Providing accommodations during assessments for students with disabilities has long been a standard requirement in federal education legislation. Providing assessment accommodations for English learners (ELs), on the other hand, is a newer requirement appearing only over the past few decades. As such, state assessment policies vary widely in terms…

Current educational policies require the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments. Their participation has raised a number of issues, among them the need for accommodations. In this article we consider the role that assistive technology (AT) can play to alleviate current accommodations demands, and highlight research and…

To meet the assessment requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states must ensure the inclusion of students with disabilities, as well as provide for the appropriate use of assessment accommodations. Accommodations have been defined in a number of ways. In the Council of Chief…

This report summarizes the findings of three 5-year federally financed dropout prevention programs for high risk students and their families known as the ABC programs: ALAS (Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success), the Belief Academy, and Check & Connect. The information is based on a comprehensive report called "Staying in…

Some students are less accurately measured by typical reading tests than other students. By asking teachers to identify students whose performance on state reading tests would likely underestimate their reading skills, this study sought to learn about characteristics of less accurately measured students while also evaluating how well teachers can…

Minnesota is one of many states that began development of an English proficiency test before federal requirements were in place to do so. It had decided to put into place a test that would provide the state with a better and more uniform gauge of how its population of English language learners (ELLs) was doing in their acquisition of academic…