Rigney and Quenemoen, 2.26.03 NCLB: The Law, the Expectations, and the Requirements Sue Rigney and Rachel Quenemoen USOE and NCEO February 26, 2003

Rigney and Quenemoen, 2.26.03

NCLB: The Law, the Expectations, and the

Requirements

Sue Rigney and Rachel Quenemoen

USOE and NCEO

February 26, 2003


Topics for Today

NCLB

Requirements InstructionBest Practice


Purpose of No Child Left Behind

“…to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments”


5 Things You Need to Know About No Child Left Behind

1. It’s not just Title I2. All means all3. Schools are accountable for

All students Economically disadvantaged Racial/ethnic groups Students with disabilities Students with limited English proficiency

4. AYP requires performance, participation and progress

5. Consequences accumulate


An "accountable" education system• State standards for what a child should know in math and

reading now, and science by 2005-06

• Test every student's progress toward the standards. Beginning in the 2005-06, test in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school in math and reading. Beginning in 2007-08, science achievement must also be tested.

• Each state, school district, and school expected to make adequate yearly progress for all students.

• School and district performance publicly reported in district and state report cards.

• A district or school that continually fails to make adequate progress will be held accountable.


Focus on School Accountability

“A teacher is effective when a student learns. It is impossible to determine teaching effectiveness without determining learning results.”

Source: NCLB website


For students with disabilities, participation in assessments will increase their access to the general education curriculum, thereby increasing their opportunity to learn to high standards.

Accountability can drive improvements in instructional

programs


Adequate Yearly Progress Requires

• Same high standards of academic achievement for all• Statistically valid and reliable • Continuous and substantial academic improvement for all

students• Separate measurable annual objectives for achievement

– All students– Racial/ethnic groups– Economically disadvantaged students– Students with disabilities (IDEA, Sec. 602)– Students with limited English proficiency

• Graduation rates for high schools and 1 other indicator for elementary schools


Consequences for Schools (Title I)

Miss AYP

Miss AYP

Miss AYP School Improvement Yr 1 (choice)

Miss AYP School Improvement Yr 2 (supplemental educational

services)

Miss AYP Corrective Action

Miss AYP Restructure (planning year)

Restructure (implement plan)


Choice and Supplemental Services

• What is “choice?”

• What are “supplemental services?”

• Who is eligible?

• What services for students with disabilities?

• 2002-03 is first year of implementation


No Child Left Behind

. . . reinforces standards-based education for all students and accountability for results

Not just some . . .

. . . all students with disabilities


We obtain data on student performance, so that we know whether students are learning and programs are working – for all students

If we have no data to look at, we have no basis for making decisions, and we do not know whether students are learning and programs are successful in meeting the goals for students.


Trend Data for Students with Disabilities*

How performance over time looks depends on how data are analyzed. It is very important to know and study state performance data.

*Interpreting Trends in the Performance of Special Education Students (NCEO Technical Report 27)


NCLB Will Work Through…

• Assessment and Accountability System based on high expectations for teaching and learning

• Public reporting on school performance

• Focus on closing achievement gap

Standards-based Reform Context

--- Everything else is negotiable ---

schedules, place, time, structure, curriculum, instructional methods, methods of

assessment. . .


How the pieces fit together

AssessmentStandards

District Curriculum


Content and Achievement Standards

• Academic content standards & achievement standards

• State responsibility

• Standards provide clear instructional goals for teachers, students and parents

• Not a new requirement, builds on the past

• Approval needs broad stakeholder participation

• NCLB adds grade-level expectations


Challenging Academic Standards

• Challenging academic content standards and challenging academic achievement standards– Mathematics and reading/language arts – Add science in 2005-06

• Same expectations for all children• At least 3 achievement levels: basic, proficient,

advanced


Sample Content Standard: Purposeful reading

Expository Texts

• Read to understand a text’s major points and supporting details.


Activity-based Unit Standards-based Unit

Activities are means and ends

Activities are means, standards are the ends

Activities selected in relation to topic or popularity with students

Activities selected for usefulness in helping students learn and demonstrate knowledge and skills in particular standards.

