Teleconference 1:
October 29, 2001

Use of Alternate Assessment Results in Reporting and Accountability Systems: Talking Points

Assumptions:

• The focus of today’s discussion will be state assessment and accountability systems, not district or local systems
• Title I assessment requirements deal only with school accountability, not student accountability
• Discussion will focus on “How to do this well?” rather than “Should we do it?”
• Our goal for students with disabilities is maximum access to the general curriculum
• Emphasis will be on alternate assessments rather than accommodations within the regular assessment

IDEA and Title I:

• Agree on critical points regarding assessment and reporting
• Requirements in regard to accountability

Implementation is challenging, but parameters exist…

...and will continue to exist as a framework for state policies and practices.

Issues	Parameters	Success stories
Inclusion	All means all Deciding which students in alternate	WY, MD, MA, KS, OR
Design of Alternate Assessment	Must be in place by 7/1/2000 No restrictions on format Purpose
Scoring/performance standards	State freedom	Generic Models
Reporting	Report # participating and results Protect privacy
Use for school accountability	Cohen memo	KY, VT

Getting to best practice requires removal of barriers

• Collaboration between state offices for policy decisions, funding, & teacher training

• IEP team vs assessment office

• Freedom vs just give us the answer (Hill paper)

• Credibility of alternate assessment results

• Collaboration between federal agencies to avoid conflicting messages