With the enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 came additions to the federal reporting requirements. One new requirement is that data pertaining to the use of accommodations by students with disabilities under the IDEA, separate and apart from students receiving accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, be collected, analyzed and reported. Since this was not known at the time, the Student Answer Documents were printed for this year’s Benchmark exams, the current format for capturing each eligible student’s use of accommodations during testing is not designed to allow for the required data collection. Therefore, school districts will need to provide this additional student information directly to the Arkansas Department of Education, Special Education Office.
The attached form must be completed at the time the Benchmark exam is given and returned to the Special Education Office no later than March 31, 2005. This should be the only time this information will be requested in this manner. Next year the information will be recorded on the Student Answer Document at the time of testing.
If additional information is needed, please contact Tom Hicks at thicks@arkedu.k12.ar.us or 501-682-4221.