All students enrolled in a public school district, including students with disabilities and students who are English language learners (ELL), are expected to take part in Rhode Island’s statewide academic assessment program in one of the following ways:

1. Participate in the statewide New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) assessments without accommodations;
2. Participate in the statewide NECAP assessments with accommodations; or
3. Participate in the Rhode Island Alternate Assessment (RIAA), which is available only for students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) who meet specific criteria.

The only students exempted from testing would be those who are eligible for exemption/special consideration based on state-approved reasons or State-Approved Special Considerations (SASC), which fall within four broad areas:

I) Medical Reasons;
II) Personal Crisis;
III) Family Emergency; and
IV) RIAA qualified after RIAA enrollment window closes.

In all cases, the exemptions must be approved by the Director of Instruction, Assessment, and Curriculum at the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE).  All SASC requests, which must be submitted online via eRIDE by the superintendent’s office, will be acknowledged with an email receipt to the superintendent.  For requesting student exemption from state testing via the eRIDE system, please see this PDF: Guidance on How to Request Exemption from NECAP or RIAA via eRIDE.

Please refer to the “State-Approved Special Considerations for Statewide Assessments: Guidelines & Forms” document (available below and also on the eRIDE site) for details.

The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Instruction, Assessment, and Curriculum are pleased to provide you with our new, user-friendly, easy-to-use system that will assist you in submitting your requests for approval of student exemptions/special considerations from the NECAP and RIAA assessments.

To begin, please ensure that you have read the guidance document "State-Approved Special Considerations for Statewide Assessments: Guidelines & Forms" found (linked this page) here.  This document explains each state-approved special consideration/exemption in detail and outlines the conditions under which a student would and would not qualify for special consideration/exemption.  This document also explains when requests are due to RIDE and which forms must be completed to qualify for approval of each request.

Once you have read the guidance document and are familiar with the minimum requirements for each type of special consideration/exemption, you can initiate your request(s) by going to the eRIDE page, http://www.eride.ri.gov/SASC, and then clicking on the link to the “Student Information Needed to Request Exemption” page.  For requesting student exemption from state testing via the eRIDE system, please see this PDF: Guidance on How to Request Exemption from NECAP or RIAA via eRIDE.

Here you will need to input the student’s State-Assigned Student ID # (SASID).  Once the SASID has been validated, many of the fields will be populated automatically for you (be sure to verify that this information is correct).  You will need to select the reason for the exemption request (refer to the guidance document to ensure you select the appropriate one) as well as the assessment(s) from which you are requesting special consideration/exemption for the student.

PLEASE NOTE: 
Once you complete the requested information in eRIDE and submit it, you will need to do the following for EACH request:

1. Download and complete a hard copy of Form 1 - District Assurance Form
2. Ensure that the superintendent signs and dates Form 1
3. Fax a copy to RIDE at 401-222-3605, Attn: Dr. Kevon Tucker-Seeley

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Kevon Tucker-Seeley at 401-222-8494.