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Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID)
Special Education and Vocational Rehabilitation Services

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September 2005

TO:	Superintendents of Public Schools
	District Superintendents
FROM:	Rebecca H. Cort
	Deputy Commissioner for Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities
	James A. Kadamus
	Deputy Commissioner for Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education
SUBJECT:	Registration of Students for the 2005–06 New York State Alternate   Assessment (NYSAA) by October 31, 2005

            By October 31, 2005, school district administrators are required to identify and register with their Regional Information Center (RIC)/Big City Scan Centers all students with severe cognitive disabilities for whom their Committees on Special Education (CSEs) have determined that the 2005–06 New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA) is the appropriate State assessment for the student to participate in as required by federal and State law.  This includes all age eligible students with severe cognitive disabilities enrolled in the school district, including those placed by CSEs in district, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), private school, State-operated or State-supported school or attending a Charter or approved private school.  The Superintendent must provide directions for administering the assessment to each of these programs where CSEs have placed one or more students identified to participate in NYSAA. 

Eligibility Requirements for NYSAA

State and federal laws require that all students at specified grade levels, including students with severe disabilities, participate in State assessments.  To comply with these laws, New York State provides NYSAA for students with severe disabilities, as defined in section 100.1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The CSE determines whether or not a student with a disability is eligible to take NYSAA based on the following criteria: 

1.    The student must have a severe cognitive disability, significant deficits in communication/language, or significant deficits in adaptive behavior; and

2.    The student must require a highly specialized educational program that facilitates the acquisition, application, and transfer of skills across natural environments (home, school, community, and/or workplace); and

3.    The student must require educational support systems, such as assistive technology, personal care services, health/medical services, or behavioral intervention.

These criteria are outlined in the March 2001 memo from Lawrence C. Gloeckler entitled The State Alternate Assessment for Students with Severe Disabilities, which is available on the Web at http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/alterassess.htm.

District Responsibilities for NYSAA-Eligible Students

           Each school superintendent is responsible for ensuring that students with severe disabilities who are the responsibility of the district CSE and who are age eligible for NYSAA are tested this school year, regardless of whether they attend district schools or are placed out of district.  This includes students in public, approved private and Charter schools; State-operated schools; State-supported schools; and BOCES. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that schools test 95 percent of all students enrolled in district schools or out-of-district placements in the required grades in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, or at the required age for ungraded students, to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).  Therefore, it is important to test all students with severe disabilities in the specified age ranges.

New NYSAA Assessments and Age Ranges for Testing in 2005–06

 In the 2005–06 school year, NYSAA is being expanded to assess students in grades 3–8 and once in high school to align with NCLB.  Content areas assessed and datafolio evidence required will vary, depending on the student’s date of birth. NYSAA-eligible students with the birth dates indicated in the table below must be assessed in the content areas shown in the 2005–06 school year.

NYSAA Age Ranges for Testing in 2005–06

Registering NYSAA Students

            Districts outside of the Big 5 City School Districts must participate in BOCES regional scoring. Therefore, each district with one or more students eligible to take NYSAA in 2005–06 must register these students with their RIC. This includes all CSE placed students taking NYSAA.  Complete and accurate student registration lists are necessary to plan regional professional development and scoring at the end of the assessment period. Districts must provide their RIC with the information in the attached 2005–06 NYSAA Registration Student Demographic Information Table for each student who is the district’s reporting responsibility and is eligible to take NYSAA in 2005–06. Districts must coordinate with their RIC to determine the format in which the RIC requires this information to be provided. If districts have no students eligible for NYSAA this year, they must notify their RIC that they will not be receiving a list of NYSAA students from their district.

Be sure to use the correct Basic Education Data System (BEDS) codes for districts and service providers. If you need assistance in identifying a correct BEDS code, you can access the State Education Department Reference File (SEDREF) system at the following Web site: http://portal.nysed.gov/pls/pref/sed.sed_inst_qry_vw$.startup. The SEDREF system contains all BEDS codes recognizable by the State Education Department (SED).

 Using the demographic information sent by the district, RICs will produce student data labels, demographic data sheets and scannable score documents for each registered NYSAA student. RICs will send the data labels and demographic data sheets to districts prior to scoring. Some districts and RICs will be working with the NYSAA Score Site Coordinators (SSCs) during this registration process. Please contact your RIC or SSC to determine the process your region will be using.

 Districts outside of the Big 5 must send this student demographic information to their RIC by October 31, 2005. If a NYSAA student enters or leaves the district after October 31 or a student’s CSE determines that the student is eligible to take NYSAA after October 31, the district has until December 22, 2005 to add or delete students from the initial registration list. Additions or deletions to the list sent on October 31, 2005 must be the exception, not the rule.  Students identified as NYSAA eligible after December 22, 2005 must be reported to SED as NYSAA administrative errors and will not count as participants in NYSAA during the 2005–06 school year.

