Laura Moore-Lamminen and Ken Olsen Alliance for Sysems Change/ Mid-Souh Regional Resource Cener (ASC/MSRRC) Inerdisciplinary Human Developmen Insiue Universiy of Kenucky Alliance for Sysems Change
Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences Absrac Has alernae assessmen helped revamp special educaion services and pracice for sudens wih significan cogniive impairmens? The following paper includes rue sories from eachers and sae level saff who have seen improvemens in boh he educaion sysem and lives of individuals wih significan cogniive impairmens. While challenges exis wih alernae assessmen, hese sories suppor emerging research in demonsraing he posiive effecs i can have on aiudes, pracices and suden oucomes. Wih he 1997 amendmens o he Individuals wih Disabiliies Ac (IDEA) came a new challenge for educaors, adminisraors, children and parens. For he firs ime, all school disrics were being held accounable for special educaion pracices and for he learning of all sudens wihin each sae s large scale assessmen program. Among he mos challenging requiremens was he expecaion ha by July of 2000, sudens wih he mos significan disabiliies would be assessed wih some form of sae-wide alernae assessmen and ha he resuls would be made available and repored o he public. Subsequenly, he No Child Lef Behind Ac (NCLB) srenghened hose requiremens by demanding ha he resuls of alernae assessmens using alernae achievemen sandards be included in calculaions of each school s and disric s Adequae Yearly Progress (i.e., if a hreshold number of sudens was assessed). Mos saes had some form of an alernae assessmen in operaion by he July 2000 deadline. Because of he diversiy of characerisics wihin he eligible suden populaion many saes oped for porfolios or bodies of evidence (Quenemoen, Thompson & Thurlow, 2003). The Challenges Educaors have expressed concerns abou he increased paperwork and documenaion from alernae assessmen (Kleiner & Kearns, 2001). Some are concerned ha incorporaing alernae assessmen wihin he general educaion sysem of accounabiliy assumes a uniformiy ha ignores he unique needs of sudens who, by definiion, need special educaion and relaed services. As one eacher saed, I was hesian o accep ha any sysem or program could be flexible enough o address he many learning oucomes hese sudens exhibied on heir Individualized Educaion Plans. Porfolios and bodies of evidence require exensive amouns of work on he par of he eacher and usually incorporae a specific approach o documening he eaching-learning process. As one alernae assessmen coordinaor recognized, Alernae assessmen adds more paperwork and daa records for eachers. Some eachers and parens quesion wheher he resuls obained are in balance wih he amoun of ime spen (i.e., he ime o documen, repor and score he informaion akes oo much ime away from insrucion). Addiionally, ohers are concerned ha, in he end, he documenaion reflecs more on he abiliy of he eacher o produce a good documen han on wheher a suden is receiving a qualiy educaion. Considering all he criicism, he key quesion is wheher here is sufficien benefi from alernae assessmen. While hard evidence is sill emerging and muliple sudies of effecs have no been conduced naion-wide, we are learning ha here can be significan benefis for sudens, eachers and schools as well as a disric, sae and naional levels, when alernae assessmen is implemened well. We have gahered a number of repors from eachers and sae level saff regarding some of hose benefis. We found ha before hese respondens seriously ried o implemen an alernae assessmen as par of heir insiuional sysem, few believed ha alernae assessmen would be worh he effor. Afer implemening alernae assessmen programs, however, all respondens had posiive experiences o share. We begin wih sories from eachers abou seven sudens who have benefied from alernae assessmen pracices. Following he eacher sories, four sae sories abou sysem-wide effecs are illusraed. We close wih some conclusions abou he possible impac of alernae assessmen. The reader is free o use his documen in is enirey or any par of i in a raining, sharing or policy developmen effor. Some suggesed uses: Selec a few sories o include in a raining manual or o share during a raining session, Share a few sories as examples and ask paricipans o wrie heir own sory using he same forma, Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 2 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Use some of he sories o simulae discussion abou he inended and uninended effecs of alernae assessmen, Pu he quoes from he eacher sories in a lis and use he lis in an orienaion (e.g., by asking, Which of hese are real quoes from eachers? and hen debriefing abou wha is possible), Provide all eleven sories o an alernae assessmen developmen eam o read and have hem draw heir own conclusions abou how bes o approach he work, Share he sories wih he sae large scale assessmen echnical advisory commiee, or Use a few sories o bolser a reques o he sae legislaure when asking for an increase in funding for alernae assessmen. We make no apology for he fac ha hese are no randomly seleced sories, because our quesion was no abou averages or norms, bu abou wha can be accomplished wih he bes aspecs of alernae assessmen wih alernae achievemen sandards. However, we hink ha hese sories are no unique. We believe ha here are hundreds of hese scenarios emerging across he Unied Saes and we encourage readers o look for and share ohers. Throughou his paper we mainain he anonymiy of he sysems and individuals involved because our respondens descripions of he Background do no always reflec well on he eacher, he school, he disric or he sae. In conras, he good news can be found in he Effecs secions. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 3 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 4 ASC/MSRRC 2005
