Project Description

Gaining Access to What Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities Know:
A Multi-Year Project to Propose Revisions for the NH Alternate Assessment

In New Hampshire and nationally, as state-wide academic assessment systems are put into practice, evidence continues to demonstrate unexpected gains for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Annually, approximately 1,400 students take the New Hampshire Alternate Assessment, a measure of access to general curriculum and academic progress in reading, writing, math, and science. As educators develop a better understanding of their students’ preferred learning styles, and improve instruction and assessment, expectations for student growth and assessment systems to monitor growth will both subsequently evolve.

In view of this, the Institute on Disability is partnering with the New Hampshire Department of Education (Bureaus of Accountability and Special Education) to improve the New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System as part of the multi-year project, Gaining Access to What Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities Know. Funded by a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the Gaining Access project will develop:

  • A set of Grade Level Expectation and Grade Span Expectation support materials that describe more fully what the GLEs mean and how students with a variety of sensory and communication barriers might demonstrate this content knowledge
  • Charting tools for documenting student learning progressions and patterns of progress toward acquiring academic content skills
  • A comprehensive professional developmental and technical assistance process for local schools in the area of alternate assessment, and
  • Recommendations for a revised Alternate Assessment based on Alternate Achievement Standards that are aligned to academic content standards in strong and meaningful ways appropriate to this population of students

Three key research and development teams for the Gaining Access project will be comprised of experts from various national centers and universities, as well as NH expert educators, administrators, and family members.

The proposed outcomes of the Gaining Access project will be extensively beneficial for all of New Hampshire’s students. The project’s partnerships offer NH an exciting opportunity to advance knowledge and practice of teaching and assessing students with significant cognitive disabilities. The Gaining Access project is generating considerable national attention and is expected to provide an important resource to the entire field of assessment. We are moving toward the next generation of NH Alternate Assessment.

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Research & Published Materials

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Project Staff & Contacts

At the central project offices, you can contact:
Michael McSheehan, Project Coordinator
Institute on Disability
University of New Hampshire
Phone: 603.862.2144
Email: michael.mcsheehan@unh.edu

At the NH Department of Education, you can contact:
Gaye Fedorchak
Phone: 603.271.7383
Email: gfedorchak@ed.state.nh.us

We encourage interested educators, related service providers, administrators, and parents/guardians to complete and submit the following form if they are interested in regular updates on the project’s progress or if they are interested in participating in project activities.

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Resources & Links

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