Project Update - Gaining Access: Improving the Alternate
Assessment According to recent findings of the Gaining Access
project, a collaborative project between the IOD and the NH
Department of Education, students with the most significant
cognitive disabilities may not be benefitting from a curriculum
structure which offers instruction in the full breadth of
reading, writing, math, and science. These findings are
consistent with a US Department of Education review of the NH
Alternate Assessment, which recommended a revision to more
closely align it with general curriculum standards. According to
data from a sampling of NH alternate assessment portfolios from
the 2007-2008 academic year, students with significant
disabilities were often only assessed on a very narrow portion
of the curriculum in each academic area. For example, in math,
although there are six broad strands of curriculum, skills from
two of the strands (Numbers & Operations, Geometry &
Measurement) represented more than 75% of the math skills o