II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 528 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in order 

to improve the requirements regarding alternate standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 in order to improve the requirements regarding 

alternate standards and assessments for students with 

the most significant cognitive disabilities, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empowering Parents 

5 and Students Through Information Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ALTERNATE STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS FOR 

2 STUDENTS WITH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT 

3 COGNITIVE DISABILITIES. 

4 Section 1111 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(G) STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR ALTER10 NATE ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS.—Notwith11 standing subparagraph (B), in the case of any 

12 State that elects to use alternate academic 

13 achievement standards in any subject included 

14 in the State’s accountability system under para15 graph (2) for students with the most significant 

16 cognitive disabilities, in accordance with section 

17 612(a)(16) of the Individuals with Disabilities 

18 Education Act and sections 200.1(d) and 

19 200.6(a)(2) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula20 tions, or any successor regulation, the State 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) establish and monitor implemen23 tation of clear and appropriate guidelines 

24 for individualized education program teams 

25 (as defined in section 614(d)(1)(B) of the 

26 Individuals with Disabilities Education 


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1 Act) to apply in determining, on an annual 

2 and subject-by-subject basis, when a child’s 

3 significant cognitive disability justifies as4 sessment based on alternate academic 

5 achievement standards; 

6 ‘‘(ii) ensure that parents of the stu7 dents whom the State plans to assess using 

8 alternate assessments— 

9 ‘‘(I) are involved in the decision 

10 that their child’s academic achieve11 ment will be measured against alter12 nate academic achievement standards, 

13 consistent with section 

14 614(d)(1)(A)(i)(VI)(bb) of the Indi15 viduals with Disabilities Education 

16 Act; 

17 ‘‘(II) provide informed consent 

18 that their child’s achievement will be 

19 measured against alternate academic 

20 achievement standards using such as21 sessment; and 

22 ‘‘(III) are informed of any effect 

23 that participation in such assessment 

24 may have on their child’s academic 

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1 ular secondary school diploma, as de2 termined by the State; 

3 ‘‘(iii) provide evidence that students 

4 with the most significant cognitive disabil5 ities are included in and making progress 

6 in the general curriculum for the grade in 

7 which the students are enrolled and in as8 sessments aligned with that curriculum, as 

9 described in section 601(c)(5)(A) of the In10 dividuals with Disabilities Education Act; 

11 ‘‘(iv) develop, disseminate information 

12 about, make available, and promote the use 

13 of reasonable accommodations to increase 

14 the number of students with the most sig15 nificant cognitive disabilities participating 

16 in grade-level academic instruction and as17 sessments aligned with grade-level aca18 demic standards, and promote the use of 

19 reasonable accommodations to increase the 

20 number of students with the most signifi21 cant cognitive disabilities who are tested 

22 against grade-level academic achievement 

23 standards; 

24 ‘‘(v) take steps to ensure general and 

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1 priate staff know how to administer assess2 ments, including how to make appropriate 

3 use of accommodations, for students with 

4 disabilities; 

5 ‘‘(vi) require separate annual deter6 minations about whether a student should 

7 be assessed using an alternate assessment 

8 based on alternate academic achievement 

9 standards for each subject assessed; and 

10 ‘‘(vii) ensure that students who take 

11 an alternate assessment based on alternate 

12 academic achievement standards are not 

13 precluded from attempting to complete the 

14 requirements for a regular secondary 

15 school diploma, as determined by the 

16 State.’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(L) NO INCLUSION OF IEPS.—A State 

20 shall not use any student individualized edu21 cation program, as defined in section 602(14) 

22 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

23 Act, in the State accountability system.’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (h)(1)(C)— 


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1 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘disability 

2 status’’ and inserting ‘‘disability category de3 scribed in section 602(3) of the Individuals with 

4 Disabilities Education Act’’; 

5 (B) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

6 the semicolon; 

7 (C) in clause (viii), by striking the period 

8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(ix) the number and percentage of 

11 students with disabilities who take an al12 ternate assessment based on alternate 

13 achievement standards, by grade and sub14 ject, and, for each grade and subject, by 

15 disability category described in section 

16 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities 

17 Education Act, except that disaggregation 

18 shall not be required in a case in which the 

19 number of students in a category is insuffi20 cient to yield statistically reliable informa21 tion or the results would reveal personally 

22 identifiable information about an individual 

23 student.’’. 

Æ 


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