Assessments for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
The CCSS for ELA/Literacy are for every student, including students with significant cognitive
disabilities. All students with disabilities participate in statewide assessments, with the exception of
students who cannot achieve at or near grade level as identified by the members of the IEP team.
These students present the most significant cognitive
disabilities and make up approximately one percent of the
population. They require substantial supports provided in
connection with an alternative assessment. These supports
allow identified students to have meaningful access to
certain standards and assessment experiences as appropriate
to their academic and functional needs. On October 1, 2012,
California joined the National Center and State Collaborative
(NCSC). The NCSC is currently developing several resources
to support students with significant cognitive disabilities,
including professional learning modules, curriculum models,
instructional materials, alternate achievement standards,
and a multi-state comprehensive assessment system. The
long-term goal is to ensure that students with significant
cognitive disabilities achieve increasingly higher academic
outcomes and leave high school ready for postsecondary
options. The NCSC is intended to be a standards-aligned assessment and is targeted to replace the
previous alternate performance-based assessment known as the California Alternate Performance
Assessment (CAPA). For more information, contact the California Department of Education Common
Core Resources for Special Education Web site http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/cc/.
Biliteracy Assessment
When instruction is provided in English and in an
additional language in alternative bilingual or dual language
programs, classroom assessment for academic and language
development progress in both languages is necessary. Such
assessments should be designed according to the same
principles and recommendations articulated throughout this
ELA/ELD Framework and in this chapter both for ELs and
for students whose primary language is English. Frequently
and closely monitoring students’ progress, assessing in both
languages used for instruction, and interpreting assessment
results in accordance with the research on effective bilingual
education practices help ensure that students make steady
and consistent progress toward full biliteracy and academic
achievement in both languages. (English learners who have been enrolled in a U.S. school for less
than 12 months do not to take the ELA portion of the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments.)
All students with disabilities
participate in statewide
assessments, with the exception
of students who cannot
achieve at or near grade level
as identified by the members
of the IEP team. These students
present the most significant
cognitive disabilities and make
up approximately one percent
of the population.When instruction is provided
in English and in an additional
language in alternative
bilingual or dual language
programs, classroom
assessment for academic
and language development
progress in both languages is
necessary.Assessment Chapter 8 | 865