(Published January 2016) Useful to Parent Centers when working with parents and the rest of the IEP team to make sure that all the student’s needs are included in the IEP.

The new large-scale assessments rolled out by consortia and states are designed to measure student achievement of rigorous college- and career-ready (CCR) standards. Recent surveys of teachers in several states indicate that students with disabilities like many features of the new assessments, but that there also are challenges. Many of these challenges are related to instructional issues that need to be addressed to improve student outcomes.

The brief highlights four main challenges identified by the teachers, and then addresses the implications for instruction, the relationship to CCR standards, and the implications for TA providers. The four challenges highlighted are:

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Justification of Answers
  • Getting the research and essay done in one day

This Brief was prepared to provide information and suggestions for state education agencies(SEAs) and other technical assistance (TA)providers who work with local education agencies(LEAs).

The brief can be accessed at http://www.cehd.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/LessonsLearnedAboutInstruction.pdf