Assessment based on expectations for particular products or performances (e.g. graph is properly labeled)

Assessment based on criteria directly related to standards (e.g.knowledge of concepts or ability to comprehend and use specific steps in problem solving


Content Standards Provide…

• Clear instructional goals– What to teach, not how to teach– Knowledge essential for all students, – It is not the curriculum

• The foundation of State Assessments– What’s “fair game”– Not just knowledge bits, also complex

processes


NCLB Assessment Requirements

• The same assessments used to measure achievement of all children

• Aligned with challenging State standards• Adequate technical quality for each purpose

required• Involve multiple up-to-date measures,

including measures of higher-order thinking and understanding

• Measure achievement against State standards in at least mathematics, reading/language arts, and (beginning in 2007-08) science


Under NCLBAssessments shall provide for…• Participation of all students• Reasonable adaptations and accommodations

for students with disabilities (IDEA & 504)• Inclusion of limited English proficient

students with accommodations, including, if practicable, native-language versions of the assessment

• Assessment in English of reading/language arts for any student in US for 3 consecutive school years


NCLBAssessment shall… (con’t)

• Include [results in AYP calculations for] students in schools in the district for a full academic year

• Produce individual student interpretive, descriptive, and diagnostic reports provided as soon as possible

• Produce results disaggregated by gender, major racial/ethnic groups, English proficiency status, migrant status, students with disabilities (IDEA) compared to non-disabled, economically disadvantaged compared to non-disadvantaged

• Report itemized score analyses to district and schools


Clarification of Assessments

Classroom Tests

Eligibility Assessments

Large-Scale Assessments

Districtwide Statewide National

VARYING Context of State Assessments

Some measure basics, others high standards

Some are high stakes for students, some high stakes for systems, some are both

Grades administered vary, as do content areas (all have Reading and Math)

Some are norm-referenced, some are criterion referenced, and some are both

Varying approaches to accommodations and alternate assessment


Making decisions about how individual students participate is very important and challenging

– and the outcomes of the decisions must be evaluated


3 Ways to Participate in Assessments

Same way as other students

With accommodations

In an Alternate Assessment

But, this does not mean that it is simple


School accountability systems

High stakes for students

Bubble of students without access to the general curriculum, high expectations

Lawsuits that suggest new ways of thinking about accommodations and other alternatives


Decisions and the IEP team

• The IEP team has authority to make decisions. . .

But this does not mean that it is simple. . .

• WHO needs to be part of the discussion?• WHAT external constraints must be considered?• IMPLICATIONS of decisions must be identified

and discussed, recorded, and reconsidered each year.

• Access to general curriculum – at grade level!


Accommodations

Accommodations are changes in assessment materials or procedures that allow the student’s knowledge and skills to be assessed rather than the student’s disability.

Accommodations provide students with disabilities access to assessments, so that more can participate.


Good Accommodations Decisions

Starts with good instructional decisions

Systematic questions about accommodations for individual students

Collection of data to aid decision making

What helps student learn or perform better?

What has student or parents told you?

What gets in the way of the student showing skills?

What has the student been taught to use?


Types of Accommodations

ResponseMark test bookletWord processorUse references

PresentationRepeat directionsLarge print editionBraille edition

SettingStudy carrelSmall groupIndividualized

TimingExtended timeFrequent breaksUnlimited time

SchedulingSpecific time of daySubtests in different order

OtherTest preparationOut-of-levelMotivational cuesAcross multiple days


Definitional IssuesSome accommodations are considered to change the construct assessed, and others are viewed as “ok” –

But the terms used to describe what is and isn’t “ok” vary across the states and districts.

Know what terms mean in your state and district!


Is the the choice of accommodations appropriate?

Aligned with instructional accommodations, but not an excuse not to teach

Student needs it to demonstrate knowledge and skills – or to participate in assessment

Implications of using this accommodation have been identified and carefully considered

Not determined by test publisher, but by student need, what is being measured (construct), and the purpose of the test


ACCOMMODATIONS EXERCISE


Essential question: What is the meant by the construct of ‘reading’

in an assessment item(s)?

The answer(s) to that question will determine the accommodations

that can be used when that content standard is assessed!


Assessment/content standard alignment (construct) example

See test specification handout by Roger Farr, Professor Emeritus, Indiana University

Specifications for an Assessment Using an EXPOSITORY Text

• Content Standard: Read to understand a text’s major points and supporting details.

Specific reading purpose: The student would be asked to read two articles about skateboarding and to identify the reasons that various groups think a skateboard park should be constructed with city funding.


Modes of print interaction: with examples of accommodations

• Visual (viewing print with eyes)

• Tactile (feeling print)• Auditory (listening to

printed messages)• Multi-modal (using

any combination of the above modalities)

• Printed schedule and standings – on paper or computer screen

• Schedule and standings in Braille and Nemeth Codes

• Listen to description of schedule and standings (Radio or TV?)