He is doing hings I didn realize he could do! Ms. R, a veeran educaor, compleed her firs year wih alernae assessmen during he 2003-2004 academic year. She eaches in a public school for sudens wih special Background needs beween he ages of 3 o 21. One of her sudens, whom we will call Allen, was a 12 year old boy who exhibied low cogniive funcioning, limied physical movemen and limied verbal abiliies as a resul of his cerebral palsy. Allen communicaed wih simple sounds ha served as codes for cerain answers. Prior o alernae assessmen, Ms. R remembers feeling a lile uneasy abou he complexiy of he alernae assessmen porfolio sysem. She saed ha she was worried abou he amoun of suppor she would need in order o accomplish he expecaions her school and disric placed on her. Anoher area of concern was he ime and effor needed o pu ogeher qualiy lessons in order o challenge her sudens. Ms. R used several differen echniques o help Allen maser objecives and goals and Acions o become successful on he alernae assessmen. She and he IEP eam had o hink more creaively abou how o assess goals, bu hey found ways o help sudens like Allen maser asks. They arranged for Allen o be fied wih a head swich o communicae and make choices as par of his objecives and used a clock scanner wih which his head swich can deermine ime by he movemen of his head. They also began o each lieracy skills such as he number of syllables in a word by having Allen say uh o indicae one syllable, say Uh, uh for wo syllables and so on. Also, in order o deermine if objecs are heavy or ligh, Allen would move his head according o he weigh of differen objecs. Using a scanning alker, hey augh Allen o make choices and idenify poins in a sory by punching words ha had been pre-recorded on he device. The resuls for Allen and even for Ms. R herself were amazing. Ms. R believes ha her firs year using he alernae assessmen porfolio sysem was grea! She enhusiasically discusses he changes ha she has made as an educaor as well as he advancemens she has seen her sudens make. Ms. R found ha Allen consisenly began o give correc answers and really grasped he conceps. Allen has also found success in reading, correcly deermining he number of syllables in words by making voice approximaions for every syllable, including he number of syllables in words when sories are read o him. Allen found deligh wih music, aending a music class wih his peers and loving he aenion he received from hem. The children in his class were eager o si by him and help him wih his paper and Ms. R recalls waching Allen one day in music class happily singing wih he group. She saed ha sudens like Allen were successfully compleing asks ha she did no realize hey were capable of doing. The effecs don sop wih Allen and he sudens hemselves. Now ha alernae assessmen has been in place for a year, Ms. R says ha she now receives significan suppor from her school principal, and has been allowed exra ime o work on goal wriing and classroom modificaions for aciviies for her sudens. Ms. R seemed o feel ha his suppor is one key o he success she has seen in alernae assessmen. Teachers in he middle school adjacen o her also suppor her sudens. She saed ha her school is a grea environmen for supporing learning of all sudens. Finally, Ms. R also believes ha alernae assessmen has changed he way she runs her classroom. I has allowed her o become a more creaive eacher and led her o reorganize her classroom. She now pus ogeher monhly ses of lesson plans, which helped her have a more srucured school year. She saed ha wih he alernae assessmen porfolio sysem, wriing repor cards and Individualized Educaion Plans (IEP) is much easier because she now has concree evidence of acquired skills. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 5 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Now I look a he possibiliies insead of he limiaions! Ms. F runs a disric program for children wih severe disabiliies. She was he lead eacher for a suden, whom we will call Dwayne, a 14 year old adolescen wih cerebral palsy. Dwayne weighed approximaely 45 pounds, had no verbal communicaion Background skills, used a wheelchair and needed one-o-one personal care for everyhing from eaing o bahing and oileing. Ms. F saed ha when Dwayne firs came o her classroom, she hough o herself, Wha can he really do? She was concerned ha his limiaions would make i very difficul o show change; however, Ms. F was excied abou he alernae assessmen process. She realized ha her sae was headed in a direcion ha seemed like a naural fi o assess Dwayne and her oher sudens. Ms. F acknowledged ha many of her colleagues hough ha alernae assessmen would be a shor-lived ideal and ha i would disappear like so many oher programs. Mos eachers were concerned ha alernae assessmen involved a lo of exra work and would consume more of heir limied ime wihou significan benefi. Ms. F repored ha she me wih a physical herapis, a speech herapis and paraeducaors each week o review Dwayne s progress and areas for addiional work. Acions Alernae assessmen was addressed as a eam. The eam designed Dwayne s academic program around he exended sandards oulined in he alernae assessmen sysem. She repored ha hey used a compuerized communicaion board o each Dwayne o communicae simple saemens such as, hello or goodbye. Even hough Dwayne is in a self-conained classroom, alernae assessmen led he eam o provide him wih more opporuniies o socialize wih his general educaion peers, such as having lunch in he cafeeria. The eam ook Dwayne o he YMCA four imes per week for physical herapy via swimming. Ms. F repored ha Dwayne became more social han he ever was before. He greeed he employees of he YMCA when he enered. She referred o him as he jock of he class saing ha he cruised he cafeeria each day afer finishing his lunch o socialize wih sudens in his school. She saed ha hey all said hi o him and knew who he was. Ms. F repored ha as a resul of he focus in alernae assessmen, Dwayne became a happier suden who communicaed wih sudens a his school and even folks in he communiy. She saed ha he had been able o generalize skills learned in he classroom. A he communiy level, Ms. F repored ha Dwayne s moher ook him o he grocery sore wih her. Only in he las year or wo did Dwayne s moher noice ha people in he communiy all knew him. Ms. F saed ha his moher was happy ha people knew who he was and recognized him from places in he communiy. Before alernae assessmen, few people knew Dwayne because of his lack of conac wih he communiy. Ms. F saed ha her relaionship wih general educaion eachers was differen afer