













































Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum


Volume 2, Issue 2 
2019 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 

 
Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an 
Alternate Curriculum 

 
Jolan Smith 
Assistant Professor in Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling 
CSU Long Beach 
 

Charlie is a 13-year-old African American male in the 8th grade who receives special education services 
as a student with autism and intellectual disability. He was first diagnosed with developmental delay at 
the age of 3 and began early intervention services through the local district. He was diagnosed with 
autism at age 6 during his kindergarten year, and later diagnosed with an intellectual disability in the 3rd 
grade at age 9. Charlie communicates mostly through Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), a 
method of communicating where the student chooses the appropriate picture to give to a conversation 
partner as a form of requesting or informing (e.g., student hands teacher the pizza picture to say “I want 
pizza”). He also communicates using facial expressions, and gestures (e.g., pointing). Charlie’s verbal 
communication isn’t easily understood by strangers, but he is able to express his desires to family 
members, classroom staff, and classmates. He receives his instruction in a special day class for students 
with extensive support needs and works on an alternate curriculum that focuses on adaptive life skills, 
functional math, reading, and communication skills.  

Charlie has a 3-year review coming up to determine if he still qualifies for special education services, and 
if so, what services and types of supports will be necessary to support his educational needs. 
Additionally, Charlie is due for an individualized transition plan (ITP) to identify his goals for life after high 
school. Charlie’s special education teacher, Ms. Hernandez, wants to do her part to provide an accurate 
report of Charlie’s skills, preferences, and needs. With this purpose in mind, what things should Ms. 
Hernandez be sure to consider? Who should Ms. Hernandez consult or work with to achieve the goal? 
How should she proceed in order to ensure an equitable and just assessment process that focuses on 
Charlie’s growth?  

Students on Alternate Curriculum 
For students like Charlie with extensive support needs, who cannot access the Common Core standards 
without significant modifications, an Alternate Curriculum teaches functional academics, social skills, life 
skills, and vocational skills in the classroom and other environments where the skills are necessary (e.g., 
community-based instruction). Functional academics include reading and math skills that will assist a 



Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum 
Jolan Smith 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

person with disabilities in their lifelong functioning, such as reading basic community signs (e.g., stop, 
caution, etc.) or counting objects (e.g., counting up to 100). Students on alternate curriculum require 
extensive support in academic and adaptive skills instruction, such as repeated, explicit instruction, 
lessons and tasks broken down into smaller steps, and opportunities to practice the skills in the real 
contexts and environments where they will be needed.  

Determination of who is placed on an alternate curriculum is made by the individualized education 
program (IEP) team. Charlie’s team decided alternate curriculum would be best due to his need to gain 
adaptive skills such as taking care of himself (e.g., choosing and dressing in appropriate clothing), 
learning how to perform simple math (e.g., count 20 items), and gaining functional communication (e.g., 
using PECs to order in a restaurant). Although Charlie’s particular needs may differ from those of 
another student with disabilities, all students with disabilities are covered under Every Student Succeeds 
Act (ESSA, 2015). Their progress must be monitored; they must have rigorous standards; they must be 
included in annual testing; their performance must be included in school accountability reports. This is 
how the law ensures student success.  

But what does this mean for Ms. Hernandez? How is she supposed to monitor Charlie’s progress on the 
Alternate Curriculum? How can she be sure her students show progress on annual state tests? How can 
she ensure that Charlie’s individual growth and skill mastery is highlighted whether he makes gains on 
state tests or not? 

Assessment that Promotes Student Growth 
Ms. Hernandez knows that Charlie has made great gains this year, but she is afraid that his performance 
on annual tests might not reveal his current skill set. In 6th grade, Charlie earned a 649 on his English 
Language Arts (ELA) California Alternate Assessment score report, placing him at level 2 with 
foundational understanding of core concepts. In 7th grade, Charlie’s score improved over 100 points, 
with him earning a score of 757 in ELA. However, this score still places Charlie at level 2, despite his 
tremendous growth. What can Ms. Hernandez do to highlight Charlie’s growth, when state tests show 
that he has not advanced his level of understanding of the core concepts? Through ongoing assessment 
that is embedded in daily instruction, Ms. Hernandez can begin to collect an array of information and 
data to highlight Charlie’s individual growth over the year. Continuous embedded assessment of skills 
allows the teacher to capture the often small, subtle changes in learning and skills development that 
occur for students on Alternate Curriculum.  

