§ 300.160 Participation in assessments.

Plain English summary

This section requires States and LEAs to include all children with disabilities in general State and district-wide assessments with appropriate accommodations or alternate assessments as indicated in their IEPs. States and LEAs must develop accommodation guidelines, create alternate assessments aligned with alternate academic achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, inform parents and IEP Teams of assessment implications, and publicly report participation and performance data for children with disabilities. Universal design principles must be applied to the extent possible in developing and administering assessments.

Key requirements

• A State must ensure that all children with disabilities are included in all general State and district-wide assessment programs, including assessments described under section 1111 of the ESEA, 20 U.S.C. 6311, with appropriate accommodations and alternate assessments, if necessary, as indicated in their respective IEPs.
• A State (or, in the case of a district-wide assessment, an LEA) must develop guidelines for the provision of appropriate accommodations.
• The guidelines must identify only those accommodations for each assessment that do not invalidate the score and instruct IEP Teams to select, for each assessment, only those accommodations that do not invalidate the score.
• If a State has adopted alternate academic achievement standards for children with disabilities who are students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, the State (or LEA) must develop and implement alternate assessments and guidelines for participation in alternate assessments of those children who cannot participate in regular assessments, even with accommodations, as indicated in their respective IEPs.
• Alternate assessments must be aligned with the challenging State academic content standards under section 1111(b)(1) of the ESEA and alternate academic achievement standards under section 1111(b)(1)(E) of the ESEA, and must measure the achievement of children with disabilities who are students with the most significant cognitive disabilities against those standards.
• A State may not adopt modified academic achievement standards or any other alternate academic achievement standards that do not meet the requirements in section 1111(b)(1)(E) of the ESEA for any children with disabilities under section 602(3) of the IDEA.
• A State (or LEA) must provide to IEP teams a clear explanation of the differences between assessments based on grade-level academic achievement standards and those based on alternate academic achievement standards, including any effects of State and local policies on a student's education resulting from taking an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards.
• A State (or LEA) must not preclude a student with the most significant cognitive disabilities who takes an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards from attempting to complete the requirements for a regular high school diploma.
• A State (or LEA) must ensure that parents of students selected to be assessed using an alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards are informed that their child's achievement will be measured based on alternate academic achievement standards, and of how participation in such assessments may delay or otherwise affect the student from completing the requirements for a regular high school diploma.
• An SEA (or LEA) must make available to the public, and report to the public with the same frequency and in the same detail as it reports on the assessment of nondisabled children, the number of children with disabilities participating in regular and alternate assessments, accommodations provided, and performance results.
• An SEA (or LEA) must, to the extent possible, use universal design principles in developing and administering any assessments under this section.

Affected parties

• State Educational Agencies (SEAs)
• Local Educational Agencies (LEAs)
• IEP Teams
• Children with disabilities
• Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities
• Parents of children with disabilities

Official source

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-300/section-300.160