ARD Committee

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ARD Committee Decision-Making Process for
the Texas Assessment Program 2005-2006 October
31, 2005 (FA056345) November 2, 2005 (FA056346)
The CSEN Version
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Background

• Looking at 2005-2006 assessments . . .
• WHERE ARE WE?
• 2005-2006 is a transition year (again) based on
• Changes in IDEA
• Changes in AYP accountability

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Background

• Remember where
• we were
• one year ago?
• We had
• IDEA 97
• The 1 cap

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Background

• IDEA 2004
• Requires ALL special education students to be
  included in all
• Statewide assessments
• Districtwide assessments
• Requires State to administer alternate assessments

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Background

• AYP Accountability Evolution of the 1 cap

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State Assessments2005-2006 Changes

• TAKS
• Panel recommendation
• Grade 5 Math and SSI
• Science 8th Grade
• LAT
• Separate form
• No Preview
• Not available for SDAA
• Bundled accommodations for students with dyslexia
• For students identified with dyslexia AND who
  receive services under IDEA, Section 504, or a
  campus dyslexia program
• Accommodations are ALL 3
• Orally reading all proper nouns
• Orally reading all question and answer choices
• Extending the testing over a 2-day period

• Only for Grades 3, 4, 5
• Only for TAKS
• Only for Reading
• All 3 administra-tions
• Spanish or English

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State Assessments2005-2006 Changes

• TAKS I
• Intended to broaden alternate assessments
  available to students receiving special education
  services
• For special education students who are at or
  near grade level
• Offered in Subjects/Grades not assessed by SDAA
  II
• Social Studies all grades (8, 10 and Exit)
• Science all grades (5, 8, 10 and Exit)
• ELA Exit level only
• Math Exit level only
• ONLY for special education students
• ONLY at enrolled grade level
• Achievement levels are NOT set by ARD Committee
  use TAKS Met Standard and Commended cut
  scores
• Consists of same test items that appear in
  corresponding TAKS tests, but will have fewer
  test items because TAKS I will not include
  embedded field test items
• SDAA II allowable accommodations
• LDAA remains an option for special education
  students in these Subjects/Grades

• Not evaluated for State Accountability in 2006
• Will be evaluated in 2007

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State Assessments2005-2006 Changes

• SDAA II
• No significant changes for 2006
• ARD Committee determines Instructional Level of
  SDAA II
• ARD Committee determines expected Achievement
  Level (I, II or III)
• Possible release of Spring 2005 SDAA II tests
• Below grade level remains subject to federal cap

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State Assessments 2005-2006 Changes

• LDAA (Locally Determined Alternate Assessment)
• No significant changes for 2006
• ARD Committee must identify specific assessment
• ARD Committee must specify expected Achievement
  Level (i.e., passing standard)
• Will change over the next few years
• TAKS A (TAKS Alternate)
• Steering Committee in place
• For 2005-06, LDAA remains an option in every
  subject and grade assessed by TAKS

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Components of Effective Assessment Decision
Making
Assessment
Instructional Program/ Curriculum
PLAAFPs (Present Levels of Academic Achievement
and Functional Performance)
Eligibility
ARDC Participants
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ARDC Participants Questions for Discussion

• How do you ensure that the right people are
  participating in ARDC meetings (meaning people
  who understand curriculum and assessment)?
• How do you implement the provisions in IDEA 2004
  regarding absences of school district members of
  the ARDC and/or amending the IEP without an ARDC
  meeting?

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Eligibility Questions for Discussion

• How does the childs disability (as opposed to
  his/her eligibility category) truly impact
  curriculum decisions?
• What special education service does the child
  need as a result of his/her disability?

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PLAAFPs Questions for Discussion

• Does our current ARDC paperwork assist us in
  determining the students present levels of
  performance (in academic classes or
  functionally)?
• What systems do we have in place to monitor the
  number of students whose present levels of
  performance are below enrolled grade level?
• What data do we bring to ARDC meetings to
  establish PLAAFPs?

