In the meantime, the new rule has been forwarded to the Attorney General s office for certification. Draft guidelines for testing Limited English Proficient students and students with disabilities were presented to the Board for consideration and potential action at the October meeting. Limited English Proficient Students have the legal right to be included in accountability systems and to be part of the basis for policy decisions that affect them. If the goal of Arizona s statewide assessment system is to describe the status of students knowledge, then it is critical that the performance of all students be included. To achieve this goal, a system of reasonable adaptations or accommodations is under consideration.
Accommodations are provisions made in how a student accesses and demonstrates learning.
Modifications are substantial changes in what a student is expected to learn and to demonstrate. The governing board of a school district shall not exempt pupils who are LEP from the AIMS test. However, at the board s option, LEP students may be provided certain adaptations during the administration of the AIMS test. These adaptations are available to students for a period not to exceed three consecutive school years, upon enrollment in an Arizona school district starting at grade two or above. LEP students eligible for adaptations may be allowed the use of a translation dictionary.