Participation & Accommodation
Getting Started

Introduction

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has been tracking and analyzing state policies on assessment participation and accommodations since 1992. Given that both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 and Title I of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 require the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments, it is important to study how they will participate and what, if any, accommodations will be used.

The data for the participation and accommodations reports were gathered through the examination and analysis of publicly available written documents. Participation and accommodation policies for most states were obtained from states' Web sites by the winter of the policy year, and the data were verified by state officials.

Data Viewer provides the following capabilities when looking at state policies on assessment participation and accommodations for students with disabilities:

• Report Designer — Customizable data reports that allow for deeper analysis of participation and accommodations issues, including multi-year trend reports.
• Summary Reports — Customizable summary data reports on state policies for assessment participation and accommodations for students with disabilities.
• State Profiles — Verified information from states that was used to develop the tables in the Data Viewer.
• Participation and Accommodations Prepared Reports — These reports have been prepared to provide immediate access to Participation & Accommodation reports of special interest, including hot topics.

How to Use this Site

1. Choose a category for the report you wish to create, such as Participation Reports (2004-2005).
2. Under State(s) select a state or group of states (e.g., All Regular States).
3. From the list below the popdown menu, select any criteria you wish to view with the check boxes. Click the Run Report button. Selecting 1 or 2 criteria will provide a US Map in addition to a data table. If you do not select any criteria from the provided list, no data will be provided and you will be asked to return to the page (hit your browser's Back button) to select data options.
4. Click the PDF button to receive a PDF version of the report.
5. To run a new report, click the Back button and click Reset. (It is recommended to Reset before starting a new report.)

1. Select the year of administration (e.g., 2004-2005).
2. Under Select State(s) choose "All Regular States," a single state, or use the Ctrl key to select a set of states
3. Under Select Question, click one the radio button for a "question" listed that relates to participation and accommodations practices of states, or one of the sets of types of accommodations at the bottom of the list (presentation, equipment and material, response, scheduling/timing, setting).
4. Click Run Report. A chart and tabular data will appear.
5. Click the PDF button to receive a PDF version of the report.
6. To run a new report, hit your browser's Back button and click Reset. (It is recommended to Reset before starting a new report.)

For more information on a specific set of participation and accommodation policies, see NCEO's specific synthesis report for the year of interest.

For 2004-2005, see Synthesis Report 64: 2005 State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities