Students with Disabilities


A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR APPLYING NCLB IN HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOMS
COMPONENT: Students with Disabilities
DEFINITION: The No Child Left Behind Act includes various district- and school-accountability requirements for each State. The requirements that have the most significance in relation to students with disabilities are 1) the academic assessments for determining Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), as applied, on a disaggregated basis, to students with disabilities; 2) the AYP graduation-rate measure as applied, on a disaggregated basis, to students with disabilities; 3) the “highly qualified” personnel standard as applied to special education teachers and paraprofessionals; and 4) the parents’ right to know reports. The disaggregated group requirement applies to students with disabilities based on the eligibility definition under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), not that under Section 504. The only exception to the requirement is where the number in the disaggregated group is insufficient to yield statistically reliable information. The AYP academic assessments must include mathematics, reading or language arts, and -- beginning in 2005-06 -- science. A minimum of 95 percent of the students with disabilities, as with each of the other three disaggregated groups, must participate in the testing, with accommodations and alternate assessments as specified in their individualized education programs (IEPs). The AYP graduation-rate standard is the annual percentage with a regular diploma in the standard number of years, unless the State proposes and the U.S. Department of Education approves an alternative, more accurate measure. The “highly qualified” standard for teachers includes full certification and – as demonstrated by testing for new teachers and State evaluation standards for those hired before the start of the school year in 2002 – teaching-skill and content-knowledge competence. For paraprofessionals, the highly qualified standard includes a minimum of two years of higher education. The reporting requirements include notifying the parents on a timely basis of their child’s results of the academic-achievement assessments and when the child has been assigned or taught for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet the highly qualified standard.
SUMMARY OF NCLB REQUIREMENTS The following requirements are organized for all high schools around selected principles used in approved State accountability plans. AYP, Personnel, and Reporting Requirements at the High School Level Principle 3. 1 The AYP academic-achievement assessments for your high school apply to IDEA-eligible students as a group (unless their total number is below a State-specified minimum). 3.1a This disaggregated-group requirement applies to students with IEPs, not those with 504 plans. The No Child Left Behind Act defines students with disabilities for the purpose of disaggregation as those who meet the IDEA definition of disability. For students who meet this definition, the IDEA requires an IEP. Thus, students who, instead are on 504 plans, presumably because they only meet the broader definition of disability under Section 504 are not within this disaggregated group. 3.1b Most of the IDEA-eligible students must participate in the assessments. The specific minimum is 95 percent of this group of students. There is no exception to this minimum where the disaggregated group requirement is applicable. The 5 percent allows for absenteeism and other events not under the school’s control. 3.1c Although the IEP is controlling with regard to accommodations, there is a limit with regard to alternate assessments with alternate standards. These students are entitled to the accommodations and alternate assessments specified in their IEPs; however, with a very limited exception, they must be measured with the same academic achievement standards that apply to all students. The limited exception allows alternate academic-achievement standards for a specified subcategory and percentage of IDEA-eligible students. The proposed No Child Left Behind Act regulations specify this subcategory as those “whose intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior are three or more standard deviations below the mean” and cap the total at 1 percent of “all students in the grades assessed.” Principle 3. 2 The AYP graduate-rate assessment for your high school also applies to IDEA-eligible students as a group (unless their total number is below a State-specified minimum). This measure is defined as the annual percentage graduating with a regular diploma in the standard number of years, unless the State proposes and the U.S. Department of Education approves an alternative, more accurate measure. Principle 3. 3 The “highly qualified” personnel standard is rigorous and, in light of current supply/demand, particularly challenging for special education teachers and paraprofessionals. 3.3a For special education teachers, the standard applies in two stages. The immediate stage, as of the first day of the 2002-03 school year, is that all new teachers in programs supported by the No Child Left Behind Act funds must meet the “highly qualified” standard, which includes full certification and -- as demonstrated by testing -- competence in teaching skill and content knowledge. The second-stage, as of the 2005-06 school year, is that all teachers in core academic subjects, including special education teachers, must meet the highly qualified standard, which includes full certification and – as demonstrated by an approved evaluation system – competence in teaching skill and content knowledge. Because special education teachers at the high school level often teach core academic subjects, this requirement for dual or multiple certification will require particular attention. 3.3b For special education paraprofessionals, the standard also applies in two stages. For paraprofessionals, the highly qualified standard is a minimum of completing two years of higher education and either obtaining an associate’s (or higher) degree or meeting a rigorous standard of demonstrated quality via a formal State or local academic assessment. The immediate stage applies this requirement to all new paraprofessionals -- i.e., those hired after the first day of the 2002-03 school year -- who work in programs supported by No Child Left Behind Act funds. The second stage applies this requirement to all paraprofessionals, including those working with students with disabilities. Principle 3.4 Schools that receive NCLB funds must share the results of the AYP and highly qualified standards in parents’ right to know reports. Each recipient school must notify all parents, including those with disabilities, at the start of each school year of their right to request and timely receive information regarding the professional qualifications of the student’s classroom teachers. Each such school must also notify the parents on a timely basis of 1) their child’s results for each of the academic-achievement assessments, and 2) when the child has been assigned or taught for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who does not meet the highly qualified standard.
