One Percent Rule: Student Participation in Alternate Assessment

RIDE Seeks Public Comment on Waiver Submission for Alternate Assessment

Rhode Island is seeking a waiver in response to the ESSA provision requiring that states not exceed 1% of students assessed using the alternate assessments. During the 2017-18 school year, Rhode Island assessed 996 (1.3%) students using the alternate assessments in English language arts and 997 (1.3%) students in mathematics. Obtaining a waiver to exceed the one percent threshold required by ESSA allows Rhode Island to work with LEAs to ensure that students are being identified appropriately. The waiver being submitted is available for public comment, and is posted below along with an FAQ. Additional information on the One Percent Rule can be found using the tabs on this page. Please provide feedback on our request for this waiver by completing the Publick Comment Survey below.

• RI Waiver for 2018-19 (PDF)
• FAQ (PDF)
• Public Comment Survey. If the link doesn't work, copy and pase this URL into your browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/One_Percent

 

Understand ESSA and the One Percent Rule

The November 19, 2018, webinar reviewed the ESSA requirements regarding the One Percent Rule. State participation of students on the alternate assessment may not exceed 1% of the tested students on all assessments within each subject area. Based on Spring 2018 state assessment data Rhode Island anticipates that the state will exceed the 1% cap on the spring 2019 state assessments. States exceeding the 1% cap may submit a request for a waiver from the US Department of Education, however states must also develop a plan to work with LEAs to meet the 1% cap. As part of this process, any LEA exceeding 1% participation in any subject must submit an action plan RIDE.

• View the presentation (PPTX)
• IEP Team Guidance on Eligibility for the Alternate Assessment (PDF)
• Documentation Form

LEA Assessment Rates: 2017-18

States are required to calculate the percentage of students who were assessed using the alternate assessments (DLM), by LEA, for each tested content area and grade level. Please note that 

• LEA Assessment Rates for English Language Arts (PDF)
• LEA Assessment Rates for Mathematics (PDF)

NOTES:

• Science is not included because the 2017-18 school year was a field test year for the new general education science assessment. It will be included in the 2018-19 calculations.
• The formula for the calculations can be found in the presentation "One Percent Rule: 2018-19"
• To find out which students are included in your LEA's cacluations, you will need the testing rosters for each assessment: DLM, RICAS, and SAT. 
  • Student rosters are available through the Rhode Island Assessment Data Portal (ridemap.ride.ri.gov/default.aspx). 
• Any students assessed in outplacement schools were used in your LEA's calculations.
• No student scores or achievement data were included in the calculations.

LEA Assurances Form

As part of the process of creating a state waiver and an LEA action plan, any LEA exceeding 1% participation in any subject must submit an action plan to RIDE. If your LEA has exceeded the 1% cap for students being assessed using the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) alternate assessments in English language arts and/or mathematics, then you must sign and return the form below. The LEA's superintendent and special education director must sign and return the form as part of the process for creating an action plan.

• LEA Assurances Form (PDF) ​NOTE: The date for returning the completed form has been extended to Wednesday, December 12, 2018.

All LEAs over the one percent threshold are required to complete and submit an Action Plan using the template below. Action Plans are due to RIDE by February 28, 2019.

• LEA Action Plan (MS Word)

Ensuring Families are Informed

Part of the ESSA and 1% requirement is for every LEA to ensure that families of students with disabilities who take alternate assessments be clearly informed of the following:

• Their child’s academic progress towards achievement of the content standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science will be measured using the Essential Elements.
• They understand the graduation options for their child. 
• They have been informed of any other implications, including any effects of local policies on the student’s education, resulting from taking an alternate assessment.

While these IEP team assurances have been included as part of the process for determining eligibility for the alternate assessments for many years, it is important that the Participation Criteria for Alternate Assessments Form, be signed each year by a member of the IEP Team to confirm that the necessary discussions with the families happened.

• 2019-20 IEP Team Guidance for Eligibility for the Alternate Assessments [PDF]
• 2019-20 Eligibility Criteria for Alternate Assessments Form [PDF]

All LEAs, not just ones who exceed the one percent threshold, will be expected to train IEP Teams annually on ESSA and the one percent rule, the eligibility criteria, and the IEP Team Assurances Form. In order to assist LEAs with this task, an annotated presentation and other training opportunities will be listed below. Registration information will be posted here and sent out through the Commissioner's Field Memo and other relevant listservs.

To ensure accurate registration for state assessments and projections of the percent of students who will be assessed using the alternate assessments for the 2018-19 school year, LEAs should take the following actions:

• Calculate percentage using LEA data. RIDE calculated the percentage of students assessed with the DLM alternate assessments using the data from our test vendors that includes students who participated in the state assessment program. LEAs should make their own calculations using their own enrollment data (from the Enrollment Census and the Special Education Census) in order to identify discrepancies. The webinar will explain how the one percent is determined so LEAs may replicate the calculations.
• Review student information system information being transmitted to the Enrollment Census for ALL grade levels to ensure that all enrolled students have accurate information and are correctly enrolled to your LEA, including students attending outplacement schools within and outside of Rhode Island.
• Review Special Education Census data to ensure the following number codes in the Assessment Accommodations section are correctly applied to all students:
  • 1 = without accommodation is only for students who will take RICAS, PSAT10, SAT, and NGSA.
  • 2 = with accommodations is only for students who will take RICAS, PSAT10, SAT, and NGSA with accommodations.
  • 3 = alternate assessment is only for students who will take DLM alternate assessments in ELA, mathematics, and science.
  • Grade level is accurate.