Making sense of the mandate for district-determined measures for students with disabilities: a descriptive single case study.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20209712

Educational responsibilities to students with disabilities (SWD) in the US have changed continually over the last half century, especially guided through EAHCA, IDEA and NCLB. NCLB waivers were introduced in 2011 and, as one component, required states to develop evaluation systems for educators. In Massachusetts, the new educator evaluation system has two ratings for educators. One of those ratings requires development of District Determined Measures (DDMs) which measure trends and patterns of growth and learning for all students over time with a primary focus on content. For SWD, this required a shift in accountability from IEP compliance and participation in state curriculum and testing to development of growth measures. This descriptive case study looked at how one MA Collaborative public day school was making sense of this mandate of DDMs for SWD. Findings suggest that for students with significant disabilities, measuring growth must be examined beyond just the standard state testing. Many variables impact SWD's learning and growth. Barriers to learning such as health issues, behavioral and emotional challenges, as well as significant cognitive and communication issues must be included in measuring progress. Special education teachers cannot only be held accountable for state testing scores, but must develop effective ways to measure progress related to the individual student needs. Suggestions for future research include consideration for more effective ways to measure the indirect measures (information on learning) for SWD rather than a priority focus on the direct (content related) measures. In addition, more research is needed to gather information related to measuring growth for specific disability type. Administrators will need support and training in ways to effectively evaluate special educators' impact on learning for those working with students with the most significant special needs.