Assessment Accommodations and Accessibility

Appropriate accommodations allow a student to demonstrate knowledge and skills without changing what the assessment is designed to measure. The IEP Team identifies individual supports, while the teacher and LEA test coordinator confirm that those supports are permitted for the specific Alabama assessment and correctly prepared before testing.

• [34 CFR §300.160(b), assessment accommodations https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/b/300.160 

• [34 CFR §300.320(a)(6)(i), IEP documentation of individual accommodations  https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.320 

• Alabama Administrative Code, Chapter 290-8-9

Use the student’s ordinary instructional and classroom-assessment experience to inform decisions. Review the current test-specific accessibility and accommodation guidance for ACAP Summative, ACAP Alternate, ACT with Writing, or another applicable assessment. An accommodation allowed in one setting or on one test may not be allowed on another. IDEA requires IEP Teams to select only accommodations that do not invalidate an assessment score.

Record necessary accommodations in the IEP with enough specificity for staff to implement them. Distinguish an assessment accommodation from an instructional modification that changes the content or performance expectation. If the student uses assistive technology, coordinate a pretesting compatibility check with the test coordinator; do not assume that a classroom device or software setting will work in a secure assessment environment.

Before testing, compare the IEP, test registration, and actual testing setup. Confirm who will prepare the supports, who will administer them, and how the student will access them. Follow the current administration manual if a documented support cannot be delivered as planned; do not independently substitute an unapproved support.

• Review the student’s current IEP and the current manual for each assessment.

• Confirm permitted supports and any advance configuration or approval required.

• Check assistive technology and accessibility settings with the test coordinator.

• Report discrepancies before test administration.

• Copying an accommodation into the IEP without checking test-specific rules

• Assuming a classroom support automatically transfers to a state assessment

• Discovering on test day that a required setting or device was not prepared

ALSDE Office of Student Assessment https://www.alabamaachieves.org/assessment/  current assessment and accessibility resources. Contact the LEA test coordinator for the applicable annual manual.