alernae assessmen sared. General educaion eachers are more ineresed in her sudens and he alernae assessmen mehods. Also, eachers are becoming more aware of he differences in heir suden performance as a resul of he alernae assessmen porfolio sysem. She saed ha when her sudens scores began being used along wih general educaion scores, he adminisraors paid closer aenion o her classroom needs in order o help sudens wih special needs acquire he skills oulined on heir alernae assessmen porfolios. For example, she indicaed ha she now has access o a greaer range of maerials ha she can use o address specific needs. Ms. F saed ha he emphasis on alernae assessmen has helped her become more opimisic. She is much more likely o look a all of he possibiliies insead of all of he barriers and limiaions. Also, oher eachers of sudens wih severe disabiliies, who originally hough ha alernae assessmen migh be a passing fad, are beginning o accep is realiy, seeing he benefis for he sudens and for he sysem and are increasingly making changes o beer address heir sudens needs. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 6 ASC/MSRRC 2005
All Sudens are Academic Sudens! Ms. A worked wih a nine year old girl who funcioned a a welve monh level or below. The girl, whom we will call Gail, had no funcional vision, no conrolled use of Background her limbs or body and no speech. However, she could move her head back and forh, cry or laugh and pu a pacifier in her mouh. Gail has been a suden in Ms. A s class for hree years. Before alernae assessmen, Gail was no mainsreamed in any general educaion classrooms and eachers mosly worked on sensory aciviies. Academics were imporan, bu were augh a he suden s abiliy level insead of being ied o he disric sandard benchmarks for he suden s grade level. When alernae assessmen was firs inroduced, Ms. A was scared abou assessing a child wih such profound disabiliies. She had experience wih he porfolio sysem, bu Gail s lack of vision and lack of verbal communicaion were more of a challenge. Ms. A was concerned ha Gail s limied communicaion skills would make i harder o access her skill acquisiion. Wih he requiremen of alernae assessmen before her, Ms. A knew she needed o make Acions changes. While she sill worked wih Gail on sensory aciviies, she learned o inegrae oher academic skills. In order o foser greaer communicaion skills, Gail was inroduced o Braille. Using he sensory simulus of sound, Ms. A acively engaged Gail by having her press Braille symbols by one. Ms. A also increased her range of modificaions in order o help Gail and oher sudens learn. She modified maerials from he general educaion curriculum and used hem in order o enhance Gail s learning. For insance, Ms. A glued feahers ono a puzzle o help Gail idenify he needed puzzle piece. The puzzle piece focused on a paricular skill, while feaher sill provided he sensory simulus. Gail also was given he opporuniy o inerac more wih her peers. In he 2003-2004 school year she aended reading in a general educaion classroom each day for ½ hour. The general educaion sudens ook urns reading o her. Finally, Ms. A involved more specialiss in creaing lessons and worked o expand heir expecaions. Once, when a eacher said o Ms. A ha a suden ha he eacher was working wih was no an academic suden, Ms. A reored, ALL sudens are academic sudens! Ms. A aribues a number of posiive changes direcly o he adven of alernae assessmen. No only did Gail improve, bu she has seen posiive changes in herself as an educaor and in ohers hroughou he school. Mos imporanly, Gail blossomed. As a resul of alernae assessmen, she was more social and happier - ineracing more wih her peers. Afer becoming inegraed ino a regular educaion classroom, Gail showed preference owards cerain sudens who read o her. She showed her preference by laughing or acing giddy owards he sudens when hey read. Her favorie suden reader was no a srong reader, bu he read enhusiasically and she reaced o he differen ones in his voice when he read. The requiremens for alernae assessmen also provided Gail wih he opporuniy o be inroduced o more challenging academic aciviies. While a he ime of his wriing Gail had no ye masered Braille, she had responded posiively o he modificaions made by Ms. A and her eam (i.e., adding noises o cerain symbols, ec.). Therefore, he eam now knew ha Gail was able o disinguish among he differen symbols and had high hopes for addiional breakhroughs. Afer seeing how Gail grew as a suden, Ms. A was more willing o aemp more challenging aciviies from he general educaion curriculum wih modificaions as needed. Ms. A saed ha she and Gail worked ogeher o achieve success wih alernae assessmen and ha she feels like a beer eacher because of i. Before alernae assessmen, eachers were relucan abou inclusion and now hey wan o involve sudens wih disabiliies in heir regular classes, perhaps because hey know hey will ge help from Ms. A. She provides he suppor ha eachers need and she feels comforable asking eachers o help mainsream sudens. She said ha here is definiely more accepance wih children in special educaion classes han before alernae assessmen. Also, people in he communiy, including subsiue eachers who come ino he schools, have given Ms. A posiive feedback abou having special educaion sudens in general educaion classrooms. Now, for his school, all sudens really are academic sudens. Ms. A has modeled his belief by addressing her sudens specific needs while providing enriching academic aciviies. Ms. A described how her aiude and he aiudes of her colleagues have changed. Insead of limiing exposure of suden learning, now hey say, Le s ry i! Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 7 ASC/MSRRC 2005
