Standards and Assessment Federal Review

As part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, each State undergoes a technical peer review of the State’s standards and assessment system. The Peer Reviewers are assessment and policy experts from across the nation who study each State’s submission and evidence and make recommendations to the U.S. Department of Education’s Standards and Accountability division. The Standards and Accountability division then reviews the Peer Reviewers’ recommendations and makes its own recommendation to the Assistant Secretary. Each State then receives a letter from the Assistant Secretary with a ruling and any findings for areas to improve.

Link to the U.S. Department of Education’s web site for Decision Letters on State Assessment Systems
http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/nclbfinalassess/index.html#ms

Link to Mississippi’s most recent letter
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/USDE Decision Letter 2008-06-13.pdf

Note: The June 2008 letter does not address the changes and enhancements to Mississippi’s assessment system that have been subsequently documented in Peer Review submissions in October 2008, February 2009, March 2009, and October 2009. The MDE is awaiting an official response from the U.S. Department of Education regarding the results of any of these Peer Reviews. (January, 2010).

Accommodations Research Resources

The Mississippi Department of Education Office of Student Assessment makes every effort to stay abreast of current research and trends in accommodations research to help schools and districts make the best accommodations decisions for students with disabilities, students with 504 plans, and students who are learning the English language. One of the OSA’s missions is to make sure that all students are assessed fairly and in the most appropriate and valid manner possible. In compliance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the MDE monitors the use of accommodations during statewide testing.

The MDE suggests the following resources:

Link to the National Center on Educational Outcomes for resources and research findings related to assessment
http://www.cehd.umn.edu/NCEO/TopicAreas/Accommodations/AccomResources.htm

Link to the Council of Chief State School Officers’ resources on assessing special education students
http://www.ccsso.org/projects/scass/projects/assessing_special_education_students/11302.cfm

Other resources are available to purchase from the Council as well. Those materials can be found at the following link
http://www.ccsso.org/projects/scass/projects/assessing_special_education_students/12263.cfm

Local links to selected research findings on accommodations research

Zenisky, A. L., & Sireci, S. G. (2007). A summary of the research on the effects of test accommodations: 2005-2006 (Technical Report 47). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/TechReport47 Effects of Test Accommodations 2005-06.pdf

Bolt, S. E., & Thurlow, M. L. (2006). Item-level effects of the read-aloud accommodation for students with reading disabilities (Synthesis Report 65). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/NCEO Synthesis65 Effects of Read-aloud.pdf

Johnstone, C. J., Altman, J., Thurlow, M. L., & Thompson, S. J. (2006). A summary of research on the effects of test accommodations: 2002 through 2004 (Technical Report 45). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/NCEO Technical45 Effects of Test Accommodations 2002-04.pdf

Bottsford-Miller, N., Thurlow, M. L., Stout, K. E., Quenemoen, R. F. (2006). A comparison of IEP/504 accommodations under classroom and standardized testing conditions: A preliminary report on SEELS data (Synthesis Report 63). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/NCEO Synthesis63 Accommodations in classroom and standardized tests.pdf

Clapper, A. T., Morse, A. B., Thompson, S. J., & Thurlow, M. L. (2005). Access assistants for state assessments: A study of state guidelines for scribes, readers, and sign language interpreters (Synthesis Report 58). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/NCEO Synthesis58 Access Assistants.pdf

Thompson, S.J.; Morse, A.B.; Sharpe, M.; & Hall, S. (2005). Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate Use of Accommodations for Instruction and Assessment of Students with Disabilities. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/CCSSO AccommodationsManual.pdf

Thurlow, M., & Bolt, S. (2001). Empirical support for accommodations most often allowed in state policy (Synthesis Report 41).Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. Available from the World Wide Web: http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Synthesis41.html
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/NCEO Synthesis41 Empirical Support.pdf

Kosciolek, S., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (2000). Effects of a reading accommodation on the validity of a reading test (Technical Report 28). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. Available from the World Wide Web: http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Technical28.htm
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/ACAD/osa/USDE/NCEO Technical28 Reading Accom.pdf