Implementation Considerations
IEP teams determine the curriculum and assessments (and whether or not accommodations are needed) students participate in. The IEP team determines if a student will take an alternate assessment on a particular statewide or district-wide assessment. 34 CFR § 300.320(a)(6)(ii); Wis. Stat. § 115.787(2)(e)2.
Form I-7-A is used only when an IEP team considers whether a student should participate in an alternate assessment because the student is instructed using the alternate standards (known in Wisconsin as the Wisconsin Essential Elements). Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), only students with the most significant cognitive disabilities (typically 1% of the statewide student population) should be instructed using alternate achievement standards and assessed using an alternate assessment. 34 CFR § 200.6(c)(2).
ESSA required each state to develop a definition of most significant cognitive disability. A student with the most significant cognitive disabilities may be assessed with an alternate assessment aligned with the challenging academic content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled and the alternate academic achievement standards. 34 CFR § 200.6(a)(2)(ii)(B). Wisconsin’s definition was developed through a stakeholder process and states in order to define a student having a most significant cognitive disability, the IEP team must review student records and determine:
- the student is typically characterized as functioning at least two and a half to three standard deviations below the mean in both adaptive behavior and cognitive functioning;
- the student performs substantially below grade level expectations on the academic content standards for the grade in which they are enrolled, even with the use of adaptions and accommodations; and
- the student requires extensive, direct, individualized instruction and substantial supports to achieve measurable gains, across all content areas and settings.
ESSA also requires districts to ensure that parents are clearly informed, as part of the IEP process, that they understand that their students’ academic achievement will be measured based on such alternate standards and how participation in such assessments may delay or otherwise affect the student from completing the requirements for a regular high school diploma. 34 CFR § 200.6(d)(3). It is critical that IEP teams are knowledgeable and parent(s) are informed about the long term implications for future educational opportunities in determining whether a particular student should be instructed using alternate achievement standards and assessed using alternate assessments.
Participation in the alternate assessment or alternate achievement standards must not be based solely on any of the 14 categories listed on the bottom of the form.
Directions for completing the Participation Guidelines for Alternate Assessment are included on the form. A student must meet all three participation criteria in order to be eligible to receive instruction based on alternate achievement standards and take an alternate assessment. In a given year, students must participate in either all general education assessments or all alternate assessments, not parts of both. Review our additional information about alternate assessment.