I feared I would have o lower my sandards! Ms. C augh a young man whom we will call Mark. She described him as eleven years old, acile defensive, blind and wih auisic-like behaviors. Mark could use his Background hands o wirl objecs like bole caps bu would no use a spoon o feed himself. Ms. C worked wih Mark for nine years and by he end of a recen school year, he was eaing independenly by scooping food wihou any assisance. The school is a cener-based program for sudens who have disabiliies. Prior o alernae assessmen, Ms. C said ha her classroom insrucion focused on such funcional and self-help skills. Ms. C refleced on her houghs abou alernae assessmen in he beginning. She saed ha she was concerned ha alernae assessmen would force her o lower her sandards in order o mee he expecaions of he alernae assessmen. During he firs year of alernae assessmen, learning all he new paperwork and daa Acions collecion was a challenge for Ms. C. The second year of alernae assessmen, she inegraed her eaching syle wih he daa collecion procedures o work wih her sudens on domains including personal home managemen, communicaion and vocaional raining. When he alernae assessmen was shifed o focus on more academic asks, Ms. C and her fellow eachers were concerned abou he challenge of shifing from eaching funcional life skills o incorporaing lieracy, mah and wriing skills as a primary focus. Ms. C saed ha she has been able o inegrae her eaching syle and philosophy wih he demands and rigors of alernae assessmen. She saed ha now she is more cauious when wriing goals and objecives for her sudens. She saed ha she srives o challenge her sudens, bu also allows for some flexibiliy for her sudens o achieve success and aain goals. In fac, she relaed ha Mark was now meeing goals ha she would have oherwise no aemped wih him. She aribues his change o alernae assessmen. Mark has since moved on o a high school level class, bu Ms. C sill racks his improvemens. She saed ha his new eacher has coninued o work on funcional life skills while incorporaing academic asks including pu ogeher books relaed o class aciviies for Mark using a Braille labeler. Also, since Mark liked o wirl bole ops and milk caps, his new eacher also used puff pain o make leers in Braille on Mark s caps. Ms. C feels ha alernae assessmen has made her a more organized eacher. Now, she is able o pu ogeher measurable objecives for sudens as well as collec daa on heir progress. Since alernae assessmen, she has learned o creae and mainain daa collecion sysems in a more consisen manner. She has suppor via eacher s aides who help her carry ou goals and collec daa on sudens. Also, high school suden inerns work in her classroom and serve as addiional suppors o eachers and eacher s aides. She said ha before alernae assessmen, she had high expecaions, bu here was lile enforcemen on daa collecion for suden progress. Ms. C believes ha alernae assessmen provides eachers wih he procedures and moivaion o creae measurable goals and collec daa in a simple, ye effecive manner. Alernae assessmen helped Ms. C and her aides consisenly use promps and cues for sudens like Mark. She saed ha sae daa collecion mehods are simple enough ha even a subsiue eacher can easily replicae hem wih lile direcion. The procedures remain consisen among all special educaors in he sae which, in urn, creaes a beer sysem of evidence-based skill acquisiion. Ms C believes ha many variables conribue o a good alernae assessmen sysem. Suppor is a key concep in her school. Her principal recognizes he challenges ha eachers face working wih he alernae assessmen porfolio sysem and offers special incenives o eachers who work wih porfolios. She saed ha he eachers and eacher aides in her school also offer suppor o each oher. Alernae assessmen has challenged Ms. C as an educaor wihou forcing her o compromise her values and eaching syle. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 8 ASC/MSRRC 2005
My aiude was denying her he opporuniy o succeed Ms. D had her sudens engaged in he alernae assessmen process, bu confessed ha she did no inernalize he process meaningfully. She saed ha she believed ha Background alernae assessmen was jus anoher direcive ha dominaed her eaching syle. Ms. D worked wih a fourh grade suden wih muliple disabiliies including visual, speech, physical and cogniive impairmens. This suden, whom we will call Jane, was home schooled by her moher up unil fourh grade. Her moher decided ha she could no coninue o educae her daugher in a home school seing and placed her in he public school sysem. Jane had a really hard ime in school he firs monh or wo. Ms. D repored ha she cried everyday. Coming o school was a big adjusmen for her. Since Jane had never been in school, she had no been involved in he alernae assessmen sysem. One of he domains of he alernae assessmen porfolio sysem was Acions self-deerminaion which involved suden planning, monioring and evaluaion of heir performance. The suden records his process. Jane used a shee wih large graphics as a ool o guide her hrough his process. In Jane s case, he idenified goal was o uilize her noion o accomplish a ask. One aciviy designed o help reach his goal was an assignmen o deliver he school newspaper o eachers and classrooms each week wih he help of a peer menor. In order o monior her progress, Ms. D pu ogeher a visual aid for her which was a shee composed of graphics ha were large enough ha she could use a bingo samp o mark areas she succeeded in accomplishing her goal. Ms. D repored ha i was Jane s responsibiliy o idenify areas she needed o work on. Ms. D s aiude change abou alernae assessmen occurred when Jane came o class one morning. Her peer menor came ino class o help Jane wih heir weekly rouine of passing ou he school newspapers. Her peer menor wen o ge her progress monioring and evaluaion shee o go over he areas ha Jane needed o work on o reach her goal. Ms. D saed ha before she was given any insrucion, Jane looked a her peer menor and saed, I am working on looking! Ms. D saed ha his compleely surprised her as she never would have expeced Jane o be able o recall her goal wihou any promps or even see his as imporan o her aciviy. The alernae assessmen process allowed Jane o focus on self-deerminaion. While no a compleely academic ask, i allowed Jane many oher opporuniies including working wih a peer and being allowed he auonomy o carry ou he seps o monior her progress on self-idenified goals. Ms. D saed, as a eacher, I hough I was seing high expecaions. Afer seeing Jane s success, she changed her opinion of he alernae assessmen process. She described i as a changing momen for her as a eacher. Ms. D added ha i was her aiude ha denied Jane he opporuniy o succeed. She saed ha menally, she did no believe in Jane s abiliy. If alernae assessmen had no demanded as much from her sudens, Ms. D was sure ha she would no have ried o challenge hem in he same ways. From her experience wih Jane, Ms. D decided ha she would be more cognizan of her opinions of people s abiliies. She saed ha her job is o find a differen way o each a child in order o achieve goals, no o aribue he learning challenges o he child s disabiliy. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 9 ASC/MSRRC 2005
