What: The U.S. Department of Education announces a new policy
with respect to students with persistent academic disabilities
under the bipartisan No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education
reform law. New Policy: States may develop modified academic
achievement standards and use alternate assessments based on
those modified achievement standards for students with
persistent academic disabilities and served under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. States may include
proficient scores from such assessments in making adequate
yearly progress (AYP) decisions but those scores will be capped
at 2.0% of the total tested population. This provision does not
limit how many students may be assessed against modified
achievement standards. Individualized education program (IEP)
teams will make the decision about which individual students
should take such an assessment. Continued Policy: States may
continue to use alternate assessments based on alternate
achievement standards for students with the most significant