Federally Funded State Projects
Projects funded 2007
GSEG Grants on Alternate Achievement Standards
Idaho
Electronic Center for Alternate Assessment Scoring (ECAAS
Project)
This project is designed to advance the technical quality of the Idaho Alternate Assessment (IAA) for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The current IAA is an evidence-based, teacher-completed comprehensive rating scale of student competencies in language arts, mathematics, and science. While the current system utilizes the expertise of teachers' experiences with their students, it is challenged by the variability in the manner and complexity with which these students may perform the same academic content. This project will augment the IAA by adding an electronic center for the systematic collection, processing, and storage of student performance data.
Kentucky, Connecticut, Georgia, District
of Columbia and Puerto Rico
GSEG Consortia: Priority B; AA-AAS Validity Evaluation
This consortium is working on the task of building validity arguments for their No Child Left Behind alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards. Specifically, the project aims to: (a) demonstrate high-quality validity evaluation models; (b) provide models of validity-based technical documentation for alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) and general assessments; (c) add to the growing research base on high quality, technically sound AA-AAS to provide technical assistance to States as they conduct their validity evaluation studies; and (d) provide a range of research-to-practice products that explicate the process and results.
Minnesota
IDEA General Supervision Enhancement Grant on Priority B:
Alternate Academic Achievement Standards
This project will focus on the continued improvement and implementation of the Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS), an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement of standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Mississippi
Mississippi CAARES Project: Enhancing Assessment and
Instructional Practices for Students with Significant
Disabilities
The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) will develop a comprehensive system of alternate assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Evidence submitted by teachers will be evaluated to (a) document student knowledge and skills for content included in the Mississippi Extended Curriculum Frameworks (MECF) in language arts, mathematics, and science; and (b) establish the reliability of teachers' proficiency ratings of students on the Mississippi Alternate Assessment of Extended Curriculum Frameworks (MAAECF). The result will be integrated and comprehensive reviews of classroom evidence used to anchor teachers' proficiency scores, providing all teachers with feedback and professional support to enhance instruction-generated evidence, and promoting ongoing efforts to maintain and document the technical soundness of the MAAECF.
New Hampshire
Gaining Access to What
Students with Disabilities Know
This project will describe more fully the population of students participating in New Hampshire's Annual Assessment (AA) with respect to their sensory and cognitive access challenges as well as their achievement and reframe and extend existing NH Grade Level Expectations (GLEs), describing them from multisensory and cognitive access perspectives, incorporating the principles of universal design (UD). It will also develop alternate academic achievement standards (AAS) aligned with the State's general academic achievement standards and enhance the capacity of the NH Department of Education (DOE) to support LEAs in assessing students based on AAS, through changes in its program monitoring and approval process and its professional development systems.
States in North Central Region
North Central Regional Resource Center: A State Consortium
Longitudinal Study to Examine Consequential Validity Issues
Related to Alternate Assessments Against Alternate Achievement
(AA-AAS)
The goal of this project is to collect and analyze data to investigate, ascertain, and inform States of the consequential evidence characteristics of their alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). As a result, States will have information that will lead to: (a) the continuous improvement of the validity of AA-AAS with regard to its intended purpose; (b) the identification and the development of professional development strategies with regard to the effective application of the AA-AAS; and (c) the development of strategies that will assist States in the dissemination of practices that promote effective decision making and improved instructional interventions based on AA-AAS data.
Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana
Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau
and Republic of the Marshall Islands
The PACIFIC Project: Pacific Assessment Consortium (PAC6)
Implementing Fully Innovative Change
This consortium will: (a) establish a system of regional and local technical supports; (b) fully implement high-quality alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards using universal design principles; (c) increase the knowledge and skills of local individualized education program (IEP) teams for determining which students should be assessed; (d) establish local mechanisms for monitoring and supporting the reporting and use of participation and performance data for students with disabilities; and (e) enhance the mechanism for ongoing communication and information dissemination within and among the Project Partners, Leadership Teams, and Jurisdiction Implementation Teams to ensure sustainable and effective strategies beyond the project period. It builds on the partnership established in 2005 of the University of Guam, NCEO, and WRRC.
GSEG Grants on Modified Achievement Standards
Alabama
Alabama General Supervision Enhancement Grant
This project will define the characteristics of special education students who are experiencing persistent learning difficulties and develop clear guidelines for individualized education program (IEP) teams to use in determining eligibility for participation in an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). To ensure that students have opportunities to learn grade-level standards, Alabama will provide Statewide training for general and special education teachers on IEP guidelines; study the links among standards, instruction, and assessment; and build on the State's work in the area of standards to strengthen those links. The project will also develop recommendations for a new assessment or modifications to an existing assessment so that all students can demonstrate what they know and are able to do. Alabama will also build capacity in local education agencies across the State by providing ongoing technical assistance, monitoring, and opportunities for mutual feedback and continued growth.