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Instructional Program/Curriculum

• Each year, the ARDC must determine the
  instructional program for the student for the
  upcoming year
• This involves decision-making relating to
• Curriculum
• Level of TEKS instruction
• Individualized goals and objectives
• Accommodations
• Specially designed instructional services
  (special education services)

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Instructional Program/Curriculum

• Primary data source used in determining the
  instructional program for the upcoming year
• PLAAFPs
• Additional data sources
• FIE
• Disability
• Educational needs
• Educational history

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Instructional Program/Curriculum

• Issue Developing a common vocabulary
• Accommodation
• A change in teaching or learning strategies based
  on the specific needs of a student with a
  disability (e.g., oral testing, highlighted
  textbooks, short answer tests)
• Does NOT change the content of instruction
• Modification
• A change in the curriculum of a course (e.g.,
  eliminating one or more of the TEKS or changing
  the grade level of certain TEKS)
• Changes the content of instruction

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Instructional Program/Curriculum

• Understanding the difference between
  accommodations and modifications

• Accommodation
• By-pass
• Copy of notes
• Recorded text
• Highlighted text
• Extra time for completion
• Answers the question
• How to teach?

• Modification
• Change
• Reduce the number of TEKS to be mastered
• Off grade level instruction
• Answers the question
• What to teach?

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Instructional Program/Curriculum

• Accommodations Allowable vs. Non-allowable
• Are we limiting assessment decisions by our
  choice of accommodations?
• Examples
• Shortened assignments
• Reduced number of incorrect answers
• Both would tend to lead to an LDAA decision
• Think of scaffolding (building skills so that the
  student no longer needs a non-allowable
  accommodation)

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Instructional Program/Curriculum Questions for
Discussion

• Does the students IEP clearly define the
  instructional program/level of curriculum for
  each subject?
• To what extent is the student accessing the grade
  level TEKS?
• What kinds of accommodations have been used that
  have realized the greatest success?
• Are we accommodating or modifying?

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• Instructional decisions should always inform and
  guide assessment decisions

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Assessment

• Districtwide Assessments
• Other norm/criterion referenced assessments
• District developed/administered assessments
• Example District benchmarks
• ARDC MUST ADDRESS HOW STUDENT WILL PARTICIPATE IN
  DISTRICTWIDE ASSESSMENT
• Process followed by ARDC will be similar to
  process followed for statewide assessments

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AssessmentTAKS

• Bundled accommodations for special education
  students
• If the student is identified as having dyslexia
  and is receiving services addressing dyslexia,
  the student may receive bundled accommodations
• If the student is identified as LD in Reading
  (but not specifically dyslexia) and is receiving
  accommodations relating to weaknesses in word
  decoding/reading words in isolation, the student
  may receive bundled accommodations
• The accommodations received by the student do not
  need to be the bundled accommodations but they
  must relate to weaknesses in word
  decoding/reading words in isolation
• In general, if the student is not identified as
  LD in Reading, the student may not receive
  bundled accommodations
• Awaiting clarification from TEA with respect to
  students identified as LD in Math, OHI, ED, etc.
  but who exhibit severe weaknesses in
  decoding/reading words in isolation

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AssessmentTAKS-I

• TAKS-I
• For special education students who are at or
  near grade level
• Nearness to grade level may vary
• 2 grade levels below enrolled grade level may be
  more significant for 5th grades than 10th or 11th
  graders
• ONLY for special education students
• Unlike bundled accommodations for dyslexia
• ONLY at enrolled grade level
• Achievement levels are NOT set by ARD Committee
• TAKS-I uses TAKS Met Standard and Commended
  cut scores

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AssessmentSDAA II

• What Instructional Level?
• What Achievement Level?
• What Accommodations?

