and accountability in day treatment and residential schools. Exceptional Children, 70(3), pp. 263-283.

Goertz, M. E., & Massel, D. (January, 2005). Holding high hopes: How high schools respond to state accountability policies. CPRE Policy Briefs. Philadelphia, PA: Consortium for Policy Research in Education.

Heubert, J. P., & Hauser, R. M. (Eds.) (1999). High stakes testing for tracking, promotion, and graduation. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

Malmgren, K. W., McLaughlin, M. J., & Nolet, V. (2005). Accounting for the performance of students with disabilities on statewide assessments. The Journal of Special Education, 39(2), pp. 86-96. See http://drjc.gmu.edu/policy.htm.

McLaughlin, M. J., & Thurlow, M. (September, 2003). Educational accountability and students with disabilities: Issues and challenges. Educational Policy, 17(4), pp. 431-451.

National Research Council. (1999). Testing, teaching, and learning: A guide for states and school districts. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Thurlow, M. L. (2004). Biting the bullet: Including special-needs students in accountability systems. In S. H. Fuhrman & R. F. Elmore (Eds.), Redesigning accountability systems for education (pp. 115-137). New York: Teachers College Press.

Thurlow, M. L., & Krentz, J. L. (2001). A new vision for special education accountability. The State Education Standard, 2 (3), 4-7.

U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. (2000). The use of tests as part of high-stakes decision-making for students: A research guide for policy-makers and educators. Archived at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/testing/TestingResource.pdf

U.S. Department of Education Web site links to ESEA reauthorization information: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/esea/

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