PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual: Guidance for Districts and Decision-Making Teams to Ensure that PARCC Mid-Year, Performance-Based, and End-of-Year Assessments Produce Valid Results for All Students. Second Edition
Author: Bowman, Trinell
Date: 2013-11-12
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Testing Accommodations,Disabilities,English Language Learners,College Readiness,Career Readiness,Educational Assessment,Student Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,Performance Based Assessment,Mathematics Tests,Language Tests,Reading Tests,Computer Assisted Testing,Access to Education,Academic Standards,State Standards,Decision Making,Elementary Secondary Education

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) member states regard assessments as tools for enhancing teaching and learning, and are committed to providing all students, including but not limited to, students with disabilities, English learners, English learners with disabilities, and underserved populations with equitable access to high-quality, twenty-first century assessments. By applying principles of universal design, leveraging technology, embedding accessibility features, and allowing a broad range of accommodations, PARCC intends to provide opportunities for the widest possible number of students to demonstrate knowledge and skills while maintaining high expectations for all students to achieve the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Developed by the PARCC states, the first edition of the &quot;PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual&quot; was created to ensure that: (1) Participation in the assessments is consistent across PARCC states for students with disabilities and English learners; (2) Appropriate tools are used by all students to address their individual learning needs, and accommodations are provided to eligible students (including students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities); and (3) Accommodations and features used on PARCC assessments are generally consistent with those used in daily instruction. The Manual is a comprehensive policy document that provides guidance to districts and decision-making teams to ensure that the PARCC Mid-Year, Performance-Based, and End-of-Year Assessments provide valid results for all participating students. This is the second edition of the &quot;PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual&quot; (fall 2013). The Manual will undergo a number of iterations, as data on student performance is collected during PARCC item development research (being conducted this spring and summer), field testing in spring 2014, and the first operational year of administration in school year 2014-2015. This iterative process will ensure that the accommodations students receive on PARCC assessments provide a valid reflection of what they know and can do and do not alter the construct of what is being assessed. Appendices include: (1) Accessibility Features and Accommodations for Students Taking the Paper-and-Pencil PARCC Assessments; (2) Test Administration Protocol for the Read-Aloud Accommodation for English Language Arts/Literacy Assessments and Accessibility Feature for Mathematics Assessments; (3) Protocol for the Use of the Scribe Accommodation; (4) Text-to-Speech, Human Reader, or Interpreter Accommodation Guidance for English Language Arts/Literacy Assessments; (5) Guidance for Selecting and Administering the Extended Time Accommodation; (6) Unique Accommodation Request Form; (7) Use of an Emergency Accommodation on a PARCC Assessment; (8) Student Accommodation Refusal Form; (9) Audio and Human Reader Guidelines for the ELA/Literacy Assessments; (10) Audio and Human Reader Guidelines for the Mathematics Assessments; and (11) Legal Background. [This manual was the result of two years of work among states, Achieve staff and outside technical assistance. The manual was based on &quot;Accommodations manual: How to select, administer, and evaluate the use of accommodations for instruction and assessment of students with disabilities&quot; written by Carver Christiansen, J. VaDeZande, and S. Lazurus. This work was sponsored by the Assessing Special Education Students State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards through the Council of Chief State School Officers. Note: Appendices are not included in this document.]