With particular concern for students with significant cognitive disabilities, Ford, Davern, and Schnorr (2001) offer five principles to consider when developing and applying standards for the purpose of alternate assessment: Every student should receive priority attention to the development of foundational skills. Individualization is at the core of a good education. Educational priorities should be pursued through schedules and locations that are respectful of a student’s membership in a learning community. Students should have an opportunity to experience a sense of mastery or accomplishment over tasks they undertake. attentive to the quality of a student’s immediate experience is as important as concern for their future. These five principles emphasize the importance of retaining ethical, person-centered gains made on behalf of students with severe disabilities, while moving forward in the current climate of standards-based reform. Massachusetts Alternate Assessment Massachusetts uses a portfolio approach to alternate assessment. Massachusetts’ development and subsequent refinement of the portfolio approach has drawn considerable national attention (Wiener, 2002), it is described here in some detail as an exemplary practice. Massachusetts’ alternate assessment is designed to assess proficiency in the same grade-level learning standards as does the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) for non-disabled students. An examination of the testing schedule for the MCAS alternate assessment (MCAS-Alt) below reveals its comparability with MCAS. Note that content domains assessed in Massachusetts exceed what is currently required by NCLB.
With particular concern for students with significant cognitive disabilities, Ford, Davern, and Schnorr (2001) offer five principles to consider when developing and applying standards for the purpose of alternate assessment: Every student should receive priority attention to the development of foundational skills. Individualization is at the core of a good education. Educational priorities should be pursued through schedules and locations that are respectful of a student’s membership in a learning community. Students should have an opportunity to experience a sense of mastery or accomplishment over tasks they undertake. attentive to the quality of a student’s immediate experience is as important as concern for their future. These five principles emphasize the importance of retaining ethical, person-centered gains made on behalf of students with severe disabilities, while moving forward in the current climate of standards-based reform. Massachusetts Alternate Assessment Massachusetts uses a portfolio approach to alternate assessment. Massachusetts’ development and subsequent refinement of the portfolio approach has drawn considerable national attention (Wiener, 2002), it is described here in some detail as an exemplary practice. Massachusetts’ alternate assessment is designed to assess proficiency in the same grade-level learning standards as does the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) for non-disabled students. An examination of the testing schedule for the MCAS alternate assessment (MCAS-Alt) below reveals its comparability with MCAS. Note that content domains assessed in Massachusetts exceed what is currently required by NCLB.
ncac-curriculum-access-low-incidence-udl-2005.docx