• Computer-based “assistive” reading/ viewing programs– (e.g., digital talking news)


Questions to consider as you think about what the construct “reading” means1. Are there any reasons why a state would define what “reading” means differently at different grade levels? Why? How would it differ at different grades?

2. How would varying definitions of “reading” affect how students who have reading disabilities would learn “reading” skills at different grade levels? Use “reading” skills in different content areas?


MORE Questions to consider as you think about the construct “reading”

3. What implications would an IEP team discuss as they determine how the student will learn to ‘read’ and how the definition of ‘reading’ may change? by grade level? By content area?

4. How will this affect accommodations decisions for instruction? For assessment?

5. How do these decisions relate to future adult roles?


Alternate Assessments

First introduced in IDEA 97 -

for students unable to participate in general state assessments


Alternate Assessments

• Required for school accountability decisions under NCLB

• Reflect shifting goals for students with significant cognitive disabilities


What about students in the “bubble”?

• “Gray areas” of assessment? Perhaps – look for universal design of assessment

• “Gray areas” of curriculum and instruction?

• Short and long term strategies to consider

• NCLB requires testing on grade level


Views of An Assessment System for ALL Students

All students can learn – high expectations are very important

Not all students can show their knowledge and skills in the same way

Alternatives are important, but must be used carefully

Assumptions to Remember:


At the beginning, reform was designed to be about racheting up the educational system – high stakes through accountability for systems (schools, districts, teachers, administrators)

Political Concerns may Challenge Reforms

High stakes for students can make it more difficult to focus on reforming the system, because of the potential negative impact on students


Exit Exams and Diploma Options

Survey Just Completed (2002):25 states have “active” graduation exams (effective anywhere from 1979 to 2008)

How students with disabilities factor into the exit exams requirements and the nature of diploma options are very –


Status of Graduation Exams

State Has or Will Have Graduation Exam (based on survey conducted 2001)

WA MT ND

OR

NV

CA

ID WY

UT

AZ

CO

NM

SD

NE

KS

TX

OK

MN

IA

MO

AR

LA

WI

IL

MI

OH

KY

MSTN

FL

ALGA

SCNC

VA

PA

NY

ME

WV

AK

HI

VTNH

CTNJ

DEMD

IN

MA

RI


How can we ensure all are successful?

• State system of academic content standardsWhat all students should know and be able to do for future success (CS)

• Curriculum and instructional plans (C and I)What (general curriculum) and how (instruction) all students will learn – varied and rich, multiple settings, resources, authentic applications

• Individual student needs, strengths considered Services and supports to be successful (IEP/ILP)

• Assessment of student performance (A)Appropriate assessments to document knowledge and skills rather than disabilities


CONTENT STANDARDS, BENCHMARKS, GRADE LEVEL

INDICATORS• Take example of Expository Reading, K-12, to

see what the progression is (page 7). What implications are there for choices made by IEP teams at early grades for success in later grades?

• As the planning for this child occurs, listen carefully: is the discussion focused around what content the student will learn, and HOW they will learn it?

• How do you know what, when, and how constructs are assessed?


EXAMPLES OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENTS, RELEASED ITEMS

• Maine LOCAL ASSESSMENTS• Maine ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIO• Maine TASKS FOR PORTFOLIO

ASSESSMENT• Maine RELEASED ITEMS, SCORING GUIDES,

AND STUDENT RESPONSES, grades 4, 8, 11• Test Blueprint• Kentucky on line universally designed assessment

Parents and Teachers can…

• Build consortia and work collaboratively with others.Within your school or districtWithin your stateNationally

• Insist on FLEXIBILITY, yet high standards!


It is not Automatic!• Requires attention to system level reforms,

across general and special education

• Other assessment information (especially classroom-level) is essential

• Prepare students for their futures (including needed accommodations and how to request)

• Stay alert for unintended negative consequences (dropout)


Roses, Lemons, Motivation

What is the most positive or interesting thing you have learned?

What idea raises concerns?

What action will you take as a result of this presentation?


Visit: education.umn.edu/nceo

or Search for NCEO


To learn more…

The complete text of No Child Left Behindwww.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/

Information for parentshttp://www.nclb.gov/

Reading resourceshttp://www.ed.gov/topics/topicsTier2.jsp?type=t&top=Education+Resources&subtop=Reading+%26+language+arts

Documents

Rigney and Quenemoen, 2.26.03 NCLB: The Law, the Expectations, and the Requirements Sue Rigney and Rachel Quenemoen USOE and NCEO February 26, 2003