Arizona and Indiana
Consortium of Modified Alternate Assessment Development and
Implementation (CMAADI)
The project is organized around seven functional and measurable activities: (a) develop and implement criteria for participation in an alternate assessment of modified achievement standards; (b) develop reading and mathematics test items that are highly accessible, aligned with grade-level content standards, and less complex than those on existing general achievement tests; (c) implement a field test of the alternate assessments of modified achievement standards at multiple grade levels; (d) evaluate effectiveness of professional development and the technical aspects of the field-test items; (e) implement alternate assessments of modified achievement standards Statewide; (f) set achievement standards for the modified alternate assessments; and (g) document and disseminate the uses and technical qualities of the new assessments.
Georgia
Georgia Alternate Instrument Modified for Student Success (AIMSS)
The Georgia Department of Education will develop modified academic achievement standards, including the investigation and documentation of the technical quality of an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). The AA-MAS will be designed to meet the needs of students whose disabilities preclude them from attaining grade-level achievement within the same time period as their peers, by ensuring that students will be able to demonstrate what they have learned.
Hawaii, South Dakota, Tennessee and
Wisconsin
Multi-State General Supervision Enhancement Grant (GSEG)
Consortium
This project aims to develop high-quality assessment and instructional systems that improve not only the accountability system, but also the learning of those students whose disability has precluded them from achieving grade-level proficiency and whose progress is such that they are not likely to reach grade-level proficiency in the same time frame as other students. The project will: (a) develop clear and appropriate guidelines for individualized education program (IEP) teams to use in determining which students should be assessed; and (b) develop State assessments using universal design principles based on modified academic achievement standards.
Iowa
The SAAFE-Learning Project: Standards and Assessment
Alignment for Equal Learning (Phase 2)
This project will support Phase 2 of the development of the SAAFE-Learning Project. In Phase 1, an alternate assessment measuring against alternate achievement standards was enhanced, and an evaluation and validity model was developed. That model will be replicated in this project, which will focus on developing an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards. Other outcomes include guidelines for student participation, training on how to develop standards-based IEPs, and using progress monitoring to measure student progress toward standards-based IEP goals.
Kansas and Louisiana
Validity of Assessments Based on Modified Academic
Achievement Standards: A Collaborative Project of the Kansas
Department of Education, the Louisiana Department of Education,
and WestEd
This project builds on existing evidence of validity and uses a combination of qualitative (e.g., expert judgment, cognitive interview responses) and quantitative methods (e.g., descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Differential Item Functioning) to gather empirical evidence to support assessment practices that improve access for the student population eligible for the assessment based on modified achievement standards and subsequently yield /more valid/ measures of what these students know and can do. This study will yield an empirically-supported /validity framework/ for assessments based on modified achievement standards and specific evidence-based/data-based strategies and procedures related to determining who should be/is participating in this assessment, ensuring the appropriate content is measured, providing appropriate and sufficient access for students, defining proficient performance on the assessment for these students, and ensuring technical adequacy of the assessment's development and implementation.
Maryland
Development of Maryland's Alternate Assessments Based on
Modified Academic Achievement Standards for High School
This project will develop: (a) modified academic achievement standards (MAAS) based on Maryland's academic content standards for the grade in which a student is enrolled; (b) a Modified High School Assessment (Mod-HSA), based on MAAS; and (c) clear and appropriate guidelines for IEP teams to use in determining which students should be assessed based on MAAS, including the development and implementation of training on those guidelines for IEP teams.
Michigan
MI-Access Modified Full Independence (MFL) Assessment
This project has two goals. One is to design a replicable process for modifying the existing Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) English Language Arts and Mathematics Assessment in Grade 3-8 by reducing length and difficulty level while maintaining appropriately challenging content that reflects the State's general education Grade-Level Content Expectations. The second purpose is the creation of a Michigan Online Professional Learning System (MOPLS) that can be adopted and adapted by States, school districts, and individual educators. The MOPLS will provide guidance to IEP Teams on determining participation in state assessment. It will also provide curricular and instructional supports to improve student achievement.
