La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § XCVII-505

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 8, August 20, 2024

Section XCVII-505 - Alternate Assessment Participation Criteria

A. Grade 3-11 Alternate Assessment includes LEAP Connect and ELPT Connect. To be eligible to participate in the alternate assessment, the IEP team must verify the student in grades 3-11 meets the criteria listed in this subsection.

1. For students entering a high school cohort on or before the 2019-2020 school year, the student has a disability that significantly impacts cognitive function and/or adaptive behavior. This may be demonstrated in the following ways.

a. For students who have not completed the fifth grade, an eligible student is functioning three or more standard deviations below the mean in cognitive functioning and/or adaptive behavior.

b. For students who have completed fifth grade, an eligible student is functioning 2.3 or more standard deviations below the mean in cognitive functioning and/or adaptive behavior.

c. Students who have completed the fifth grade functioning between 2.0 and 2.29 or more standard deviations below the mean in cognitive functioning and/or adaptive behavior may be eligible for alternate assessment participation if the IEP team provides additional empirical evidence an alternate assessment identification is appropriate for the student.

2. For students entering a high school cohort during the 2020-2021 school year and beyond, the student has a disability that significantly impacts cognitive function. This may be demonstrated in the following ways.

a. For students who have not completed the fifth grade, an eligible student is functioning three or more standard deviations below the mean in cognitive functioning.

b. For students who have completed fifth grade, an eligible student is functioning 2.3 or more standard deviations below the mean in cognitive functioning.

c. Students who have completed the fifth grade functioning between 2.0 and 2.29 or more standard deviations below the mean in cognitive functioning and with deficits in adaptive behavior may be eligible for alternate assessment participation if the IEP team provides additional empirical evidence an alternate assessment identification is appropriate for the student.

3. The student requires direct individualized instruction and substantial supports to achieve measurable gains on the challenging state academic content standards for the grade in which the student is enrolled.

4. The decision to include the student in an alternate assessment is not solely based on the following:

a. student's educational placement;

b. excessive or extended absences;

c. disruptive behavior;

d. English language proficiency;

e. student's reading or academic level;

f. student's disability according to Bulletin 1508, unless the disability excludes the student from having a significant cognitive disability including emotional disturbance, significant learning disability (SLD), or speech/language impairment;

g. social, cultural, and/or economic differences;

h. anticipated impact on school performance scores;

i. administrative decision;

j. expectation that the student will not perform well on the LEAP 2025 or other statewide assessments; or

k. the students previous need for accommodation(s) to participate in general state or district-wide assessments.

B. K-2 Alternate Assessment Eligibility. Participation in the K-2 Alternate Assessment, including ELPT Connect, requires that students participate in annual screeners. The IEP team must annually determine eligibility, using qualitative and quantitative data, where available. The K-2 Alternate Assessment Participation Decision-Making Tool will identify student eligibility to participate in an alternate assessment if:

1. the student has a significant cognitive disability or multiple disabilities that significantly impact cognitive and adaptive functioning:

a. if the current evaluation of the student has a fullscale cognitive score, the existing cognitive score indicates cognitive functioning three or more standard deviations below the mean;

b. the K-2 Alternate Assessment Participation Decision-Making Tool column four indicates adaptive skill deficits in all three domains of conceptual, social, and practical that are characteristic of a most significant cognitive disability:

i. conceptual domain. Student requires significantly modified curriculum and instructions, is unable to clearly express wants and needs, experiences significant delays in receptive skills, and needs maximum assistance to communicate;

ii. social domain. Student often uses behaviors to communicate, may be nonverbal, may have limited communication skills in terms of vocabulary, and may use symbolic communication;

iii. practical domain. Student requires significant support and direct instruction across all activities of daily living and personal and health needs and is likely dependent upon others for these needs;

2. the student IEP goals and instruction are linked to Louisiana state content standards supported by the Connector Standards;

3. the student requires extensive, repeated, direct, individualized instruction and substantial support to achieve measurable gains in the grade level and age-appropriate curriculum:

a. supports are not temporary or transient in nature;

b. substantially adapted materials and individualized methods of accessing information in alternative ways are required;

4. LAC 28:XCVII.505.A.4 shall also apply to alternate assessment eligibility decisions for K-2 students.

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § XCVII-505

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 35:2343 (November 2009), amended LR 37:886 (March 2011), Amended byLR 41535 (3/1/2015), Amended, LR 45527 (4/1/2019), Amended LR 451463 (10/1/2019), Amended LR 4941 (1/1/2023)

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:1941 et seq.