National Profile on Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards

The National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA) was mandated by Section 664(c) of
the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). Specifically, the
law called for a “Study on Ensuring Accountability for Students Who Are Held to Alternative
Achievement Standards” to examine the following:
“(1) the criteria that States use to determine—
(A) eligibility for alternate assessments; and
(B) the number and type of children who take those assessments and are held accountable
to alternative achievement standards;
(2) the validity and reliability of alternate assessment instruments and procedures;
(3) the alignment of alternate assessments and alternative achievement standards to State
academic content standards in reading, mathematics, and science; and
(4) the use and effectiveness of alternate assessments in appropriately measuring student
progress and outcomes specific to individualized instructional need.” (P.L. 108–446, 118
Stat. 2784, 2004)
SRI International and its partners Policy Studies Associates (PSA) and the National Center
on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) were selected by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) to conduct the NSAA.
The alternate assessment arena is rapidly evolving across the 50 states and the District
of Columbia, reflecting the states’ responses to legislative, regulatory, technical, and
methodological developments in the assessment of students with significant cognitive
disabilities for federal, state, and local accountability purposes. NSAA is examining alternate
assessment systems during this period of rapid evolution using two primary data collection
methods: document analysis and data verification activities in 50 states and the District of
Columbia, and teacher surveys in selected states.
Two reports have been produced to document NSAA findings for the 2006–07 school year. The
two reports present findings of the document analysis and data verification activities. National
Profile on Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards. A Report From
the National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA National Profile) summarizes nationallevel
findings from the document analysis and data verification activities for the 2006–07 school
year across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The NSAA National Profile also contains
data tables with individual state responses for each item of the data collection instrument. A
companion report, State Profiles on Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement
Standards. A Report From the National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA State Profiles),
presents individual state profiles for the 2006–07 school year for each of the 50 states and the
District of Columbia. The NSAA State Profiles describe individual state approaches to designing
and administering alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards, key
features of individual state alternate assessments, and student participation and performance
data for each state.