AASCD decision making tool

How a child with a disability accesses state assessment is an IEP team decision that must be based on data. While most children with disabilities can access the assessments without accommodations, some will need the support of allowable accommodations and a few (about 1% of the tested population) will need to participate using the Alternate Assessment for Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities (AASCD). Teams will need to review what accommodations the child needs in the instructional setting to be able to access and progress in the general curriculum and then use the Accessibility Manual to see which of those are allowable for state assessments. If AASCD is being considered by the team, they will need to use the AASCD Decision Making Tool to support their decision.

To guide and support individualized education program (IEP) teams in determining whether a student is most appropriately assessed with an alternate assessment, the Ohio Department of Education, in consultation with parents, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders, has developed a new Alternate Assessment Participation Decision-Making Tool. The new tool does not replace the existing alternate assessment decision-making framework.

The tool does however, clarify and set specific criteria that students must meet for each criteria in the framework. This tool is required. Moving forward, IEP teams must use the tool each time the team is considering participation in the alternate assessment. (Ohio Dept of Education)