State policies on assessment participation and accommodations for students with disabilities

State assessment systems continue to evolve as federal requirements change and more students are included in the assessment systems. An examination of states' participation and accommodations policies in place at the beginning of the accountability requirements set by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 revealed that policies for both participation and accommodations were becoming more specific in comparison to previous years. Additional participation options beyond the usual three (participation without accommodations, participation with accommodations, alternate assessment) were more evident in state policies, and states continued to increase the number of accommodations included in their policies. Some states allowed accommodations for all students regardless of whether they received special education services. The most controversial accommodations continued to be read aloud, calculator, and scribe. Changes in state policies, differences among current policies, and implications of these policies are discussed.