Department of Education releases regulations guiding test creation for special education students
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has released final regulations to guide the creation of tests for students in special education who are capable of learning grade-level content, but not as quickly as their peers. Currently, the only options available for such students under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) are to take the general assessments that are given to all students, which may be too difficult, or tests intended for students with significant cognitive impairments, which are too easy. According to ED Deputy Secretary Raymond J. Simon, the new tests will allow a more accurate assessment of what these students know and how best to teach them. The tests may also allow some schools to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under NCLB when they had not before. Up to 2% of students’ proficient and advanced scores on these particular tests, which ED calls "alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards," may be counted when measuring AYP. Two percent of all students is equivalent to about 20% of students with disabilities.
ED also allows up to 1% of all students in a state, which is equivalent to 10% of students with disabilities, to take a different type of alternate assessment and be counted as proficient for purposes of AYP. Those tests, the ones used with students with significant cognitive impairments, are less complex and comprehensive. This testing flexibility was first announced in April 2005, with draft regulations released in December 2005. In the meantime, states were allowed to use a mathematical model to adjust their scores as if the policy were already in place, an approach that will be allowed for the 2006-07 school year not after that unless the state enters into a partnership with the ED to develop the "2 percent" tests. "Only those who participate with us in a meaningful way" can use the mathematical model, says Mr. Simon.
The final regulations, like the draft, also make clear that out-of-level assessments would not be allowed to serve as appropriate tests for students in special education. "The reason we’re taking that position here is we’re really trying to emphasize the importance of students getting access to grade-level content," says Kerri L. Briggs, ED’s acting assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy. However, the tests can still be easier than the tests given to the general student population, while reflecting grade-level content. Mr. Simon points out that some states already have begun offering such assessments to their students. Though those tests have not gone through ED’s peer-review process, he says they can be used as a starting point for other states. The department plans to launch an effort to assist states as they create the tests, including $21.1 million in grant funds for technical assistance, a meeting with the states scheduled for July, and monthly teleconferences.
Education Week
By Christina A. Samuels
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[Editor’s Note: ED’s press release on the new regulations, below, contains links to the regulations, guidance, and a fact sheet. The second link is to the Legal Clips summary of the proposed regulations when they were issued.]
[ED press release on new NCLB testing regulations]
[NSBA School law pages on proposed regulations]