I am imporan enough for hem o know wha I can do! Ms. T worked wih a en year old boy who was in he fifh grade. The boy, whom we will call Alex, was diagnosed as having muliple learning disabiliies as well as language delays and impeded speech. Ms. T described him as having low self-eseem and lack of moivaion o complee asks prior o alernae assessmen. She saed ha he would see oher sudens aking ess around him and seemed o feel a lile removed. Background When inroducing he alernae assessmen accounabiliy process o Alex, she decided Acions o alk o him one o one abou he expecaions relaed o his ype of esing. Ms. T believed ha Alex did no really comprehend he concep of esing, bu could relae esing o performance and knew o work hard and do his bes. She saed ha his reacion was as if he was hinking, I am imporan enough for hem o know wha I can do! Ms. T was able o creae a moivaional seing by giving him consan reminders of his es and how each lesson was relaed o his porfolio. She ried o keep lessons life-based and funcional as much as possible. In Alex s case, his philosophy helped him shine! Alex was able o find success on boh an academic and personal level. On an academic level, Alex learned opposies by idenificaion of words and he could appropriaely idenify he opposie in a se of hree cards. He also was able o learn how o coun money using variaions of coins o purchase iems from he school sore. Ms. T believes ha he overall effecs of alernae assessmen have been posiive for her sudens. Alhough he porfolios are ime consuming and labor inensive, she saed ha i is worh he effor o be able o see he progress of each suden. Also, she believes ha her sudens are now more appreciaed by he general educaion communiy because he annual yearly progress repors include alernae assessmen scores wih general assessmen scores. Ms. T saed, Jus like in he elecion, heir voes coun! and her sudens are par of he school as a whole. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 10 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Before alernae assessmen, we sa in he back of he regular educaion classroom on he special educaion rug! Jusin was augh only funcional life skills in his elemenary school. When he came o Mr. H s middle school class, he had no reading skills and few mah skills. Mr. H Background described Jusin as an audiory learner who could recall and compose informaion bu he lack of prior insrucion creaed barriers for reading. Mr. H described he school environmen as non-supporive. His sudens were no mainsreamed ino general educaion classes. The principal old him ha he did no wan o see or hear his sudens. Before alernae assessmen, sudens would go ino he communiy and do mindless aciviies. Mr. H recalled being placed in a classroom in he back par of he school. One veeran language ars eacher would invie his class o visi her class, bu, as Mr. H saed, we were included, bu i was no inclusion. He saed ha when his class visied, hey were seaed on a rug in he back of he classroom behind he sudens. One day hey were siing on wha he laer called he special educaion island and he Acions language ars eacher was reading The Red Badge of Courage o her sudens. Mr. H remembered hinking Jusin was no paying aenion bu when asked, Jusin saed ha he was lisening o he sory. Mr. H asked him quesions and Jusin was able o recall he characers and he plo of he sory. Afer his ineracion, Mr. H decided ha his sudens needed o be more a par of he general educaion school curriculum and environmen. Mr. H adjused Jusin s alernae assessmen porfolio o reflec goals in reading and mah. Sysemaic insrucion allowed Jusin o read sigh words on flash cards wih a ime delay. They also paired wriing wih symbols paired wih wrien ex. Mr. H described how Jusin s moher reaced when he was given homework for he firs ime. She came o school and old Mr. H, Jusin doesn do homework! Jusin s moher saw homework as punishmen for him. Mr. H had o describe o Jusin s moher ha in order for Jusin o succeed in his goals on his alernae assessmen porfolio, he needed o do homework o enhance his skills. Once Jusin s moher saw alernae assessmen in a more meaningful manner, she was more supporive of his needs and by he end of his second year in Mr. H s class, he was reading a a 1 s or 2 nd grade level. Over he course of he school year, Jusin s moivaion levels grew. He expeced homework a leas one ime per week. He also expeced o be mainsreamed so ha he could inerac more wih peers. Mr. H recalled how happy Jusin was when he was given a repor card jus like all he oher sudens. Mr. H saed ha in elemenary school, Jusin s aendance was considered borderline ruan. In middle school, he had perfec aendance one year and rarely missed school he hree years he was in his class. Mr. H described Jusin s personaliy as blossoming from social ineracions and being included in general educaion academic classes. In Jusin s school, Mr. H described how he amosphere changed when he assisan principal encouraged more inclusion in general educaion classes. Mr. H gave several presenaions o he faculy and saff a his school eniled, All means All. Some eachers were relucan o have children from special needs classes mixed wih heir sudens, bu he said for he mos par, eachers were supporive. Planning ime was creaed beween general and special educaion eachers. Shared planning allowed he sudens o become a par of he school environmen. Mr. H also menioned he imporance of he alernae assessmen scores for school accounabiliy. He saed ha seven sudens had alernae assessmen porfolios reviewed in one year and all seven received he highes level scores. His sudens scores pu heir school ino a sae level rewards program. A he communiy level, sudens in Mr. H s class were given communiy based