What Principles are Driving Development Of State Alternate Assessments?

However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs and no endorsement by that office should be inferred. This document is NOT copyrighted and readers are free to make copies The 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (PL 105-17) require that each state: Develops guidelines for the participation of children with disabilities in alternate assessments for those children who cannot participate in State and district-wide assessment programs [ (612) (17) (A) (i)]; and, develops and, beginning not later than July 1, 2000, conducts those alternate assessments [ (612) (17) (A) (ii)]. The amendments also require teams developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to address alternate assessments: If the IEP Team determines that the child will not participate in a particular State or district-wide assessment of student achievement (or part of such an assessment), a statement of why that assessment is not appropriate for the child [ (614)(d)(1)(A)(v)(II)(aa)]; and how the child will be assessed [ (614)(d)(I)(A)(v)(II) ( bb)]. These provisions have states scrambling to establish guidelines for student participation in alternate assessments and to develop the assessments by July 2000. A number of conceptual pieces on alternate assessment were developed in 1996 and 1997 to assist states in their start-up (Mid-South RRC, 1996