The Relationship between Student Placement and AA-AAAS Participation Rates - NCEO Report 439 - Executive Summary

Oct 15, 2026

The report examines how states’ student placement patterns relate to participation in alternate assessment aligned with alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). Using 2018–19 EdFacts and OSEP data for AA-AAAS participation and IDEA-required placement submission data, the study computes more restrictive environments by aggregating multiple placement categories. Findings show higher restrictive-placement shares associate with higher AA-AAAS participation in mathematics and reading, indicating correlation, not causation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Study purpose and data sources

Correlation findings and interpretation

Limitation and implications

The Relationship between Student Placement and AA-AAAS Participation Rates NCEO Report 439 NCEO Report 439 The Relationship between Student Placement and AA-AAAS Participation Rates Sheryl S. Lazarus and Mari Quanbeck June 2023 All rights reserved. Any or all portions ofthis document may be reproduced and distributed without prior permission, provided the source is cited as: Lazarus, S. S., & Quanbeck, M. (2023) . The relationship between student placement and AA-AAAS participation rates (NCEO Report 439) . National Center on Educational Outcomes. This report is an updated version of the following paper: Lazarus, S. S., & Quanbeck, M. (2023) . The relationship between student placement and AA-AAAS participation rates. National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 12-15. The Center is supported through a Cooperative Agreement (\#H326G210002) with the Research to Practice Division, Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Consistent with EDGAR §75.62, the contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government. Project Officer: David Egnor In collaboration with: NCEO Core Staff Sheryl S. Lazarus, Director Jessica Bowman Kascinda Fleming Gail Ghere Linda Goldstone Andrew R. Hinkle Kristi K. Liu Charity Funfe Tatah Mentan Michael L. Moore Darrell Peterson Mari Quanbeck Virginia A. Ressa Christopher M. Rogers Jennifer Sommerness Kathy Strunk Martha L. Thurlow Yi-Chen Wu National Center on Educational Outcomes University of Minnesota 2025 East River Parkway, Room 1-330 • Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone 612/626-1530 [http://www.nceo.info](http://www.nceo.info) The University of Minnesota shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. This document is available in alternative formats upon request. ~~Executive Summary ~~ The alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) is designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), placed a 1% cap for states on student participation in the AA-AAAS. This meant that states, districts, and individualized education program (IEP) teams needed to carefully consider which students should be included in these assessments. When ESSA was enacted, about two-thirds ofthe states had more than 1% of their students in the AA-AAAS (Thurlow & Wu, 2018) . In recent years, states have made substantive progress in reducing participation rates (Wu et al., 2023) through efforts such as revising participation guidelines and accessibility policies, providing professional development on making participation decisions, and monitoring participation decisions. Students who were easily recognized as being inappropriately in the AA-AAAS were transitioned to the general assessment, but many states are still above the 1% cap and continue to struggle to reduce participation rates. This report presents the findings of a study that looked at the relationship between states’percentage of students participating in the AA-AAAS and the percentage of students in more restrictive learning environments. Pearson correlations were conducted to determine the nature of relationships. Data used in this analysis were for 2018-

FAQs

What question does the report investigate?

The report investigates the relationship between each state’s percentage of students participating in AA-AAAS and the percentage of students in more restrictive learning environments.

Which data years and sources are used?

The analysis uses 2018–19 data. AA-AAAS participation percentages are calculated using EdFacts and OSEP data, and student placement data come from the 618 submissions required under IDEA compliance.

What does the study conclude about participation rates?

States with higher percentages of students in more restrictive environments tend to have higher AA-AAAS participation percentages in both mathematics and reading.

Does the report claim that placement causes AA-AAAS participation?

No. The report emphasizes that the results indicate correlation, not a causal relationship, and notes a limitation that placement data include all students with disabilities, not only AA-AAAS participants.

Oct 15, 2026

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