Montana
Identifying Students in Need of Modified Achievement
Standards and Developing Valid Assessments
This project will enhance Montana's current general and alternate assessment system by developing modified academic achievement standards (MAS) that are based on the State's grade-level academic content standards. The project will then develop assessments based on those modified standards, to be called the AA-MAS. Additionally, clear and appropriate guidelines will be developed for IEP teams to use in determining which students with disabilities should be assessed based on modified academic achievement standards. This collaborative effort includes the Montana Office of Public Instruction, including the Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (MPRRC), WestEd, Measured Progress, Montana's Technical Advisory Committee, and its Special Education Advisory Committee.
Nebraska
Nebraska's Modified Standards and Assessment General
Supervision Enhancement Grant (MSA-GSEG)
Nebraska’s Modified Standards and Assessment Grant is structured around five objectives. developed to be implemented through the collaborative efforts of the Nebraska Department of Education Office of Special Populations, Curriculum and Instruction, and Assessment. Activities include: (1) an overview of current academic content standards in reading and math and design of new content standards, (2) creation of modified achievement standards and examples of appropriate matching assessments, (3) development of clear and appropriate guidelines for IEP teams to determine which students should be assessed with modified achievement standards, (4) production of a standards-based IEP technical assistance document with training delivered to schools across the state, and (5) provision of in-depth, multi-phased training will be provided for Nebraska K-12 general and special education teachers regarding the instruction and assessment of students with disabilities in general education settings (least restrictive environment).
Ohio, Oregon, and Minnesota
Ohio Multi-State Consortium to Develop Assessments of
Modified Academic Achievement Standards
The goal of the consortium will be to share resources and expertise, and develop assessments of modified academic achievement standards for the three State assessment programs. Creating assessments of modified academic achievement standards is a test design and development process. Nine sets of activities are planned and will result in operational test forms for administration in the 2010-2011 school year.
Oklahoma
Technical Assistance for Improving the Oklahoma Modified
Alternate Assessment Program (OMAAP)
This project is designed to improve Oklahoma's Modified Alternate Assessment Program (OMAAP). The project will focus on three aspects of concern identified in the initial field test of the OMAAP: (a) refining OMAAP reading passages to increase accessibility to grade-level reading content; (b) strengthening technical quality elements specified in the Department of Education's peer review process; and (c) evaluating and modifying the eligibility and participation criteria and procedures, as well as evaluating the use of allowable testing accommodations. Evaluating OMAAP participation and refining guidelines and training will include (i) identifying the characteristics of students who participate in the OMAAP; (ii) evaluating and modifying the eligibility and participation criteria for OMAAP; (iii) developing clear and appropriate guidelines for IEP teams to use in determining which students should be assessed based on modified academic achievement standards; (iv) developing and providing training on those guidelines for IEP teams; (v)developing a monitoring system to ensure implementation of IEP guidelines; and (vi) evaluating the use of allowable testing accommodations.
Pennsylvania
PA-MAAS: Pennsylvania’s Modified Academic Achievement
Standards
The goal of this project is to define the population for whom an assessment based on modified academic achievement standards would be appropriate; and develop modified academic achievement standards and the blueprint for the development of the alternate assessment based on those modified achievement standards; develop guidelines for use by IEP teams in making the recommendation for how each student with an IEP will participate in annual state accountability assessments (i.e., who will take the regular assessment, the regular assessment with accommodations, an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards, or an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards); conduct statewide training for IEP teams based on the Guidelines and on standards-based IEPS ; and ensure that Universal Design Principles, when appropriate, are part of the RFP for the development of the PA Modified Assessment.
South Carolina
Targeting Research to Investigate Alternate Assessment
Development (TRIAAD)
The TRIAAD project will investigate the key components involved in developing an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). It will focus on developing modified academic achievement standards and defining performance-level descriptors based on South Carolina's academic content standards; (b) developing assessment prototypes based on the modified academic achievement standards through statistical performance profiles, learner characteristics, and stakeholder recommendations; (c) developing guidelines for IEP teams to use in determining which students should be assessed based on modified academic achievement standards; and (d) creating and implementing meaningful and sustained professional development activities to train IEP team members to identify students who will take the AA-MAS and to write standards-based IEPs.
Virginia
Virginia Modified Achievement Standards Test (VMAST) Project
The project will identify the appropriate group of students who should be eligible for the newly developed alternate assessments of modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). It will also implement the AA-MAS, while providing additional supports to students who are unlikely to meet grade-level achievement standards in the same time period as their nondisabled peers. The project will use its considerable experience with online testing to investigate the options available through this test-delivery method to provide a more appropriate means of assessing this population of students. While developing the AA-MAS test, the project will enhance existing Standards of Learning (SOL) grade eight reading and mathematics online assessments by adding research-based supports and modifications that will benefit students identified for alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards.
