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1342.12 Companion
July 12, 2017
Page 84
Accommodations for System-wide Assessment
(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004
; DoDM 1342.12 ,Encl. 4, Section 8.c.6)
Testing accommodations are adjustments of the standard testing conditions that reduce or eliminate
the impact of the student’s disability on his or her performance on the assessment. Accommodations
may be provided when they do not compromise validity or reliability of the assessment, or provide an
unfair advantage to the student with the disability. Without an accommodation for his/her disability, an
assessment may inaccurately measure what the student knows and is able to do resulting in the
measure reflecting the disability rather than the student’s knowledge and skills. Accommodations are
not intended to give the student an advantage or artificially raise the student’s scores; rather, they are
intended to establish an equal playing field so students with disabilities can take an assessment on an
equal basis with their peers.
There must be a link between selected accommodations and the student’s disability. Accommodations
for system-wide assessment must be those that the student routinely uses during classroom instruction
and assessment. Accommodations must be considered and reviewed annually utilizing evidence
documenting student needs. Accommodations should not be considered for the first time just before
assessment and they CANNOT be used only during the system-wide assessment.
DoDEA System-wide Assessments
Accommodations are available as appropriate for all DoDEA system-wide assessments. The CSC makes
informed decisions regarding individual student accommodations to be used routinely and during
participation in instruction and system-wide assessments.
Postsecondary Assessment Accommodations
Students may be eligible for reasonable accommodations for post-secondary assessments such as, but
not limited to, the SAT, PSAT, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The testing entity (e.g., College
Board, ACT, etc.), not DoDEA, has the authority to approve post-secondary assessment
accommodations. The CSC informs parents of deadlines and the process for making such requests.
With parental consent, the CSC, parents, and school assessment coordinator collaborate to submit a
request for accommodations to the testing entity several months in advance in order to receive a timely
response and take follow-up actions, if necessary.
Alternate Assessment
Overview
The alternate assessment validly measures the performance of students who are unable to participate in
the general education system-wide assessment, even with accommodations, as determined by the CSC.
The CSC must document on the IEP why the student cannot participate in the system-wide assessment,
and why the particular alternate assessment is appropriate for the student. An alternate assessment
permits students with significant disabilities to demonstrate their proficiency toward mastery of
academic standards and functional living skills. An alternate system for measuring performance is
necessary because the attainment of IEP goals and objectives cannot be easily aggregated for
accountability purposes.
An alternate assessment measures the same content areas as the system-wide assessment but may
assess additional content, such as functional skills. An alternate assessment is designed to:
1.
Measure student performance;
2.
Analyze individual student data to make appropriate instructional decisions;
3.
Generate student results that can be aggregated for inclusion in DoDEA accountability reports.