insrucion ha was no longer mindless. The sandards required a more academic/vocaional focus. Evenually, his sudens were afforded opporuniies o work in businesses as suden job shadows. A local bank esablished a welcome desk a he fron of he building. His sudens wen hrough a cycle as greeers a he bank. No only were hese sudens placed in seings which allowed for greaer socializaion, hey were being seen in he communiy as valuable people. Overall, Mr. H said alernae assessmen has placed value on he child and his or her abiliies. Jusin found success wih alernae assessmen. Mr. H suggesed ha Jusin, go o be a kid, jus like all his oher general educaion peers. He received a repor card, he was assigned homework, and he could have friends ouside of he special educaion seing. Moivaional changes also occurred a he level of insrucion. Mr. H was always an advocae for his sudens. However, once he was suppored by he school adminisraion, he shined as an educaor because of he value placed on all sudens learning. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 11 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 12 ASC/MSRRC 2005
From isolaion o inegraion For many years, sae A s Special Educaion Division funcioned auonomously wih lile o no communicaion wih oher divisions wihin he sae Deparmen of Educaion. Essenially, special educaion in sae A was isolaed from general educaion cur- Background riculum and sandards. No sae policies or guidelines exised for assessing or reporing suden progress. Through he early 1990 s, sae assessmen saff seemed o perceive sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies as he responsibiliy of he Special Educaion Division. In general, special educaion programs were no as valued as general educaion programs. Sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies were augh funcional life skills, sandard academic curriculum was no required. Sudens in special educaion were isolaed in special schools wih lile o no conac wih general educaion curricula or peers. Lile funding and few ools were provided o special educaion eachers and saff o help mee suden educaional needs. The Sae Approach Afer he passage of IDEA 97, sae A reevaluaed is approach o special educaion, recognizing ha all sudens were o be included in saewide assessmen programs. Developmen began in 1997 wih full implemenaion in 2001 and revisions each year. An IEP eam annually deermines paricipaion in he assessmen by reviewing he suden s profile, he sae s guidelines for inclusion, and he specific paricipaion guidelines for he alernae porfolio. The alernae assessmen porfolio includes suden work, paren/peer leers, videoapes and eacher daa shees. Conen areas required by his sae as of 2005 include English/Language Ars, Mahemaics, Social Sudies and Science. The conen areas sudied vary by grade. FROM: Our respondens indicae ha sae A made a philosophical shif in how sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies are viewed wihin he sae Deparmen of Educaion. The alernae assessmen sysem has evolved significanly over he las decade. The assessmen sysem is consanly ransiioning o creae a more equal assessmen program for sudens wih significan disabiliies. Wih alernae assessmen and accounabiliy for all in sae A, individuals wih significan cogniive disabiliies and heir families now have a more meaningful educaional experience. The sae has gone: No large scale assessmen policies for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies oher han exempion; Limied collaboraion beween he excepional children workgroup and assessmen workgroup; Alernae assessmen scores no included in sae-wide esing; Academic sandards no used for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies; Professional developmen for special educaion eachers, para-professionals, and oher saff serving sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies inconsisen and limied in he sae; TO: alernae assessmen policies ha ensure inclusion; increased inegraion of saff and collaboraion beween Special Educaion Division and Assessmen Division across numerous opics; accounabiliy for ALL sudens and schools; all sudens in he sae assessed hrough he same challenging academic conen sandards; professional developmen for special educaors more focused on academic sandards and more consisen sae-wide; Limied ransporaion opporuniies o he communiy for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies; Many educaors believing ha sudens should be augh a a developmenally appropriae level wih discree skill raining. funding more readily available and increased for ransporaion ino he communiy; educaors undersanding he need for age-appropriae aciviies and eaching skills hrough aciviies ha have meaning o he suden. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 13 ASC/MSRRC 2005
From disconnec o communicaion For many years, sae B uninenionally limied educaional opporuniies and involvemen of sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies wihin he larger educaional Background sysem. Sae saff had lile communicaion or collaboraion beween divisions and he offices of curriculum and insrucion focused heir energies only on general educaion. The sae educaion agency offered few professional developmen opporuniies o local disrics specifically focused on special educaion issues. No consisen curriculum for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies exised. IEP s were he only vehicle o show suden achievemen, bu for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies hey mosly focused on a life-skills approach o learning wih lile aenion o academics. Local adminisraors appeared o focus heir energy on general educaion and ended o ignore eachers in special educaion. The Sae Approach Wih he adven of IDEA and NCLB accounabiliy requiremens, sae B sared o make changes. Saff convened a large sakeholder group o define he philosophy and parameers for an alernae assessmen approach. They used inernal sae saff wih experience developing and judging porfolios o creae an alernae assessmen porfolio approach for sudens wih serious cogniive disabiliies. Sae B s alernae assessmen porfolio involves a yearlong process ha includes suden work measuring abiliy and progress levels. The original sae