Graduation Exam Participation and Performance of English Language Learners with Disabilities, 1999-2000. ELLs with Disabilities Report 2

One of the central themes in the standards-based education movement continues to be the importance of clear and detailed system accountability data showing how students from special needs groups perform on statewide accountability assessments (Albus, Thurlow & Liu, 2002; National Research Council, 1997; Thurlow & Liu, 2001). Armed with such data, states, districts and schools can begin to examine ways that current instructional policies and practices might be improved for students in a particular group. This report represents one of a series of reports providing an in depth look at the participation and performance of English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities on assessments in one state's accountability system. The series includes reports such as this one that examine data from the 1999-2000 school year, just prior to the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. Other reports include data for subsequent years (see Albus, Barrera, Thurlow, Guven, & Shyyan, 2004), allowing for the possible observation of NCLB on participation and performance patterns. This report specifically addresses a statewide test of basic skills that is used both as a measure of system accountability and as a high stakes test for graduation. Albus, Thurlow, Barrera, Guven, & Shyyan (2004) examine a high standards assessment given at the elementary school level during the same school year.