West Virginia
West Virginia Technical Assistance for IEP Teams on
Alternate Assessment: Modified Academic Achievement Standards
This project builds the foundation for an alternate assessment on modified academic achievement standards (AA: MAAS), focusing primarily on: (a) the development of clear and appropriate guidelines for IEP teams to use in determining which students should be assessed based on modified academic achievement standards; and (b) the development and implementation of training for IEP teams on the assessment guidelines and on standards-based IEP development to support instruction on grade-level academic content standards.
Projects funded 2006
Thirteen Grants to States Focusing on Assessments
Arizona
Iowa
Minnesota
New Hampshire
Oregon
South Carolina
Wisconsin
Pacific Rim
Assessment Consortium
American Samoa
Guam
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Northern Mariana Islands
Palau
Thirteen General Supervision Enhancement Grants (GSEGs) were awarded in 2006 to improve the capacity of states to accurately report on the performance and participation of children with disabilities on the state's assessments. Brief descriptions of these projects and the States in which they are taking place are provided here.
The six Pacific Rim entities (Pacific Rim Assessment Consortium)
received funding through the University of Guam Center for
Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research,
and Services (Guam CEDDERS). CEDDERS is working on behalf of the
consortium to bring in experts and facilitate the activities of
the six entities.
According to the funding priority to which states responded, the
grants are designed to assist states in: (1) developing
alternate achievement standards aligned with the State's
academic content standards; (2) developing high-quality
alternate assessments that measure the achievement of students
with the most significant cognitive disabilities based on those
standards; (3) reporting on the participation and performance of
students with disabilities on alternate assessments; and (4)
developing appropriate assessment accommodations that do not
alter the established reliability and validity of the assessment
instrument.
According to the Federal Register describing the GSEG priority,
one of the indicators established by the Secretary of Education
under section 616 of IDEA is the participation and performance
of children with disabilities on the State assessments required
under Title I of NCLB. States are expected to report on student
performance on State assessments in their State Performance
Plans (SPPs) and Annual Performance Reports (APRs) using the
same assessment data, and each State's academic assessment
system must be valid and reliable for the purposes for which the
assessment system is used and it must be consistent with
relevant, nationally recognized professional and technical
standards for assessment. In addition, a State's academic
assessment system must be accessible for use by the widest
possible range of students, including students with
disabilities, students covered under section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and students with
limited English proficiency.
American Samoa
American Samoa’s Implementation of the Pacific Assessment
Consortium
The project involves development and implementation of assessment accommodation guidelines and training materials, the improvement of the implementation of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards, development of an evaluation toolkit for ensuring participation and performance of students with disabilities while maintaining validity and reliability of the assessment used and ongoing technical support focused on accurate measuring and reporting of participation and performance of students with disabilities in the assessment system.
Arizona
Refining AIMS-A: Innovations to Advance Assessment of
Students with Significant Disabilities
In this project, the Arizona Department of Education will
develop an innovative method for assessing student achievement
in science and concurrently enhance the technical quality of its
alternate assessment system for students with significant
disabilities, the Arizona Instrument to Measure
Standards-Alternate (AIMS-A). The current version of this
assessment instrument combines comprehensive rating scales and
structured performance events. The science version will explore
a combination of rating items and multiple choice items.
Guam
Guam’s Implementation of the Pacific Assessment Consortium
This project aims to provide the U.S. Territory of Guam with
technical support to improve the ability of Guam’s statewide
assessment system to ensure accurate reporting on the
participation and performance of students with disabilities.
This project, in cooperation with the University of Guam Center
for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education,
Research, and Service, will result in the development of general
assessment accommodation guidelines and accompanying training
materials, alternate assessment guidelines and training
materials, and an evaluation toolkit.
Iowa
The SAAFE-Learning Project: Standards and Assessment
Alignment for Equal Learning
The purpose of this project is to develop and validate: (a)
alternate achievement standards aligned with grade-level content
standards; (b) high quality alternate assessments that measure
the achievement of students, ages 6-21, with the most
significant cognitive disabilities, based on the established
alternate achievement standards; and (c) report on participation
and performance of students with disabilities on alternate
assessments.
Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands’ Implementation of the Pacific Assessment
Consortium
The project provides technical support for the Pacific Basin
entity of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMIs) to improve
capacity for accurately reporting on the performance and
participation of students with disabilities in the statewide
assessment system. Focus areas include accommodation guidelines,
alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards,
and evaluation.
