511 IAC 7-36-10 State and local assessments

Sec. 10. (a) For purposes of this section, "adaptive behavior" means the actions and behavior that are essential for someone to live independently and function safely in daily life. (b) A student with a disability must participate in all state and local assessment programs, including assessments described under Section 1111 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 6311, with appropriate accommodations and alternate assessments, if necessary, as indicated in a student's IEP. (c) The: (1) department of education; or (2) in the case of a district assessment, public agency; must, to the extent possible, use universal design principles in developing and administering assessments under this section. (d) Appropriate accommodations for the state assessment programs are: (1) set forth in the program manual issued each year by the department of education; and (2) accommodations that do not invalidate scores. (e) For district assessments, public agencies must develop guidelines for the provision of appropriate accommodations that do not invalidate scores. (f) The student's CCC must determine, in advance, whether the student will utilize any of the appropriate accommodations described in subsections (c) and (d) during state and district assessments and throughout the student's education program. If the student will utilize accommodations, the CCC must: (1) select testing accommodations the student needs in order for the assessment to reflect the student's academic achievement; (2) not select testing accommodations that will invalidate a student's score; and (3) document the testing accommodations in the student's IEP. (g) Nothing in this article prohibits the use of accommodations in classroom instruction that, if used for state and district assessments, would invalidate a student's score. (h) The CCC may determine that a student with the most significant cognitive disability will participate in an alternate statewide assessment program in lieu of participating in the general statewide assessment program if the CCC determines that the student: (1) has a disability that significantly impacts intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior; (2) requires extensive, repeated, individualized direct instruction and substantial support that is not of a temporary nature; and (3) requires substantially adapted materials and individualized methods of accessing information in alternative ways to achieve measurable gains on the state academic content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled. (i) The CCC's determination that a student with the most significant cognitive disability will participate in the alternate statewide assessment program: (1) must be based on a comprehensive understanding of the whole student, including a review of relevant educational considerations and data obtained through the IEP process; and (2) may not be based solely on: (A) the student's disability category or label; (B) the student's attendance; (C) the student's native language; (D) social, cultural, or economic differences; (E) how the student is expected to perform on statewide assessments; (F) the student's special education placement and services; (G) the student's emotional, behavioral, or physical challenges; (H) the student's English Language Learner status; or (I) the accommodations the student requires in order to participate in the assessment process. In making its determination, the CCC may not consider or base its determination on the extent to which the student's participation in a statewide assessment may impact a school's category or designation of school performance under IC 20-31-8. (j) Before a CCC can determine that a student will participate in an alternate assessment in lieu of the general assessment, the public agency must provide the CCC with a clear explanation of the differences between the assessments, including any effects of state or district policies on the student's education resulting from participation in an alternate assessment. (k) If the CCC determines that a student will participate in an alternate assessment, the public agency must ensure that the parent is informed that the student's performance will be measured against grade-level aligned alternate academic achievement standards.