Teachers’ Perspectives About Students With Disabilities Who Moved From the Alternate to the General Assessment

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Alternate Assessments: Research to Practice (Table 5)

Abstract

It can be challenging for teachers to successfully instruct students who shift from the alternate assessment to the general assessment. We highlight in this study preliminary findings from asynchronous focus groups in two states conducted with teachers about their experiences with students who have moved between the two assessments, often because of the 1% alternate assessment participation state policy mandate. The results indicate teachers had conflicted perspectives about expectations of students and student placement with learning general education content. This disconnect for teachers indicates a need for collaboration of IEP team members, use and sharing of multiple forms of data, and tools for teachers’ instructional decision making for these students to enhance their inclusion in grade-level general educational academic content.

Authors

• Linda Goldstone, National Center on Educational Outcomes

• Sheryl S. Lazarus, University of Minnesota