An Analysis of Changes in State Guidelines for Assigning Students With Disabilities to the Alternate Assessment

The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act placed a 1.0% cap on the participation of students with disabilities in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). U.S. Department of Education regulations clarified that states must develop participation guidelines and a definition of students with the “most significant cognitive disabilities.” States have developed and refined their guidelines and definitions in the years since these regulations. We present an overview of how participation guidelines and definitions have changed by comparing the results of three analyses of states’ materials related to AA-AAAS participation. We highlight key changes and similarities in participation guidelines across analyses and conclude with a discussion of why changes may have occurred.