alernae assessmen porfolio focused on funcional life skills and in 2003-2004, shifed o a more academic focus. Areas of suden performance measured in he curren alernae assessmen include: (1) Reading, (2) Wriing, and (3) Mahemaics. A suden s IEP eam or he secion 504 commiee deermine if he suden has a serious cogniive defici and qualifies o paricipae in he sysem. Saff in sae B who were direcly involved in he evoluion of he sysem repor posiive changes o special educaion and creaion of a sysem of inclusion and accounabiliy for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies. The following changes were repored: FROM: Inconsisen curriculum for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies; No sae-wide assessmen or accounabiliy sysem for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies; Lile collaboraion among sae divisions; Lile or no awareness of special educaion services on he par of general educaion adminisraion; Insufficien funding/ools needed o suppor educaional needs of sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies; Limied expecaions for sudens wih significan cogniive impairmens. TO: consisen and challenging curriculum where sudens do more han hough possible; a sae-wide sysem ha includes all sudens; excepional Children, Tesing & Accounabiliy, and (middle and high school) Curriculum collaboraing o refine essences o link hem o grade level conen sandards in Mah, science, English/Language Ars and Social sudies; increased knowledge of classroom aciviies of sudens and eachers in special educaion; more academic resources and professional developmen available for eachers working wih hose sudens; higher expecaions, wih sudens achieving more han hough possible. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 14 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Now, he ligh is shining brigher on special educaion! Sae C had no involved sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies in sandardsbased reforms accounabiliy sysems, alhough he sudens did paricipae in an alernae assessmen. Collaboraion among sae divisions was sporadic. Communicaion Background abou special educaion a he sae level was limied. Special educaion assessmen policies and procedures did no reflec evidence of academic insrucion for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies. Inclusive seings were limied for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies. The Sae Approach Long before he passage of NCLB, sae C recognized he need for sae-wide informaion on he progress and success of sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies. In he early 1990 s, a ask force was convened o idenify he domains o be assessed and he issues o be addressed. A combinaion assessmen sysem emerged in a pilo-es mode ha included a porfolio, performance asks and a paren checklis. The original alernae assessmen focused on a life-skills curriculum including: (1) personal managemen, (2) career/vocaional, and (3) communiy, (4) recreaion/leisure, and (5) communicaion and decision making skills. The curren assessmen sysem has shifed o assess reading and mah objecives. The alernae assessmen porfolio is a collecion of suden arifacs ha demonsrae he suden s aainmen of he objecives. Suden and paren involvemen in he porfolio process are encouraged o help wih suden suppor and generalizaion of skills from school o home and he communiy. As one of our respondens indicaed, The ligh is shining brigher on special educaion! Sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies are increasingly aended o as par of he overall sysem. Among he changes in he sysem of services: FROM: Sae objecives for alernae assessmen based on a life skills curriculum; TO: sae objecives for alernae assessmen based on reading and mah conen sandards; Professional developmen aciviies for special educaors focused on life skills; professional developmen aciviies for educaors focusing on undersanding conen sandards, wriing masery objecives, and eaching reading and mah o sudens; Limied collaboraion beween sae level offices regarding special educaion; Focus on special educaion a superinenden meeings ending o be legalisic and negaive; Limied resource allocaions. exensive collaboraion beween Divisions of Accounabiliy & Assessmen and Curriculum & Insrucion and Special Educaion; sae superinenden meeing wih local superinendens o discuss alernae assessmen; more resource allocaions o purchase insrucional maerials o suppor reading and mah insrucion and for professional developmen of special educaors in hese conen areas. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 15 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Think differenly! Push he limi A one ime, Sae D focused more on where sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies were placed han on wha hey learned. Sae level special educaion saff were Background isolaed from oher sae unis. Sakeholder groups had lile diverse represenaion from paries ouside of special educaion. Sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies were no held o he same sandards as sudens who paricipaed in general educaion curriculum. Special educaion leaders did no encourage sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies o focus heir curriculum on academics. Frequenly, special educaors in sae D were lef ou of he discussions on sae sandards. Training, suppor and professional developmen in conen areas were very limied. The Sae Approach Developed in response o he Reform Ac of 1993, sae D s alernae assessmen program was designed o ensure ha sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies were included in saewide assessmen. IEP eam decisions have led o approximaely 1% of sudens in sae D s public school sysem paricipaing in he alernae assessmen. Sae D s curren alernae assessmen sysem consiss of an annual porfolio of maerials including suden work, insrucional daa, videoapes, and oher informaion which suppors suden performance in a paricular subjec. Porfolios are scored wih crieria including: (1) compleeness of porfolio; (2) level of complexiy in relaion o he curriculum framework sandards; (3) accuracy of suden response/performance; (4) suden independence in asks; (5) frequency of