II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 516 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to permit 

alternate standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. MURPHY (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 to permit alternate standards and assessments 

for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. 

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 ‘‘Every Child Counts 

5 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)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

9 ‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided 

10 in subparagraph (G), the’’; and 

11 (ii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(G) ALTERNATE ACADEMIC ACHIEVE14 MENT STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS WITH THE

15 MOST SIGNIFICANT COGNITIVE DISABILITIES.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State may, 

17 through a documented and validated 

18 standards-setting process, adopt alternate 

19 academic achievement standards in any 

20 subject included in the State’s account21 ability system under paragraph (2) for stu22 dents with the most significant cognitive 

23 disabilities, if such alternate academic 

24 achievement standards— 

25 ‘‘(I) are aligned with the State 

26 challenging academic content standVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S516.IS S516

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1 ards and challenging student aca2 demic achievement standards; 

3 ‘‘(II) provide access to the gen4 eral curriculum for the grade in which 

5 the student is enrolled; 

6 ‘‘(III) are vertically aligned to 

7 ensure that a student who achieves at 

8 the on-target or advanced level under 

9 subclause (VI) signifies that the stu10 dent is on track to access a postsec11 ondary education or achieve competi12 tive integrated employment, as defined 

13 under section 3 of the Workforce In14 novation and Opportunity Act (Public 

15 Law 113–128; 128 Stat. 1425); 

16 ‘‘(IV) are supported by evidence17 based learning progressions to age 

18 and grade-level performance; 

19 ‘‘(V) are designated in the indi20 vidualized education program devel21 oped under section 614(d)(3) of the 

22 Individuals with Disabilities Edu23 cation Act for each such student as 

24 the academic achievement standard 

25 that will be used for the student; and 


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1 ‘‘(VI) establish, at a minimum— 

2 ‘‘(aa) 2 levels of high 

3 achievement (on-target and ad4 vanced) that indicate that a stu5 dent with the most significant 

6 cognitive disabilities meets or ex7 ceeds the State’s proficient level 

8 of academic achievement under 

9 paragraph (2)(L) as measured by 

10 performance on alternate assess11 ments under paragraph (3)(E); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(bb) a third level of 

14 achievement (catch-up) that pro15 vides information about the 

16 progress of a student with the 

17 most significant cognitive disabil18 ities toward meeting the State’s 

19 proficient level of academic 

20 achievement under paragraph 

21 (2)(L) as measured by perform22 ance on alternate assessments 

23 under paragraph (3)(E). 

24 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON ANY OTHER AL25 TERNATE OR MODIFIED STANDARDS.—A 


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1 State shall not develop, or implement for 

2 use, under this part any alternate or modi3 fied academic achievement standards for 

4 students who are children with disabilities 

5 that are not alternate academic achieve6 ment standards that meet the require7 ments of clause (i).’’; 

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

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(L) STUDENTS WITH THE MOST SIGNIFI11 CANT COGNITIVE DISABILITIES.—In deter12 mining the percentage of students meeting or 

13 exceeding the State’s proficient level of aca14 demic achievement on the State assessments, a 

15 State educational agency may include, for all 

16 schools in the State, the performance of the 

17 State’s students with the most significant cog18 nitive disabilities on alternate assessments as 

19 described in paragraph (3)(E) in the subjects 

20 included in the State’s accountability system, 

21 consistent with the 1 percent limitation of para22 graph (3)(E)(i).’’; 

23 (C) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(E) ALTERNATE ASSESSMENTS FOR STU2 DENTS WITH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT COG3 NITIVE DISABILITIES.—A State may provide al4 ternate assessments that are aligned with alter5 nate academic achievement standards described 

6 in paragraph (1)(G) for students with the most 

7 significant cognitive disabilities, if the State— 

8 ‘‘(i) ensures that for each subject, the 

9 total number of students in each grade 

10 level assessed in such subject using the al11 ternate assessments does not exceed 1 per12 cent of the total number of all students in 

13 such grade level in the State who are as14 sessed in such subject; 

15 ‘‘(ii) certifies, consistent with section 

16 612(a)(16)(A) of the Individuals with Dis17 abilities Education Act, that the State’s 

18 regular academic assessments are univer19 sally designed to be accessible to students, 

20 including students with sensory, physical, 

21 and intellectual disabilities, through the 

22 provision of accommodations that produce 

23 valid results; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ensures that such alternate as2 sessments are peer reviewed and based on 

3 the best available evidence.’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (h)(1)(C)— 

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

6 the semicolon; 

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

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

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

10 ‘‘(ix) the number and percentage of 

11 students with disabilities who take an al12 ternate assessment under subsection 

13 (b)(3)(E), by grade, subject, and type of 

14 disability, as outlined in section 602(3) of 

15 the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

16 Act.’’. 

Æ 


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