Neglected Numerators, Drifting Denominators, and Fractured Fractions: Determining Participation Rates for Students With Disabilities

Current educational reform efforts seek to ensure accountability for educational results for all of our nation's students and, thus, there is increasing interest in the extent to which current large-scale assessment practices and programs include students with disabilities. Developing accurate procedures for reporting on the participation of students with disabilities in such assessment programs has proven to be difficult, due to a lack of data, differing definitions of eligible testing populations, and the misalignment of data collection efforts and data management responsibilities. Specific recotnmendations are offered for both policymakers and local practitioners and administrators to address these issues, and to assist in improving our ability to accurately report the participation of students with disabilities in educational assessment programs.