Description
`Testing Students With Disabilities is firmly grounded in the cutting edge research the authors have conducted for nearly three decades. They have done a brilliant job of treating a very complex topic in a most readable, logical, and understandable way’ – Donald Deshler, Professor of Special Education, University of Kansas This book provides helpful information about including students with disabilities in the school assessment systems. It provides practical strategies for ensuring that this inclusion is meaningful for the system and for the student. In the Second Edition, a list of technical assistance is included, and dissemination networks that can provide information relevant to the topics are covered in this book. Some of them are national resources; others are regional. Martha L. Thurlow, Ph.D., is Director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes in the Institute on Community Integration (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) at the University of Minnesota. In this position, she addresses the implications of contemporary U.S. policy and practice for students with disabilities and English Language Learners, including national and statewide assessment policies and practices, standards-setting efforts, and graduation requirements. Dr. Thurlow has conducted research for the past 35 years in a variety of areas, including assessment and decision making, learning disabilities, early childhood education, dropout prevention, effective classroom instruction, and integration of students with disabilities in general education settings. She has published extensively on all of these topics, and also recently completed serving as co-Editor with Bob Algozzine of Exceptional Children, the research journal of the Council for Exceptional Children. Dr. Thurlow is a co-author of several books, including Testing Students with Disabilities, Improving Test Performance of Students with Disabilities, Alternate Assessments for Students with Disabilities, and Critical Issues in Special Education. Dr. Thurlow was one of the original developers of the dropout prevention program Check and Connect, which was empirically tested, and replicated in several settings. She is the author of numerous reports, journal articles and chapters on the topic of dropouts and dropout prevention, and also addresses the dropout problem within the current context of federal legislation, high stakes testing, and standards-based education. Preface About the Authors 1. Why Students With Disabilities Should Be in District and Statewide Accountability Systems 2. Deciding How Students Participate in District and State Tests 3. Assessment Accommodations: Who Is Eligible? For What? 4. Accommodations to Consider 5. Alternate Assessments 6. Including English Language Learners With Disabilities in District and State Assessments 7. Using Assessment Results 8. An Important Tool: The IEP 9. Collaboration for Success in Testing Students With Disabilities 10. Gaining Support From Above: What Needs to Happen 11. Involving Parents in Testing Decisions 12. Implementation: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Resources: Reproducible Forms Resources: Staff Development Resources: Technical Assistance and Dissemination Networks Index