Assessment tools used to measure individual student growth include both formal and informal 
assessment measures. Formal measures that are criterion-referenced (e.g., Brigance Comprehensive 
Inventory of Basic Skills) are useful for determining student performance on particular skills, and can 
help guide instruction by indicating which skills a student has yet to master. For example, Ms. 
Hernandez administered Brigance CIBS as part of several assessments given to Charlie for his upcoming 
triennial report. Through the assessment, she learned that Charlie can use the calculator to compute 
two 3-digit numbers when doing addition or subtraction (321 + 352 = 673), but he could not correctly 
compute 3 times 5 with the same calculator (3 x 5 = 15). This let Ms. Hernandez know that she could 
likely move on to multiplication, explicitly teaching Charlie how to locate the multiplication symbol not 
only on his calculator, but with any available calculator Charlie may use (e.g., smart phone calculator).  

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/altassessment.asp


Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum 
Jolan Smith 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

Another formal assessment measure Ms. Hernandez would want to consider is a transition assessment 
for Charlie’s individualized transition plan, or ITP. For students with minimal verbal language and limited 
intellectual functioning, pictorial or picture assessments can help identify student interests. The Picture 
Interest Career Survey (PICS) is such an assessment. On this survey, students are shown a field of three 
pictures depicting different careers or professions. Results from the assessment will indicate different 
occupational clusters where the student showed interest.  

Ms. Hernandez can also use assessment tools that are more informal, but still closely aligned to the 
Alternate Curriculum. Informal tools include ecological inventories, curriculum-based assessments, 
student portfolios, teacher-made tests, and observations. For instance, Ms. Hernandez may want to 
share Charlie’s ELA portfolio, where he created a word tree of new vocabulary learned in ELA class. She 
could also graph the results from his curriculum-based assessments that he takes each week in the 
Unique Learning System (ULS), the alternate curriculum his district has chosen to use for students with 
extensive support needs. Teacher made-tests can also capture valuable assessment data because they 
are sensitive to subtle student growth or small changes in student performance. This is particularly true 
when the teacher conducts a task analysis where a larger task is broken into smaller discrete steps for 
instruction. A sample task analysis might require seven steps to washing hands: turn on water, wet 
hands, add soap, rub hands (front and back), rinse hands, turn off water, dry hands. The teacher then 
provides direct instruction and assesses each step of the task. Observations are another effective 
assessment tool to use when working with students on an alternate curriculum. Instead of placing a 
demand task on a student in a contrived, non-natural context or situation, observations are a natural, 
authentic way to look for evidence of student learning. If Charlie is learning money value, Ms. 
Hernandez can assess his ability to choose the $5 bill in the classroom, but a more natural setting for the 
assessment of this skill would be observing during community-based instruction if Charlie hands over 
the $5 bill to the cashier instead of handing over the $1 bill. Lastly, Ms. Hernandez might want to 
conduct an ecological inventory, interviewing important people in the Charlie’s life and observing his 
performance in various contexts (e.g., home, school, community, leisure, etc.), to determine the skills 
Charlie will need for future life functioning. Through knowledge of the different tools of assessment and 
ongoing, embedded monitoring of student progress, Ms. Hernandez can focus on formative assessment 
that is focused on Charlie’s individual growth and can help guide instruction that is aligned to a 
standards-based curriculum.  

Now that Ms. Hernandez has gathered results from informal tests and other alternative assessments, she 
wants to make sure her assessment is complete. She has Charlie’s formal standardized results from prior 
annual state tests; she has this year’s data on curriculum-based assessments; she has data sheets 
completed by her instructional aides on the amount of support they provide to Charlie on a daily basis; 
she has a student portfolio. But is this enough data? Is Ms. Hernandez accomplishing her goal of 
providing an equitable assessment process for Charlie? How can she get Charlie the extensive supports 
he needs to ensure his continued growth and success? 

Assessment that Promotes Equity 
In order for assessment to be equitable, one must start with a working definition of equity. Equity is a 
societal value or belief whereby a person receives what he needs in order to bring out his full potential. 
If assessment is to bring out someone’s full potential, it should be comprehensive, covering multiple 



Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum 
Jolan Smith 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

content or skills areas from multiple sources. For Charlie’s comprehensive assessment, Ms. Hernandez 
should be prepared to report on Charlie’s functional academics, social-emotional skills, independent 
living skills, vocational skills, and community/leisure skills. Additional assessment reports from the 
school psychologist, licensed speech therapist, school nurse, and adapted physical education will 
complete the comprehensive assessment. 