self-evaluaion; and (6) number of insrucional approaches and conexs in which he suden demonsraes knowledge and skills. Saewide advisors who developed he alernae assessmen porfolio for sae D include special educaors, conen specialiss, assessmen expers, adminisraors/principals, higher educaion faculy, and advocaes. As one responden indicaed, here was always a desire o include all sudens, bu no one ever hough o use curriculum as a means o obain full inclusion. Now, wih inclusive accounabiliy and a resrucuring of he academic sysem in special educaion, children wih significan cogniive impairmens are conribuing o he educaion sysem, and more imporanly, hey are learning! When he sae challenged hemselves o hink differenly and push he limi, hey wen: FROM: Communicaion gaps among educaion divisions a he sae level; Sakeholder groups wih lile diversiy; Minimal sae level eaching resources for eachers of sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies; Lack of raining, suppor and professional developmen for special educaors; Focus on suden placemen, no wha hey learned; Special educaion exemp from conen and achievemen sandards. TO: alernae assessmen iniiaive from Insrucion and Curriculum division bridged o assessmen and special educaion unis; srong & diverse sakeholder groups wih boh general educaors and special educaors represened; high qualiy eaching resources; increased opporuniies for professional developmen & building eacher nework (promoe leadership, rain specialiss, assis and advise deparmen); using curriculum and insrucion, focusing on wha sudens wih significan cogniive impairmens learn; accounabiliy for ALL sudens. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 16 ASC/MSRRC 2005
Conclusions These eleven sories make i clear ha, given he righ condiions, alernae assessmen wih high sandards can lead o posiive change in he lives of children wih significan cogniive disabiliies and hose who serve hem. While here is no doub ha he alernae assessmen process has creaed challenges for educaors and schools, benefis are now saring o be recognized. Consisen wih he eacher and sysem level sories we have repored, Browder, Spooner, Algozzine, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Flowers and Karvonen (2003) recognize he promises of alernae assessmens for sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies. Promises idenified for sudens who paricipae in he alernae assessmen process include: (1) greaer consideraion in school and sae policy decisions; (2) increased expecaions; (3) improved access o he same curriculum and assessmen on he same sandards; and (4) use of alernae assessmen oucomes o improve insrucional programs a he eacher and classroom level. These promises will help sudens who paricipae in he alernae assessmen sysem become a valuable, included par of he school sysem, no he invisible sudens from he pas. Equally imporan, heir eachers are increasingly seen as key players in he overall sysem. Research addressing changes in he alernae assessmen process include Thompson and Thurlow s (2003) survey of sae emerging issues, rends, and accomplishmens relaed o alernae assessmen and No Child Lef Behind Ac (NCLB) of 2001 adds evidence of posiive change. Paricipans included sae direcors of special educaion and oher sae officials who represen special educaion, sandards, assessmen, and accounabiliy. Resuls sugges: (1) saes increasingly idenifying posiive consequences of suden paricipaion in sandards, assessmens and accounabiliy; (2) more saes sudying achievemen rends for sudens wih disabiliies; (3) increasing focus on achievemen level descripors for all sudens, (4) special educaion direcors more direcly involved in heir sae s developmen of Adequae Yearly Progress Repors required by NCLB; and (5) increased aenion o access o assessmen hrough elemens of universal design and accessible compuer based ess (2003). As he sysems change and adap, he challenge is o ake he lessons of hese posiive sories and his emerging research and make hem he sandard hroughou he naion. We encourage he reader o seek ou and share similar sories in your own schools, disrics, and saes. Le s coninue o learn ogeher wha is really possible. We would like o give a special hanks o hose eachers and sae level saff who shared heir sories wihou which we would no have been able o wrie his documen. We would also like o acknowledge he guidance provided by he members of he Special Educaion Sae Collaboraive on Assessmen and Suden Sandards regarding he conen and one of his final version. Finally, hanks go o Judy Johns of he ASC/MSRRC eam for her arful assisance wih forma. References Browder, D., Spooner, F., Algozzine, R., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Flowers, C. & Karvonen, M. (2003). Wha we know and need o know abou alernae assessmen. Excepional Children, 70 (1), 45(17). Rerieved January 22, 2004 from Inforac. Kleiner, H. L., Kearns, J.C. (2001). Alernae Assessmen: Measuring oucomes and suppors for sudens wih disabiliies. Balimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Quenemoen, R., Thompson, S. & Thurlow, M. (2003). Measuring academic achievemen of sudens wih significan cogniive disabiliies: Building undersanding of alernae assessmen scoring crieria (Synhesis Repor 50). Minneapolis, MN: Universiy of Minnesoa, Naional Cener on Educaional Oucomes. Rerieved Sepember 28, 2004, from he World Wide Web: hp://educaion.umn.edu/nceo/ OnlinePubs/Synhesis50.hml Thompson, S., & Thurlow, M. (2003). 2003 Sae special educaion oucomes: Marching on. Minneapolis, MN: Universiy of Minnesoa, Naional Cener on Educaional Oucomes. Rerieved March 16, 2005, from he World Wide Web: hp://educaion.umn.edu/nceo/onlinepubs/2003saerepor.hm. Alernae Assessmen: Teacher and Sae Experiences 17 ASC/MSRRC 2005
This documen was developed pursuan o cooperaive agreemen # H326R040004, CFDA 84.326R beween he Alliance for Sysems Change/ Mid-Souh Regional Resource Cener, Inerdisciplinary Human Developmen Insiue, Universiy of Kenucky and he Office of Special Educaion Programs, U.S. Deparmen of Educaion. However, he opinions expressed herein do no necessarily reflec he posiion or policy of he U.S. Office of Special Educaion Programs and no endorsemen by ha office should be inferred.