Assessment/Accountability
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Why It's Important to Include Students with Disabilities in MCAS

Students with disabilities have been included in statewide MCAS testing in Massachusetts since 1998, for the following reasons:

• Because it's the law. Federal laws governing Title I, Goals 2000, and Special Education all require participation by virtually all students in statewide assessments. In Massachusetts, the state's Education Reform Act of 1993 also requires that students with disabilities be assessed by MCAS. IDEA-97, the federal special education law, provides students with disabilities the right to participate in the "general curriculum."
• Students who are tested are those who get taught. When students with disabilities are tested, and when their results are counted in the total of a school or district, they are more likely to receive their share of the resources and support provided to other students to improve their performance on these tests in the future. When students with disabilities are excluded from testing, or when their scores don't count, they are less likely to be considered when decisions are made that affect all students.
• Data on student performance is necessary to determine whether, and to what degree, students are learning. Information is scant or non-existent on whether or not, and how much, students with disabilities have learned during their time in public education. Diagnostic assessments, progress reports, annual reviews, and periodic evaluations typically focus on areas of a student's disability, and the learning needs resulting from their disability, rather than on the progress he or she is making academically. As a result, it has been difficult to determine whether special education has been successful in addressing the learning needs of the student, and to compare outcomes among students and across programs, schools, and districts.
• Inclusion in statewide assessment promotes other inclusive opportunities as well. In order to involve students with disabilities in the same curriculum provided to other students, it makes sense to design inclusive instructional activities in the general education setting whenever possible in which all students can participate at their own level of learning. Even students with the most significant disabilities can practice and learn targeted skills within the context of academic instruction in integrated settings.
• Learning improves as a result. Evidence indicates that students learn more when they are given the opportunity to participate in statewide assessments, and when they receive support targeted for this purpose. When assessment results were tracked for a specific group of students with disabilities over several years, data strongly suggests their scores on these assessments improved (National Center for Educational Outcomes, 1999).
• When professional development is enhanced, the quality of instruction improves. Special educators are already skilled at modifying and adapting curriculum for their students. Typically, though, they have not been part of discussions at the local level to develop, align, and improve instruction for all students. The requirement to include students with disabilities in the general curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum given to other students), as well as the new state IEP form requiring Teams to identify academic goals and objectives, have resulted in increased awareness of the state's Curriculum Frameworks by special educators. Recent statewide training on the new MCAS Alternate Assessment has provided educators with an understanding of how to link instruction for students with significant disabilities to state learning standards, and with guidance on documenting student performance through creation of alternate assessment portfolios. Participation in these and other activities greatly enhances educators' capacity to provide more challenging instruction based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to students with disabilities.