National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) is hosting part 3 of a teleconference series on a white paper commissioned by the New York Comprehensive Center in Collaboration with the New York State Education Department, Considerations for the Alternate Assessment based on Modified Achievement Standards (AA-MAS): Understanding the Eligible Population and Applying that Knowledge to their Instruction and Assessment on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 1:30pm-3:00pm CST. David Pugalee and Robert Rickelman (University of North Carolina-Charlotte), Catherine Welch and Stephen Dunbar (University of Iowa), and Marianne Perie (Center for Assessment) will present Section II: Test Design: Understanding Content and Achievement Standards and Incorporating Appropriate Item Modifications (Chapters 5-7 of the white paper). For more information about the presenters and the topics, see the executive summary. By Friday, March 26, 2010, a single representative from each state should e-mail Jason Altman at to register and to receive additional information on the call.
Posted on: Monday, March 22, 2010
Recent Information Requests Submitted to the NCRRC
Information Services provided reports in response to 2 Information Requests in February. The following list describes the requests, using the descriptor terms from the Matrix thesaurus as an organizing device. Attached is a list of the actual questions as well. Please contact Rebekah Rieke, Program Coordinator, at if you would like further information about any of these searches.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently published a report, entitled High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2007, by Emily Forrest Cataldi, Jennifer Laird, and Angelina KewalRamani. This document reports on high school dropout and completion rates from 1972 through 2007, and discusses the characteristics of high school dropouts and high school completers in 2007.
Posted on: Monday, March 22, 2010
Evaluating SPP/APR Improvement Activities
The RRC Program and NECTAC recently collaborated together to write Evaluating SPP/APR Improvement Activities. This document is focused on helping State Education Agency (SEA) staff, Lead Agency (LA) staff, and TA providers in creating a meaningful review of the State Performance Plan (SPP)/Annual Performance Review (APR) improvement activities. It provides 1) information about the relevance of evaluation in the context of improvement planning and strategic systems thinking; 2) guidance on selecting an appropriate design for evaluating different types of improvement activities and; 3) additional resources and tools that support the overall design, implementation and evaluation of the SPP which may serve as a State's blueprint for systems improvement.
Posted on: Friday, February 26, 2010
Recent Information Requests Submitted to the NCRRC
Information Services provided reports in response to 2 Information Requests in January. The following list describes the requests, using the descriptor terms from the Matrix thesaurus as an organizing device. Attached is a list of the actual questions as well. Please contact Rebekah Rieke, Program Coordinator, at if you would like further information about any of these searches.
Preschool children, gifted and talented
Monitoring, compliance, notification, processes
Posted on: Friday, February 26, 2010
Report on IDEA Part B Maintenance of Effort Reduction and Coordinated Early Intervening Services
TProject Forum has recently published Early Childhood Mental Health Services: Four State Case Studies by Kim Moherek Sopko, Ed.D. This document can be found at the Project Forum website here. Project Forum's aim is to facilitate improved services to children and youth with disabilities by gathering and sharing information that supports changes to policy and practice at the national, state, and local levels.
