Suggestions for Aligning Alternate Achievement Standards with WIOA. NCEO Brief. Number 16

National Center on Educational Outcomes. University of Minnesota, 207 Pattee Hall, 150 Pillsburg Drive Southeast, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Tel: 612-626-1530; Fax: 612-624-0879; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/nceo

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National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (DHHS/ACL)
Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) (ED/OSERS), Research to Practice Division (RTP)

90RTCP00030100
H326G160001

Alternative Assessment; Academic Achievement; Academic Standards; Educational Legislation; Elementary Secondary Education; Federal Legislation; Labor Force Development; Labor Legislation; Alignment (Education); Students with Disabilities; Intellectual Disability; College Readiness; Career Readiness

Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Every Student Succeeds Act 2015; Workforce Investment Act 1998

Ensuring that all students achieve successful post-school outcomes has been a goal of U.S. education policy for many years. Clear statements and policy priorities emerged in the late 2000s about a goal for all students to leave high school ready for success in postsecondary education or employment (often referred to as college and career readiness). With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, states were required to coordinate educational services with the requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014. Although states had already begun this work by aligning their English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, and science standards with college and career readiness, there were questions about how to meet the requirements outlined in the ESSA assessment regulations for alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). States face peer reviews of their assessments; these require states to demonstrate that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who met the states' alternate academic achievement standards were on track to pursue postsecondary education or competitive integrated employment. This Brief provides information on alternate achievement standards and WIOA, then makes several suggestions about ways to show that a student who meets a state's alternate academic achievement standards is on track to pursue postsecondary education or competitive integrated employment. In addition, several recommendations are provided for states on how to build a strong system to support the realization of the intent of ESSA and WIOA requirements for their students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

ERIC

2019

ED595243