In March 2010, the National Assessment Governing Board—working with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—adopted a new policy to maximize the participation of students with disabilities (SD) and/or are English language learners (ELL). Accommodations in the testing environment or administration procedures are available for SD and ELL students. Some accommodations are actually built-in features—or Universal Design Elements--of the digitally based assessments that are available to all students. Other accommodations are available upon request. Every jurisdiction decides what accommodations the students in that jurisdiction are eligible to receive.
Today, NCES continues to explore ways to ensure consistent, inclusive assessment and reporting across all jurisdictions and student populations.
Measuring Status and Change in NAEP Inclusion Rates of Students with Disabilities-Results 2007-2009 is part of a series of reports to develop a methodology for measuring state inclusion rates of SDs. The methodology takes into account the differing demographics and inclusion policies in each state. This study provides an update of that research and methodology using data from the 2009 NAEP assessments.
Read about the methodology used in the 2009 inclusion study.Learn More
See the percentages of public school students in the nation and the states with disabilities who were identified and assessed by NAEP in mathematics and reading from 2005-2009.Learn More
Some SD and ELL students can be assessed without special procedures. Some require accommodations to participate in NAEP, while others may not be able to participate even with accommodation. The percentage of SD and ELL students who are excluded from NAEP assessments varies both from one jurisdiction to another and within a jurisdiction over time. Explore accommodation rates and exclusion rates from recent NAEP assessments.
Have a question about inclusion studies? Check out the questions most frequently submitted, or download a PDF for printing.
Several statistical scenarios have been proposed, based on different assumptions, about how excluded students might have performed on an assessment.Learn More