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Reference Manual Page 25
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Reference Manual Page 26
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AssessmentSDAA II

• Achievement Level
• Describes student performance
• Allows evaluation of student progress

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Reference Manual Page 32
Consider How much of the curriculum do we
expect to have taught by the time of assessment?
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AssessmentSDAA II

• Example of use of Achievement Level I
• Accelerating instruction gt 1 year

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AssessmentSDAA II

• Example of use of Achievement Level II
• Instruction 1 year increment

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AssessmentSDAA II

• Writing/ELA Achievement Levels for Instructional
  Levels 2 through 8/9

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AssessmentSDAA II

• Writing/ELA Achievement Levels for Instructional
  Level 10

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AssessmentSDAA II

• Field Tests
• Although the current IEP should be referenced,
  the ARD committee does not need to convene to
  determine field-test placement, accommodations,
  and/or modifications
• Districts will NOT receive results from field
  tests

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Reference Manual Page 7
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AssessmentLEP Students

• Choosing the Appropriate Assessment
• Based on TEKS instruction and testing
  accommodations
• Spanish TAKS is available for grades 3-6
• No Spanish SDAA II available
• For students who are recent unschooled immigrants
  eligible for a LEP exemption (LPAC Decision) from
  TAKS, TAKS-I or SDAA II
• The ARD committee must determine an LDAA
• For Math, TAKS with LAT is a possible alternative
  to LDAA

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AssessmentLEP Students

• LAT
• For LEP-exempt recent immigrants
• Linguistic accommodations must be documented in
  IEP
• Allowable accommodations
• Linguistic simplification
• Oral translation
• Reading assistance
• Bilingual dictionaries
• Bilingual glossaries
• English and Spanish TAKS used together
• ONLY AVAILABLE FOR TAKS IN 2006 (NOT FOR SDAA II)

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AssessmentSSI
Reference Manual Page 81
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AssessmentAccommodations

• Does the student need accommodations?
• The decision to use a particular accommodation
  with any student should be made on an individual
  basis and should take into consideration
• the needs of the student and
• whether the student routinely receives the
  accommodation in instruction and testing
• If the student receives special education
  services, all testing accommodations that are not
  part of the standard assessment procedures must
  be documented in the IEP
• All testing accommodations that are not part of
  the standard assessment procedures must be
  documented in the students IEP
• Testing accommodations that are part of the
  standard assessment procedures available to all
  students, for example, use of highlighters, are
  not required to be documented in the students
  IEP

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AssessmentImpact on State Accountability

• AEIS
• SDAA II Performance Met ARD Expectation
• Accountability measure is based on all SDAA II
  tests combined
• For 2006
• 50 for Academically Acceptable
• 70 for Recognized
• 90 for Exemplary

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AssessmentImpact on Federal Accountability

• AYP
• 1 cap applicable to students with the most
  significant cognitive disabilities (MSCD)
• Exists in regulations
• MSCD not yet defined in Texas
• 2 cap applicable to student with persistent
  academic disabilities (PAD)
• Policy discussion not in regulations
• PAD not yet defined in Texas

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AssessmentImpact on Federal Accountability

• Issues Not Yet Resolved for 2005-06
• Will it be 1 and 2 (applied to different
  populations)?
• Or will it be 3?
• Or will it be 4?
• What will be the definition of most significant
  cognitive disability (MSCD) for purposes of the
  1 cap?
• What will be the definition of persistent
  academic disability (PAD) for purposes of the
  2 cap?

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Next Steps

• Review SDAA II Information Booklets and
  Correlation Guides
• Review ARDC Decision-Making Manual
• Train ARDC representatives
• Preparing for ARDC meetings (bringing relevant
  information)
• Preparing for communications/discussions
  regarding instruction and assessment
• Review existing IEPs for instructional/assessment
  alignment
• Is assessment appropriate?
• Is assessment based on instruction?
• Call ESC 13 for assistance

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• To contact us
• Martha Blanton
• martha.blanton_at_esc13.txed.net
• John Fessenden
• john.fessenden_at_esc13.txed.net
• For a copy of this presentation and accompanying
  materials
• http//www.esc13.net/assessment/

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A Tool
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A Tool
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A Tool