How States Can Improve Participation of Students with Disabilities in Statewide Assessments

Updated

States can improve participation by treating it as a policy and communication problem, not just a compliance count. NCEO's "Participation Matters" brief series connects policymakers with practical resources for reviewing assessment policies, so that students with disabilities—including those who are also English learners—have the opportunity to show what they know. The approach suits state and local agencies that want to move from tracking participation rates to changing the conditions that shape them.

Start with the policy review the brief supports

The "Participation Matters" brief is aimed at state and local agencies and is framed around improving assessment policies. Use it as a discussion document with the people who own the relevant decisions: assessment directors, special education leads, and staff who handle accommodations and accessibility. The expected result is a shared list of policy barriers—unclear participation criteria, inconsistent accommodation practices, or communication gaps with families—rather than a single participation target.

Use NCEO's toolkits to address specific barriers

NCEO's Quick Links page lists resources that map onto common participation problems. Match the tool to the barrier you identified:

Barrier NCEO resource to consult
Confusion over the 1% cap on alternate assessments 1% Toolkit
Inconsistent use of accommodations Accommodations Toolkit
Participation data that is hard to interpret Assessment Snapshot Data, Data Analytics
Need to explain participation to staff and families Participation Communication Toolkit
Building capacity among school leaders School Leader Series
Supporting English learners with disabilities ELs with Disabilities Toolkit
Finding research on accommodations or alternate assessments Searchable Research Summaries, Accommodations Bibliography, AA-AAAS Bibliography

These are starting points for review, not prescriptions; the right combination depends on which barrier your state or district has documented.

Make the family and school-choice connection explicit

Participation also depends on families understanding what assessments measure. NCEO's brief "More Than a Score: Asking about Assessment When Choosing a School for Your Student with a Disability" explains why families should ask how a student's learning will be measured and reported, suggests questions to ask, and defines key assessment terms. Agencies can use it in family engagement materials so that school-choice decisions do not inadvertently separate students from the assessments that document their progress.

Verify progress with participation data

After policy changes, check whether participation patterns actually shift. NCEO's Annual Performance Reports (APR) and Assessment Snapshot Data provide the reporting context; compare participation before and after your changes, and look specifically at students with disabilities who are also English learners, a group NCEO names within its scope. If rates do not move, revisit the barrier list—communication problems and accommodation confusion often persist after formal policy is updated.

Common sticking points

  • Treating the 1% alternate assessment cap as a target rather than a ceiling can distort placement decisions; the 1% Toolkit addresses this directly.
  • Accommodation policies that exist on paper but are inconsistently applied in classrooms usually require training, not new documents.
  • Family-facing materials that omit assessment information leave school-choice decisions uninformed; the "More Than a Score" brief is designed to fill that gap.

For background on the organization behind these resources, see NCEO's About page and the overview of what NCEO is.