Alternate Assessment: Early Highlights and Pitfalls of Reporting

Abstract

Alternate assessment scoring and reporting systems are emerging across states. This article highlights those of Delaware and Indiana. Delaware's alternate assessment portfolios are scored by two third parties using a multidimensional rubric. Scores are checked for agreement, and discrepancies are resolved. Delaware reports five dimension scores and a total portfolio score, aligned in format to the regular assessment reports. In Indiana, lead teachers use a rubric similar to that used in general education assessments to score alternate assessment electronic portfolios. The state is in the process of developing a common metric for domain and subdomain scores, which will allow alternate assessment scores to be reported with the same level of detail as general assessment scores. Although these states were selected for this report due to their preparedness in the area of reporting, both view their methods as still evolving and improving.

Alternate Achievement Standards and Assessments: A Descriptive Investigation of 16 States

“…Considerable variation exists among states in how alternate assessments are scored, although most states use rubrics that include both student achievement and system criteria to measure the conditions necessary for student success, such as prompting (Bechard, 2001;Burdette, 2001;Kleinert & Kearns, 2004;Quenemoen, Thompson, & Thurlow, 2003;. Some experts question the use of systemprovided prompts (Browder et al, 2003).…”

Portfolios in Large-Scale Alternate Assessment Systems: Frameworks for Reliability

“…Research into alternate assessments has focused primarily on implementing alternate assessments ; Thompson & Quenemoen, 2001) and the impact of assessment on instruction (Kampfer, Horvath, Kleinert, & Kearns, 2000; Kleinert & Keams, 1999; Kleinert, Kennedy, & Kearns, 1999). Some research is beginning to emerge on the scoring and reporting of assessment results (Bechard, 2001;Burdette, 2001), but a thorough analysis of the reliability of alternate assessments is noticeably absent from the assessment literature.…”

Alternate Assessment Scores and Life Outcomes for Students with Significant Disabilities: Are They Related?

“…The Instructional Impact of Alternate Assessments We are very much still in the initial development and implementation stage of alternate assessments (Burdette, 2001; Elliott, Ysseldyke, Thurlow, & Erickson, 1998). As a result, there are only a few states where we can study the instructional impact of alternate assessments, or the larger question of the relation between alternate assessment scores and broader indicators of student outcomes.…”