West Virginia Enhanced Assessment Instruments (2004-2006)

An Enhanced Assessment project was awarded to West Virginia, which will use as advisors the Council of Chief State School Officers' State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS) committee and Assessing Special Education Students (ASES), to which Measured Progress sends representatives. Project D.A.A.T.A. (Developing Alternate Assessment Technical Adequacy), is designed to support state efforts to prepare for and respond to the NCLB peer reviews.

The project focuses directly on alternate assessments as a part of state comprehensive assessment systems, including accommodations and modifications. At each ASES SCASS meeting from January 2005 to May 2006, Gerald Tindal and Patricia Almond from the University of Oregon, Behavioral Research and Teaching will facilitate discussions on one topic per meeting, addressing content validity, generalizability, reliability, criterion and predictive validity, and consequential validity.

The final products will include a handbook for states, exemplary instruments, and examples of reporting systems. These materials are to be disseminated through the DAATA Web site and via presentations by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), and the Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) at the annual Large-Scale Assessment Conference, and through the CCSSO publication process, so states have access to all DAATA products.