Options for Participation and Related IEP Decisions

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Options for Participationand Related IEP
Decisions

• http//www.osepideasthatwork.org/toolkit/index.asp
  

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Options for Participation inCurrent Federal
RegulationsOption of the General Assessment
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Option of Alternate AssessmentsType 1- Grade
Level Achievement
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Option of Alternate AssessmentsType 2- Modified
Achievement
See the U.S. Department of Educations interim
policy on modified achievement standards at
http//www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/raising/disab-
options.html (retrieved October 20, 2005).
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Option of Alternate AssessmentType 3- Alternate
Achievement
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Options Summary
Some states make this option available to other
students.
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The Decision Framework

• IEP teams must determine how students with
  disabilities participate in statewide assessments
  for accountability, not whether they participate.

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Premise

• All students with or without disabilities, should
  participate in the general assessment without
  accommodations unless the IEP team determines
  otherwise.

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Implications for IEP Teams In Choosing Assessment
Option

• What is not relevant

• What is relevant

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What is Not Relevant for the IEP Teams Decision

• Exemption
• All students participate
• Separate, Specialized Curriculum
• All options are aligned with general curriculum/
  grade level content standards
• Placement
• Disability Label
• Boosting Schools Outcomes on AYP

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What is Relevant

• Prerequisite Considerations
• Has the student had access to grade level
  content?
• Has the student had evidence-based instruction?
• Was instruction by highly qualified teacher?
• IF answer to above is NO, continue to apply
  grade level achievement standards and evaluate
  response to intervention

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What is Relevant

• Students Educational Needs
• How does the student access the general
  curriculum?
• What has been the students response to academic
  interventions?
• How does this student interact with text?
• Do the supports the student requires change the
  complexity of grade level material?
• What inferences can be made about generalization?

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When an option for test participation is
selected what will it mean?
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What Inferences can Be Made

• When the team chooses grade level achievement
  standards
• Inferences from test results can be made to the
  breadth, depth, and complexity of the standards
  in the test specification for the general
  assessment with the
• general assessment,
• general assessment with accommodations, or
• alternate assessment-grade level achievement

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What Inferences can Be Made

• When the team chooses modified achievement
  standards
• Inferences from test results can be made to grade
  level expectations with specified level of
  breadth, depth, and complexity
• Alternate assessment judged against modified
  achievement standards

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What Inferences can Be Made

• When the team chooses alternate achievement
  standards
• Inferences from test results can be made to grade
  level content that is extensively prioritized but
  maintains expectation for progress in general
  curriculum
• And assumes student performance is contingent on
  having the supports specified for the assessment
• Alternate assessment judged against alternate
  achievement standards

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Who might take the

• Alternate Assessment
• Judged Against
• Modified Achievement Standards?

No final regulations had been established at the
time this paper was released.
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What are Modified Achievement Standards?

• Designed to enable inferences about grade level
  content expectations
• somewhat reduced in
• breadth,
• depth, or
• complexity
• Inferences are constrained

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Who are the 2 students?

• Students with IEPs who are very, very, very hard
  to teach

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Who are the 2 students?

• Students who can learn grade level content, but
  in the time available
• Cannot cover as much content
• Cannot cover the content in as much depth
• Cannot learn the content to the same degree of
  cognitive complexity

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Grade Level Content
Content Standards and Achievement Standards
specified for the general assessment.
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Content reduced in breadth
Content Standards and Achievement Standards
specified for grade level content with reduced
breadth.
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Content reduced in depth
Content Standards and Achievement Standards
specified for grade level content with reduced
depth.
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Content reduced in cognitive complexity
Content Standards and Achievement Standards
specified for grade level content with reduced
cognitive complexity.
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Who are the 2 students?

• Have persistent academic difficulties
• Despite intensive, appropriate, relentless,
  evidence-based interventions
• Over sufficient length of time
• Cannot close the achievement gap

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The time there is to learn it!
Start lower Work harder and longer Achieve
the same amount?
All there is to learn
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The time there is to learn it!
Most Students
All there is to learn
Start lower Work hard to maintain pace
Achieve less.
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Decision Framework applied to 2

• 1. In what way does the student access the
  general curriculum?
• S can learn a streamlined version of the
  content
• 2. What has been the students response to
  academic interventions
• S has persistent academic problems despite
  appropriate, intensive interventions

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Decision Framework

• 3. How does the student interact with text?
• Controlled vocabulary reduced reading levels
• May need text reader
• 4. Do the supports needed by this student to
  perform or participate meaningfully change the
  complexity or cognitive demand of the material?
• Needs supports that reduce complexity, breadth,
  depth of the content
• Teacher scaffolding Fewer choices

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Decision Framework

• 5. What inferences can be made about students
  generalization/transfer of learning
• Inferences constrained
• Transfer of learning more limited
• May transfer only to similar or familiar contexts

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Who are the 2 students?

• Simply stated, they are students for whom
• The alternate assessment judged against alternate
  achievement standards is too easy
• The general assessment judged against grade level
  achievement standards is too hard