Section 511IAC7-36-10. State and local assessments

   (a) A student with a disability must participate in all state and local assessment programs, including assessments described under Section 1111 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 6311, with appropriate accommodations and alternate assessments, if necessary, as indicated in a student's IEP.

  (b) The:

(1) department of education; or

(2) in the case of a district assessment, public agency;

must, to the extent possible, use universal design principles in developing and administering assessments under this section.

  (c) Appropriate accommodations for the state assessment programs are:

(1) set forth in the program manual issued each year by the department of education; and

(2) accommodations that do not invalidate scores.

  (d) For district assessments, public agencies must develop guidelines for the provision of appropriate accommodations that do not invalidate scores.

  (e) The student's CCC must determine, in advance, whether the student will utilize any of the appropriate accommodations described in subsections (c) and (d) during state and district assessments and throughout the student's education program. If the student will utilize accommodations, the CCC must:

(1) select testing accommodations the student needs in order for the assessment to reflect the student's academic achievement;

(2) not select testing accommodations that will invalidate a student's score; and

(3) document the testing accommodations in the student's IEP.

  (f) Nothing in this article prohibits the use of accommodations in classroom instruction that, if used for state and district assessments, would invalidate a student's score.

  (g) The CCC may determine that a student will participate in an alternate assessment in lieu of participating in the general assessment. For state assessments, the CCC's determination must be based upon the criteria in 511 IAC 5-2-4.5.

  (h) Before a CCC can determine that a student will participate in an alternate assessment in lieu of the general assessment, the public agency must provide the CCC with a clear explanation of the differences between the assessments, including any effects of state or district policies on the student's education resulting from participation in an alternate assessment.

  (i) If the CCC determines that a student will participate in an alternate assessment, the public agency must ensure that the parent is informed that the student's performance will not be measured against grade-level academic achievement standards. (Indiana State Board of Education; 511 IAC 7-36-10; filed Jul 14, 2008, 1:24 p.m.: 20080813-IR-511080112FRA; readopted filed Nov 6, 2014, 3:23 p.m.: 20141203-IR-511140382RFA)