StateLinks

Published by the National Center on Educational Outcomes
Number 1 / February 2001

New NCEO Publication Just for You!

This is the first in a series of quarterly publications directed to State Assessment Directors and State Directors of Special Education. Our goal in producing State Links is to ensure that we keep you up to date on NCEO activities and findings. We know that you do not have the time to visit NCEO’s Web site all the time, or to even read the NCEO reports that may come your way. So, we want to highlight for you what NCEO is working on, and what we are finding.

We are keeping our State Links short so that you can scan through it quickly. They are bright so that you can find them when you need them. You might want to start a file just for NCEO State Links!

In this first State Links, we highlight recent findings on trends in the performance of students who receive special education services and the factors that influence what the trends look like. The report provides important information for you to think about as you look at longitudinal performance of students. We also give you an annotated list of the most recent NCEO reports. And, we give you a short list of NCEO’s current activities. If you have any questions about State Links information, call Dorene Scott at (612) 624-4073 or scott027@umn.edu.

What You Need to Know about Presenting the Trends in Performance of Special Education Students

NCEO recently released a report on interpreting trends in the performance of special education students that dramatically demonstrates how important it is to carefully define the student population. Technical Report 27, by John Bielinski and Jim Ysseldyke at NCEO, is titled “Interpreting Trends in the Performance of Special Education Students.” The report reveals the effects of movement in and out of special education and increases in rates of participation in assessments on performance data presented longitudinally.

Performance trends are negative when the student pool changes over time. When movement in and out of special education was factored into the analysis of trends, dramatic differences appeared as a function of the group makeup. NCEO analyzed performance data from grades 4 through 8 in a state in which approximately 18% of the sample transitioned between general and special education each year, with a range from 31% between grades 4 and 5, and 17% between grades 7 and 8. NCEO then compared performance trends when looking at (1) special education students in each grade during a single year (the way in which most states report data), (2) special education students across years and increasing grades (the way some states report progress), and (3) a cohort of students who received special education in the first grade studied, and then followed regardless of their continued special education status.

Major Findings:

1.  The trend line for groups of students in special education across grades in the same year shows a downward trend across grades.

2.  The trend line for groups of students in special education across grades in successive years shows a downward trend across grades.

3.  The trend line for the same cohort of students (who started in special education but may have moved out in later years) across grades shows a positive upward slope.

The report also shows that general education students have a generally horizontal trend in performance across grades and years, suggesting that the gap between general education and special education students might actually be decreasing.

Special education students added to the testing pool in recent years tend to be lower performing students. Similar findings were obtained from analyses that factored in the changes in rates of participation in state assessments. If trend lines are constructed in which new students are added to the pool each year, the trend lines probably will have a downward slope. This should not be a problem once the tested population is fairly stable. Constructing trend lines from 2000 forward may be appropriate whereas using historical data, where exclusion from testing was more prevalent, may not.

This report is available at NCEO’s Web site, http://education.umn. edu/NCEO, under “On-line Publications.” Look for Technical Report 27.

New Reports from NCEO

The reports listed here have been produced in the past three months.

Test Publishers’ Views on Out-of-Level Testing (November, 2000). This report reveals that test publishers need to provide more detailed information about the use of out-of-level testing and the interpretation of scores that result from its use. More complete information in test manuals, catalogs, and other publications would reduce the likelihood of misuses of out-of-level testing and the misinterpretation of data from out-of-level administrations. See Out-of-Level Testing Report 3.

Assessment Accommodations
Research Considerations for Design and Analysis (December, 2000). This report summarizes the challenges in conducting good research on the effects of assessment accommodations, and provides several design options. The information in this report is relevant to those who review or contract research on accommodations, as well as to those who conduct the research. See Technical Report 26.

Effects of a Reading Accommodation on the Validity of a Reading Test (December, 2000). This study, which focused on a reading comprehension test, found a moderate positive effect for students with disabilities, but not for students in the general population. Further, students in special education preferred to take the test with the reading accommodation, while general education students preferred the test without it. See Technical Report 28.

Accountability Systems and Counting Students with Disabilities (December, 2000). This Web-based study of the accountability systems in those states with high stakes system consequences revealed that most states are unclear, at least on their Web sites, about the specifics of their accountability formula, and even more so about how students with disabilities are included in accountability systems. Several states still specifically exclude students with disabilities from their accountability systems. See Technical Report 29.

Alternate Assessment Forum: Connecting into a Whole (January, 2001). This on-line only report presents the proceedings of the 2000 Alternate Assessment pre-conference session to the Large-Scale Assessment Conference. With 39 states plus America Samoa and the Bureau of Indian Affairs represented, the report highlights critical issues and strategies to address them. It also provides a summary of the current status of each state’s alternate assessment.

NCEO’s Current Activities

Some of NCEO’s current activities are:

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