This report is part of a five-report series on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that examines the Every Student Succeeds Act's (ESSA's) amendments to IDEA, explains their likely impact on students with disabilities as ESSA implementation progresses, and provides recommendations. The National Council on Disability conducted…

The Indiana Department of Education's (IDOE's) Accessibility and Accommodations Information for Statewide Assessments is intended for school-level personnel and decision-making teams as they prepare for and implement Indiana statewide assessments. Information is provided for school personnel as a reference to inform guidance on universal features,…

In this article, we describe current research findings on assessment accommodations and universal design within the context of emerging interactive digital assessment tasks that employ simulations such as in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). STEM education in many classrooms now includes digitally based activities such as…

When the coronavirus pandemic was declared a public health crisis in March 2020, school psychologists were forced into situations where face-to-face interaction with their students was discouraged and in some cases, prohibited. Consequently, the traditional practice of school psychology abruptly ended. Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), specifies the requirements for the state assessments that states must incorporate into their state accountability systems to receive funding under Title I-A. Title IA of the ESEA authorizes aid to local educational agencies (LEAs)…

This guide aims to help parents understand the flexibility provided to States and school districts in the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA), which amended the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act," a landmark Federal education law. Parents are the most important advocates for their children. Because States and school…

Developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education, "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" (Revised 2014) addresses professional and technical issues of test development and use in education, psychology, and…

This chapter addresses the psychometric challenges in assessing English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). The first section addresses some general considerations in the assessment of ELLs and SWDs, including the prevalence of ELLs and SWDs in the student population, federal and state legislation that requires the…

The final regulations of the "No Child Left Behind" Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a, 2007b) indicate that a small group of students with disabilities can be counted as proficient through an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards. This new policy gives individualized education program teams the…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) stands at the forefront of contemporary efforts to create access to education curricula for all students, including those with disabilities. This policy reader comprises a notably wide range of articles that address the challenges and opportunities facing policy makers as they consider UDL's implications for…

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. Among those incarcerated are juveniles. However, the higher the education obtained, the less likely it is that those previously incarcerated will reoffend. Legislation such as No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act set the structure…

This report summarizes the twelfth survey of states by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the University of Minnesota. Results are presented for all 50 states and 8 of the 11 unique states. The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues during this…

This article introduces a special issue on technology-based assessment within special education. It notes the effects of the 1988 Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act and briefly reviews the nine papers in the issue. (DB)

Standards-based reform efforts are highly dependent on accurate assessment of all students, including those with disabilities. The accuracy of current large-scale assessments is undermined by construct-irrelevant factors including access barriers, a particular problem for students with disabilities. Testing accommodations such as the read-aloud…