Historically, psychological tests were assumed to be objective, culture-free, and generalizable to any racial/ethnic minorities or socio-cultural group, even though most tests were standardized, validated, and found reliable with samples consisting only of White, middle-class, English- speaking individuals (The Council of National Psychology…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) strives to provide every student with a positive and productive assessment experience, generating results that are a fair and accurate estimate of each student's achievement. Further, Smarter Balanced is building on a framework of accessibility for all students, including English…

English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities are an increasing presence in schools in the United States. Title I and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act require that these students meet the same academic grade-level standards and participate in content assessments as their fluent-English speaking peers without…

The paper provides a framework for a nonbiased placement system for students with suspected handicapping conditions. The suggested approach is designed to help school districts determine whether the appraisal system is contributing to the disproportionate placement of minority group students in special education classes. Nineteen steps in the…

The three volumes outline Alaska's procedures for implementing individualized education programs (IEPs) and for providing nonbiased assessment of exceptional students. The first two volumes deal with IEPs and include sections on initial identification, referral, multidisciplinary assessment, IEP development/placement, IEP review and reevaluation,…

Discusses the purposes of student grades, including those driven by Individualized Education Programs. Grading options to ensure objectivity, fairness, and accountability for students with diverse needs are suggested. Types of tests available and possible adaptations are described. School districts are urged to create a grading policy that is…

This study examined whether distractor choices functioned differently for students without learning disabilities than they functioned for students with learning disabilities who received no accommodation, students with learning disabilities who received a read-aloud accommodation, and students with learning disabilities who received some form of…

In order to provide special education programs that are responsive to the needs of Navajo students and in order to comply with the Rules and Regulations of Public Law 94-142 (The Education for All Handicapped Children Act) and Public Law 95-561 (Education Amendments of 1978), the information in this handbook provides guidance to teachers and…

While the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 first established the basic framework for determining the rights of handicapped students, both the courts and Congress are continually interpreting and changing the standards. The eight papers included in this…