Timeline for 2005–06 Administration and Scoring of NYSAA and Return of Datafolios 

• The initial training of teachers on administering NYSAA will be in September and October 2005. Training and technical assistance will continue through February 10, 2006.

• The test administration period is October 3, 2005 through February 10, 2006.

• The completed datafolios of students placed outside the district must be returned to the district on or before February 17, 2006.  All datafolios must be received by the SSC by February 21, 2006. 

• Each student’s datafolio must be placed by the district in a 1½-inch, three-ring binder or other fastened folder, as the datafolio may include videotapes, audiotapes, photographs, and samples of student work.  Data labels produced by the RICs must be affixed to the datafolio binders with student demographic data sheets inserted in the binders before the district delivers the datafolios to the scoring centers.

• The attached “Not Tested” form must be duplicated and completed for each student who was registered, but for whom the district has a missing or incomplete datafolio. Completed “Not Tested” forms must be submitted with the student demographic data sheets to the scoring center.

• Datafolios must be sent by districts to the scoring center by February 21, 2006.

• Regardless of where the student is educated, all datafolios will be scored at the BOCES or Big 5 regional scoring center of the student’s district of residence between March 27, 2006 and May 5, 2006.  All scan documents will be scanned at the scanning center used by the district of residence.

• Large city districts not working with a RIC will establish timelines and procedures consistent with SED guidelines for scoring NYSAA datafolios and submitting data files to SED’s contractor.

• At the end of the scoring period, scored datafolios will be returned to the district of residence. School districts of residence are required to maintain the datafolios for one year.  During the required maintenance year, school districts of residence may share the students’ datafolios with the students’ parents, guardians, and service providers in accordance with federal and State confidentiality laws and regulation and locally established confidentiality requirements.

Reporting NYSAA Results         

            SED contractors will convert raw scores to performance levels and develop reports for schools and districts. More information about these processes and about reporting 2005–06 NYSAA results to SED will be available on the Information and Reporting Services Web site at www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts.

Federal Regulations Regarding the 1.0 Percent Cap on Proficient Scores

            Federal NCLB regulations limit the number of students in each district who can be counted as proficient using alternate standards to 1.0 percent of the district’s enrollment in each testing grade in ELA and mathematics. In New York State, this means that only 1.0 percent of student scores used to calculate the Performance Index (PI) in ELA or mathematics at a grade level (grades 3-8) or for a cohort (at the secondary level) for a district can be NYSAA Levels 3 or 4. If a district exceeds the cap, one or more student NYSAA score(s) of Level 3 or 4 must be reduced to Level 2 for accountability purposes only. (Individual student information that is reported to parents or included on the school report card must continue to reflect the student’s actual score.)  The federal regulations also allow school districts to apply each year for an exception to exceed the 1.0 percent limitation based on particular circumstances. The application to apply for an exception will be available on the Web at http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/timely.htm.  In view of these regulations, it is critical that students with disabilities be administered the test that is most appropriate to their abilities.

New NYSAA Requirements in 2005–06

            Changes in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 require that CSEs specify in the student’s individualized education program (IEP) why the student cannot participate in the general State assessment and why NYSAA is appropriate for the student.  An IEP written after July 1, 2005 that identifies the student as appropriate for NYSAA must address these requirements.

            Other changes in NYSAA for 2005–06 will be addressed in The New York State Alternate Assessment Teacher’s Guide (August 2005), in training materials now being disseminated, and in professional development sessions planned for the 2005–06 school year.  Updated information about NYSAA, including how results of NYSAA are included in NCLB accountability can be found on the SED Web site at http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/alterassessment/home.html.  

            If you have any questions with regard to NYSAA data collection and reporting, please contact Carolyn Bulson in Information and Reporting Services at (518) 474-7965. If you have any other questions with regard to NYSAA, please contact Cynthia Wilson in the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) at (518) 474-7566.

Attachments

2005-06 NYSAA "Not Tested" Form

2005-06 NYSAA Registration Student Demographic Information Table

c:     District Superintendents                                       

        Regional Information Center Coordinators

        Big City Scan Centers

        Directors of Special Education

        Pupil Personnel Directors

        Committee on Special Education Chairpersons

        Directors of Approved Private Schools

        Superintendents of State Operated and State Supported Schools

        NYSAA Advisory Committee

        NYSAA Score Site Coordinators

        NYSAA Training Specialists

        NYSAA Regional Lead Trainers

        SETRC Project Directors and Professional Development Specialists