Project Description:
Federal legislation requires that all students, including students with disabilities, be included in state assessment and accountability systems. Most participate in the regular assessment, with or without accommodations. A few with significant cognitive disabilities participate in an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). There may be a small group of students with disabilities whose knowledge and skills are not appropriately assessed with these options. To address this issue the Federal government finalized regulations in April 2007 that gave states flexibility to offer an additional option, an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS).
Currently little is known about the costs associated with designing, validating, and implementing an AA-MAS. Since it is an optional test, some states are unsure whether to offer it. Other states plan to develop an AA-MAS, but have questions about how various decisions they might make may affect costs. For example, a state may be considering whether to develop a portfolio assessment, modify its regular assessment )by removing a distractor or making format changes), or develop a totally new test.
The objective of the proposed study is to conduct cost analyses of selected AA-MAS options. The goal is to identify and quantify costs involved in developing, validating, and implementing various AA-MAS options. This will involve developing a spreadsheet that can be easily tailored to various AA-MAS scenarios. The activities are:
Activity 1: Gather and compile information about the characteristics of AA-MAS assessment options; the process used to develop, validate, and implement them; and relevant costs.
Activity 2: Develop and test customizable cost analysis decision-making tool.
Activity 3: Conduct cost analyses.
There has been little previous research on the costs associated with alternate assessments. Policymakers, state department of education staff members, and others would find it very useful to have cost information about AA-MAS to help inform the policy debate revolving around how students who may qualify to participate in this option should be assessed.
A project of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
