Statewide Assessment Results for Students with Severe and Sensory Disabilities

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, P.L. 107-110) requires annual testing in reading and math for grades 3-8 beginning in 2005-06 and annual testing in science by 2007-08. The tests are to be based on rigorous state standards, and NCLB expects 100% proficiency within 12 years. These testing requirements form the main accountability provisions of NCLB, and the results enter into the determination of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a measure that is expected to increase linearly year-by-year. Districts and schools that do not make AYP are subject to corrective actions. NCLB in effect holds schools responsible for the academic progress of their students. This law is now up for reauthorization.

NCLB requires states to report assessment results by several subgroups, including race, ethnicity, students with disabilities, students living in poverty, and students with limited English proficiency. A minimum of 95% of each subgroup must participate in testing, and participation is considered to occur if the test score is counted. However, accommodations that result in unreliable or invalid administrations may be excluded from participation.

Students with low-incidence disabilities are those that comprise less than 2% of the school-age population of children with disabilities. They are also the students who require the greatest degree of testing accommodations. NCLB has the potential to hold schools accountable for the educational progress of students with low-incidence disabilities at the same time as it risks excluding these students altogether because of the accommodations needed to help them learn. In 2004, states were permitted the option of indicating up to 2% of their population of students with disabilities as making AYP based on alternate achievement standards. This group of students comprises those with severe cognitive disabilities.

In 2003, the National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities began collecting statewide assessment data on children with low-incidence disabilities. It turned out to be a difficult task - as few states disaggregate their results by type of disability, and indeed NCLB does not require them to do so. But 10 states did agree to share this information with NCSSD. At the end of our second data collection period, fourteen states agreed to participate. NCSSD has collected additional data that well be posted as soon as analysis is complete. Data from 2001 - 2006 are summarized below.

Major Findings of this Project to Date:

1. Students with low-incidence disabilities are not performing commensurate to their non-disabled peers on statewide assessments.
2. States do not all use the same disability categories for reporting test information (e.g., students with hearing loss may or may not include students who are deaf; students who are deafblind may be reported in the category of multiple disabilities or blindness/visual impairment).
3. All states do not report the same data (e.g., some states report reading, writing and math; while others report English Language Arts . reading and writing combined).
4. The results are not comparable from year-to-year, nor from state-to-state. Different sets of students participate during each testing year for each grade level.
5. Since 2001, increasingly more states are disaggregating and sharing their state assessment data by disability areas.
6. During the 2005-2006 academic year, approximately 900 people visited NCSSD.s website regarding this project.

Understanding the Data:

• The numbers represent the mean proportion of students scoring proficient or better, based on all states that reported data for that year, grade level, and subject.
• Sometimes no students were tested in a category, sometimes no results were reported, and sometimes the numbers of students taking the test were not reported. For this reason, data does not exist for all disability groups for all grade levels for all subjects, and your customized searches may turn up empty.
• Students with significant support needs are classified differently by different states. We have reported the results for students with mental retardation, autism, multiple disabilities, and traumatic brain injury separately, but we cannot be sure that these represent discrete categories. Sometimes no students were tested in a category, sometimes no results were reported, and sometimes the numbers of students taking the test were not reported. For this reason, data does not exist for all disability groups for all grade levels for all subjects, and your customized searches may turn up empty.
• All states do not report the same data.
• Some states do not report the number of students participating in the state assessment. In cases where exact counts are not available, the minimum known count is preceded by a ">" sign.
• Data reported by only one state were not used. "No data" indicates either that only one state reported data or that no results were reported by any state for that category. This is why deafblindness only appears in a few tables and charts.
• The results are not comparable from year-to-year, or from state-to-state. Different sets of students participate during each testing year for each grade level.
• In the graphs that follow, all purple horizontal bars refer to students with significant support needs; green, to students with visual impairments; magenta, to students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing; turquoise, to ALL students with disabilities; and red, to all students without disabilities.

The National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities is grateful to those at state departments of education who have shared these data with us, and we encourage other states to make efforts to disaggregate their disability results in the future. If you would like more information regarding this project or how your state can participate, please contact Kay Ferrell (970-351-1653) or email at kay.ferrell@unco.edu.

State Assessment Data For 2001 to 2006

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
	Grade Level
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
2001
2002
2003
2004
2006

READING
	Grade Level
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

WRITING
	Grade Level
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
2003
2004

MATHEMATICS
	Grade Level
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

SCIENCE
	Grade Level
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
2003
2004
2006

SOCIAL STUDIES
	Grade Level
	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
2003
2004

The data are also available in Excel spreadsheet format

Last Updated July 25, 2008.

the National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities

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