Andrew T. Roach

Alignment of an Alternate Assessment with State Academic Standards Evidence for the Content Validity of the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment

In this article, the authors describe an alignment and content analysis of the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment (WAA) for students with disabilities. The WAA is an assessment of the academic performance of students with significant disabilities and is an alternative to the traditional on-demand achievement test. Alternate assessments like the WAA are required by federal law and are expected to be aligned with state content standards. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the extent to which the WAA adequately measured the concepts and skill areas represented in Wisconsins Model Academic Standards. The ratings of an expert panel (N = 10) that participated in the WAA Alignment Institute provided data regarding the alignment of WAA items to the standards. The expert panels responses indicated that the WAA generally meets the multifaceted criteria developed by Webb (1997) and advocated by Title I reviewers for acceptable alignment between assessments and curriculum expectations as articulated in academic content standards.

Effects of Using Modified Items to Test Students with Persistent Academic Difficulties

This study investigated the effects of using modified items in achievement tests to enhance accessibility. An experiment determined whether tests composed of modified items would reduce the performance gap between students eligible for an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS) and students not eligible, and the impact on student proficiency levels. Three groups of eighth-grade students (N = 755) from four states took original and modified versions of reading and mathematics tests. Findings indicate modified item conditions were significantly easier for all students and modifications would result in more AA-MAS eligible students meeting proficiency status. Study limitations and follow-up research on item modifications and the performance of students with disabilities are discussed.

The Influence of Access to General Education Curriculum on Alternate Assessment Performance of Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities

The primary purpose of this investigation was to understand the influence of access to the general curriculum on the performance of students with significant cognitive disabilities, as measured by the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment (WAA) for Students with Disabilities. Special education teachers (N = 113) submitted case materials for students with significant disabilities who were assessed using the WAA. Cases included WAA rating scales, students’ individualized education programs (IEPs), and a curricular access questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the influence of curricular access on students’ WAA performance. Students’ scores on the WAA Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics scales were included in the model as the indicators for the latent factor—student performance. Student grade level, teacher reports of students’ curricular access, percentage of academic focused IEP goals, and time spent in general education settings were included as predictors of students’ performance. Results indicated the model accounted for 41% of the variance in the latent factor of student performance. Implications of these results are discussed for the validity of WAA scores and the design of professional development and teacher support materials.

Evaluating School Climate and School Culture

demand schoolwide policies and plans? How can we examine the school environment to see what positive changes we can make to a schools climate or culture? What tools are best suited to assessing how students and teachers view their schools climate or context for learning? This article takes a historical approach to evaluating school climate and offers practical guidance to modern measures of school culture.

Goal Attainment Scaling: An Efficient and Effective Approach to Monitoring Student Progress:

Goal attainment scales (GAS) provide an individualized, criterion-referenced approach to describing changes in the performance of students and can be very useful in documenting changes involving academic and social behaviors. When this technique is used in educational contexts, teachers, parents, consultants, or students can complete GAS ratings, thus providing an indirect measure of academic or social behavior performance. The basic methodology of GAS involves the following steps:

Alternate Assessments of Students with Significant Disabilities: Alternative Approaches, Common Technical Challenges

This article examines three typical approaches to alternate assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities—portfolios, performance assessments, and rating scales. A detailed analysis of common and unique design features of these approaches is provided, including features of each approach that influence the psychometric quality of their results. Validity imperatives for alternate assessments are reviewed, and approaches for addressing the need for validity evidence are outlined. The article concludes with an examination of three technical challenges—alignment, scores and scoring, and standard setting—common to all alternate assessments. In light of these challenges, existing methods and professional testing standards are endorsed as necessary guidance for understanding and advancing alternate assessment practices.

Impact of Mindfulness Training on the Behavior of Elementary Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder

This study investigated the effects of mindfulness training on the behavior of four 8-year-old boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A multiple baseline design was used to investigate whether a multisession mindfulness intervention resulted in increased on-task behaviors in the classroom. Graphic analysis of observation data indicated that the intervention was effective in increasing the percentage of intervals of on-task behavior. In addition, parent and teacher ratings on the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2) generally indicated a decrease in hyperactive behaviors. Conversely, significant changes in pre- and posttest ratings on the BASC-2 Attention Problems Scale were generally not observed.

Assessment in Early Childhood Instruction-Focused Strategies to Support Response-to-Intervention Frameworks

The current emphasis on alignment of early learning guidelines, assessment, curricular practices, and accountability in early education and care systems has provided an opportunity to revisit and refine early childhood assessment practices. Practitioners, researchers, and policy makers are increasingly interested in developing instruction-focused assessment strategies that have instructional and intervention validity. In particular, progress is being made in the development and validation of universal screening assessments and progress-monitoring methods that can support the application of response-to-intervention models in early childhood settings. This article provides a brief review of select assessment tools in early childhood that demonstrate instructional validity. The authors suggest future directions for strengthening the instructional and intervention validity of early childhood assessments in the context of response-to-intervention frameworks.

Opportunities and Options for Facilitating and Evaluating Access to the General Curriculum for Students With Disabilities

Federal regulations concerning the development and implementation of alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards include a set of safeguards intended to ensure that eligible students have access to grade-level general curriculum. These regulations concerning curricular access and opportunity to learn for students with disabilities may prove difficult for educational researchers and policymakers to operationalize and evaluate. This article provides a historical and policy context for efforts to ensure curricular access. In addition, this article reviews research on potential indicators of (or ways of measuring) access to the general curriculum and opportunity to learn. Finally, best practices for facilitating and evaluating access to the general curriculum are discussed.

Meeting the Curricular Challenges of Inclusive Assessment: The Role of Alignment, Opportunity to Learn, and Student Engagement.

Inclusive test-based accountability systems are intended to focus attention on the teaching and learning of important knowledge and skills for students with disabilities. Test score inferences to this end are often based on unverified assumptions of curricular alignment, access, and engagement. Focusing on students with disabilities, we discuss key concepts and practices relevant for measuring and facilitating alignment, opportunity to learn (OTL), and student engagement. In conclusion, three recommendations are provided calling for the collection and evaluation of alignment, OTL, and engagement data to support the validity of test score inferences and to inform the design of interventions that improve student OTL and engagement.