All students, including students with disabilities, by law, must be assessed. School districts can also mandate assessments of their own.
KPBSD’s scheduled assessments can be viewed at http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28030
Students with disabilities must participate in assessments as would their peers. Assessments must be given with the accommodations outlined in their IEP or 504 plan unless otherwise dictated by the individual assessment protocols.
Accommodations must be chosen with purpose by the IEP team and implemented throughout the school year during instruction. IEPs should not include all potential accommodations that might be used, but rather accommodations that the student needs. School staff should be able to provide data indicating the success or lack of success of each accommodation provided. The state of Alaska has published participation guidelines regarding state mandated assessments which can be found at: http://eed.state.ak.us/tls/assessment/
The alternate assessment is administered by qualified assessors to students with severe disabilities. Students must meet the eligibility criteria set by the state of Alaska. There is a checklist in the print section of the sped database that is required for documentation of eligibility.
Each school has an assessment coordinator who is trained and updated each year regarding testing procedures and protocols.