Can Assessment Drive Instruction? Understanding the Impact of One State's Alternate Assessment

Abstract

Connecticut's Skills Checklist was developed in response to federal policy that requires all students with significant cognitive disabilities participate in state assessments and be included in measures of adequate yearly progress. Test developers had high expectations for this assessment. In addition to its function as an accountability measure, the assessment was designed to change the nature of classroom instruction for this population. In this study, special education teachers in Grades 4, 6, and 10 completed a survey of their instructional practices after submitting accountability data. Combined survey and accountability data indicated that teachers did not instruct students on the breadth of content included on the Skills Checklist. Study data suggest patterns of academic content that are accessible not only for this population of students but for their teachers as well. Moreover, findings from this study have profound implications on the validity of the assessment data.