Assessment and Accommodation Issues Under the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act Information for IEP Teams

Including students with disabilities in the new standards and accountability systems is one of the key challenges facing school districts around the nation. In this article, the authors first address the evolving assessment and accommodations requirements of both the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA), with specific emphasis on the interrelationships between education curriculum standards, participation options, and accommodation decisions. Second, using findings from earlier studies, they discuss the decision-making practices of school personnel with regard to participation and accommodations practices for students with high-incidence disabilities who participate in state assessments with or without accommodations. Finally, they suggest areas for future research, including those that may arise with the emergence of alternate assessments based upon modified achievement standards and from the increased monitoring of accommodation decisions under both NCLB and IDEIA.