ERIC Number: ED463603
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2002
Reference Count: N/A
Including Students with Disabilities in Large Scale Assessments: A Necessary Element of School Reform Efforts.
This report presents guidelines for secondary school principals for including students with disabilities in large scale educational assessments. In the summer of 2001, a focus group of 13 administrators were brought together to share these promising practices for ensuring that students with disabilities participate in state and district-wide assessments of achievement and that their scores be counted in reform efforts. The guidelines include: (1) put curriculum at the center of all efforts by setting high academic expectations for students with disabilities, encouraging personnel to view the general curriculum as serving all students, and providing professional development on meeting diverse students' needs; (2) help school personnel and parents understand assessment accommodations, affirm that accommodations are acceptable, and encourage school personnel to consider first accommodations that enable self-sufficient performance by the students; (3) monitor alternative assessments, provide professional development about alternative assessments, and encourage best practices to be used; and (4) use assessment results to improve school practices by analyzing performance gaps between special and general education students and aligning funding, resources, and staffing to leverage student outcomes school wide and district wide. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations pertaining to student participation in large scale assessments are provided. (CR)
Publication Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Association of Secondary School Principals, Reston, VA.
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act