Micronesia
Micronesia’s Implementation of the Pacific Assessment
Consortium
The focus of this project is to provide technical support for
the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the areas of: (a)
improving the accuracy of reporting on the performance and
participation of students with disabilities in the statewide
assessment system; (b) developing and implementing accommodation
and modification guidelines with accompanying training
materials; (c) improving the alternate assessment on alternate
achievement standards; (d) developing an evaluation toolkit; and
(e) ensuring technical support beyond the one-year project to
make sure mechanisms are sustainable and effective.
Minnesota
Minnesota General Supervision Enhancement Grant
This project will improve the effectiveness of testing
accommodations by reevaluating state policies for consistency
with best practices and federal guidelines, and by providing
district-level training to ensure the consistent application of
accommodations in the classroom and on statewide assessments.
The intent of the project is to develop and implement effective
and consistent accommodations between the Individualized
Education Plan (IEP), daily instruction, and statewide
assessments without altering the validity of the assessments.
New Hampshire
Beyond Access to Assessment Accommodations
This project aims to (a) develop new valid and reliable accommodations for the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) that result in an increase in the percentage of students taking the NECAP with accommodations, a decrease in the percentage of students taking the New Hampshire Alternate Assessment (NHAA), and an increase in the percentage of students with disabilities who access the depth, breadth, and complexity of the general curriculum; and (b) enhance the State Education Agency's ability to provide guidance and supervision to the Local Education Agencies (LEAs) relative to the participation of students with disabilities in statewide assessments.
Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands’ Implementation of the Pacific
Assessment Consortium
This project’s goal is to provide needed technical support for
the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMIs) in order to
improve its capacity for appropriately including and assessing
all students with disabilities in its assessment system.
Activities involve creating guidelines for accommodation and
training materials for those making assessment decisions,
clarifying alternate achievement standards linkages to enrolled
grade-level content standards, improving the implementation of
the alternate assessment, and developing needed evaluation tools
with the result that participation and performance of students
with disabilities will be accurately measured and reported.
Oregon
Ensuring the Participation of Students with the Most
Significant Disabilities in Statewide Large-Scale Assessment
Using the Scaffolded Extended Assessment System (SEAS)
The purpose of this project is to develop and validate a new
alternate assessment, the Scaffolded Extended Assessment System
(SEAS), for the students in Oregon previously served by the
life-skills assessment known as Career and Life Role Assessment
System (CLRAS). The project incorporates
principles of Universal Design in its item and task development
to document growth within and across elementary and middle/high
school grade level content standards.
Palau
Palau’s Implementation of the Pacific Assessment
Consortium
This project supports the Republic of Palau (ROP) in the
development of assessment accommodation guidelines and training
materials, the improved implementation of high quality alternate
assessments based on alternate achievement standards, the
accurate reporting of performance and participation of students
with disabilities, and the creation of evaluation tools to
ensure appropriate decisions are made for students with
disabilities in its assessment system while maintaining the
validity and reliability.
South Carolina
South Carolina Modifications, Accommodations, Reports, and
Standards (MARS) Project
Objectives for the MARS project include establishing student
proficiency on an alternate assessment based on alternate
achievement standards as meeting a cut score (status) or as
achieving sufficient growth over two or more years, producing an
enhanced family and class report that provides meaningful
information to the student's family and teachers regarding the
student's performance in an alternate assessment based on
alternate achievement standards, and analyzing accommodations by
grade-level, and item construct to determine whether or not the
use of specific accommodations alters the construct being
measured.
Wisconsin
Enhancing the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment: Evidence and
Technology Innovations to Advance Reporting of the Achievements
of Students with Significant Disabilities
This project aims to improve the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment
for students with significant cognitive disabilities (WAA-SwD)
in the areas of technical
quality and alignment. The assessment is a comprehensive rating
scale with items based on the state’s alternate performance
indicators and extended Wisconsin assessment frameworks in
Reading, Math, and Science. It is aligned to the state’s model academic standards
and Wisconsin assessment frameworks in Reading, Math, and
Science.
The project involves developing a Web-based management system
for the WAA-SwD, developing evidence collection tools, and
refining the professional development training program and use
of the electronic reporting system.
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NCEO is supported primarily through a Cooperative Agreement (#H326G050007) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. Additional support for targeted projects, including those on LEP students, is provided by other federal and state agencies. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Opinions expressed in this Web site do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. | |
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