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This study was inspired by the final regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) indicating that each state has the option to develop a new assessment for students whose disabilities have kept them from obtaining proficiency. Sets of high school science achievement items were enhanced for the new test. A 3-by-2, within subjects, experimental design was used with 400 participants from 3 states. Although items remained connected to grade-level content standards, in the enhanced condition they were easier for all groups. Changes in measurement precision were mixed for students in the group eligible for the new examination. Participants tended to report that individual enhancements made items easier, but that packages of enhancements did not affect the difficulty of items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Federal regulations have given states the option to implement alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS) as part of their accountability systems for a small group of students with disabilities, a number of states have made decisions about whether or not to develop and implement such an assessment. State-level directors of assessment and directors of special education were surveyed about their state's decisions on implementing AA-MAS. Improvements in accessibility and appropriateness were reasons given for choosing to implement an AA-MAS, whereas lack of resources and guidance were identified as barriers. This article presents the findings from a survey on 22 states' decisions concerning implementation of AA-MAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]