Ron Erickson

State-Level Accountability for the Performance of Students with Disabilities Five Years of Change?

Along with the dramatic expansion of assessment activities during this decade, there has been increased use of state-level assessments as accountability tools. The extent to which students with disabilities have been included in state-level accountability, however, is questionable. This study examined changes that have taken place over 5 years in four aspects of state accountability practices involving students with disabilities: (a) the number of states using data on students with disabilities for state-level accountability and the nature of their accountability systems, (b) the existence of state policies on allowable accommodations and adaptations in assessments, (c) information on the rates of participation of students with disabilities in state-level assessments, and (d) the availability of data on students with disabilities in state-level accountability systems. Information was collected from all 50 states, plus the 9 educational units whose special education students were supported by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (e.g., Bureau of Indian Affairs, District of Columbia, Marshall Islands, Puerto Rico) in both 1991 and 1995. The results indicated that there have been dramatic increases in the number of states that indicate they use data from students with disabilities on school participation, exit, and achievement in their state accountability systems and in the number of states with written guidelines on the use of accommodations in state assessments. In contrast, states seem to have changed little in their specific knowledge about the participation rates of students with disabilities in assessments, although it appears that, when students are included in assessments, their data now are more likely to be accessible than 5 years ago. The implications of these findings for future efforts to include students with disabilities in state accountability systems are explored.

What about Assessment and Accountability?: Practical Implications for Educators.

Students who are tested count in the information used by policymakers to make decisions about curriculum; allocation of resources; and development of school, district, or state policies about the instructional process. Most of these decisions are based on districtwide and statewide assessments. And these are the assessments from which students with disabilities are typically excluded. This practice is about to change nationally because of new regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) on district and statewide assessment. Students with disabilities are to be included in general state and districtwide assessment programs with accommodations where necessary. And for a very small percentage of students with disabilities, an alternate assessment must be developed and implemented no later than July 1, 2000.

Neglected Numerators, Drifting Denominators, and Fractured Fractions: Determining Participation Rates for Students with Disabilities.

Current educational reform efforts seek to ensure accountability for educational results for all of our nations students and, thus, there is increasing interest in the extent to which current large-scale assessment practices and programs include students with disabilities. Developing accurate procedures for reporting on the participation of students with disabilities in such assessment programs has proven to be difficult, due to a lack of data, differing definitions of eligible testing populations, and the misalignment of data collection efforts and data management responsibilities. Specific recotnmendations are offered for both policymakers and local practitioners and administrators to address these issues, and to assist in improving our ability to accurately report the participation of students with disabilities in educational assessment programs.