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION These three important requirements – AYP for students, “highly qualified” for personnel, and reporting for parents -- apply directly in relation to students with disabilities as a matter of equal opportunity and special accountability. The first requirement applies to students with disabilities as a disaggregated group, except in school districts and schools where their total number is less than the State’s minimum for disaggregated groups. The second and third requirements apply on an individual basis without exception. The challenge is formidable but the obvious need and the potential reward are commensurately great. School personnel, including administrators and teachers, will need to invest concerted and creative efforts into fulfilling these requirements. Investigate: First, find out what the relevant standards are in your State. For example, what is the minimum number for the disaggregated group requirement? Similarly, has your State gained approval for a different graduation-rate standard for students with disabilities, which takes into account the need for some of them to take more than the standard number of years to meet the district’s requirements for a regular diploma? Second, determine what the status of your high school is in relation to these requirements, as specified in the State’s approved plan. Here are examples of questions for which you need clear and reliable data: How many students in your high school are on IEPs? 504 plans? How many of the IEPs provide for testing accommodations? Alternate assessments with the same standards? Alternate assessments with different standards? How many of the school’s special education teachers and paraprofessionals hired after the start of the 2002-03 school year meet the highly qualified standard? How many of those hired before this date meet this standard? Plan: School personnel should develop systematic steps for: Improving the test performance and graduation rate of IDEA-eligible students; Upgrading the number of teachers and paraprofessionals who meet the highly qualified standard; and Developing parental reporting forms that effectively and efficiently provide the requisite information. The No Child Left Behind Act’s related requirement of a written parent involvement policy points to the opportunity to secure the input and collaboration of parents and community organizations in the development of these plans. Building linkages with other schools in the district and elsewhere that face these same challenges will be mutually beneficial. Implement: Personnel must be concerted and creative in not only the development but also the implementation of the school’s action plan. For example, IEP teams will need training and monitoring in terms of curricular alignment, testing accommodations, and alternate assessments. Students with disabilities will need particular practice with test-taking strategies. Special education teachers who provide instruction in core academic subjects will need special opportunities and support to obtain certification, typically via examination, in these subjects. Similarly, paraprofessionals will needs special opportunities and support to obtain the requisite level of higher education and academic competence. Finally, parents of students with disabilities need advance communication so that the results of the reporting requirements foster mutual collaboration and support rather than alienation and adversariality. Evaluate: Personnel need to systematically collect and evaluate data to determine and facilitate the school’s progress with regard to the AYP, highly qualified personnel, and parental reporting standards in relation to students with disabilities.
SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Council for Exceptional Children’s analysis http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/side-by-side09_04_02.pdf National Association of State Directors of Special Education analysis http://www.nasdse.org/downloadnclb.html Testing accommodations and alternate assessments: National Center on Ed. Outcomes http://www.education.umn.edu/nceo Test-taking strategies http://www.amby.com/worksite/taketest.html
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