Ms. Hernandez will also want to include the family’s perspective in a comprehensive, equitable 
assessment. Charlie lives with his mother, grandmother, and two other siblings, an older sister who 
serves as a third caregiver behind his mother and grandmother, and his young brother who helps Charlie 
with his homework. For all students in special education, we must actively seek parental engagement 
and input on a child's individualized educational program. This mandate becomes that much more 
important for students who will require extensive supports throughout life. IEP teams must collaborate 
with families to determine family goals and priorities, identify family values, strengths and resources, 
and learn about student functioning outside of the school setting (e.g., home, community), identifying 
which skills have been met, which skills should be prioritized, and where the skills are needed most. 
Interviews with family members, other school- and community-based providers, and the students 
themselves, whenever possible, can yield valuable information about a student’s strengths and 
potential. As described previously, ecological inventories allow for careful mapping and matching of 
environments and needs, and collaboration with key team members to identify student strengths and 
skills needed to reach one’s full potential.  

Besides ensuring a comprehensive assessment that covers different domains, gathers input from 
different informants, and draws on family and student strengths, interests, and priorities, Ms. 
Hernandez should also consider the accommodations and modifications necessary for Charlie to 
perform best. Students with extensive support needs may require test items to be read aloud, or an 
alternate response option if they are unable to write their response on a typical paper and pencil test. In 
an equitable assessment, the student gets the required accommodations and modifications to bring out 
his/her/their full potential, and the needs of English language learners (ELLs) and students with 
significant communication difficulties are considered. Equitable assessment requires the teacher to 
accommodate a student by reading a passage to the student who is being assessed on reading 
comprehension, particularly when the student struggles with reading fluency. Equitable assessment 
requires the job coach to use picture images to teach the step-by-step instructions to complete a 
vocational task. Equitable assessment requires ELL students to be assessed in their primary language, 
particularly when the student demonstrates greater understanding in their primary language. Lastly, 
equitable assessment for students with significant communication needs requires individualization of 
the student’s assessment to allow for varied response types, including verbal, gestural, or using some 
type of augmentative or alternative communication device (AAC; e.g., Picture Exchange System, 
DynaVox). Through comprehensive, strengths-based assessment that honors the accommodations and 
modifications necessary for a student with extensive support needs to be successful, schools can ensure 
equitable assessments for students learning on an alternate curriculum. 

Ms. Hernandez works with Charlie’s mother and grandmother to learn about Charlie’s activities at home 
and in the community. Through her interviews with the family, Ms. Hernandez learns a great deal about 
Charlie including his interest in music (his younger brother teaches him current popular tunes on the 
keyboard in the home), and his responsibilities at home and at church (Charlie makes the family’s dinner 



Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum 
Jolan Smith 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

plates at home, and serves food after church in the pantry once a month). Results from the PICS 
transition assessment revealed a high interest in the food service industry, which is supported by the 
information Ms. Hernandez learned from her interview with Charlie’s family, and through Ms. 
Hernandez’s data sheets from independent living instruction. Charlie does quite well on his food 
preparation task analysis sheets where he usually completes 8 or more of the 10 steps without assistance 
from staff. With multiple sources of data confirming the same results, Ms. Hernandez can be assured 
that her assessment of Charlie will identify his strengths, preferences, interests, and needs.  

Assessment that Promotes Justice 
The final consideration Ms. Hernandez should think about for Charlie’s equitable assessment centers 
around the concept of justice. Promoting justice in assessment involves an adherence to principles and 
values that align with best practices for working with students with disabilities and their families. These 
best practices include fair, respectful, and just treatment of students throughout the assessment and 
evaluation process. Several entities exist to provide ethical and professional guidance on assessing 
students in fair and just ways. Organizations such as the National Association of School Psychologists 
(NASP; www.nasponline.org), the American Psychological Association (APA; www.apa.org), the 
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA; www.asha.org), and four other professional 
organizations collaborated to create The Code of Fair Testing Practices 
(www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/fair-testing.pdf) to provide ethical guidance on the fair and 
valid use of comprehensive assessment practices, including who is authorized to administer and 
interpret test scores, informing parents and students about the purposes of assessment, and other best 
practices.  

Another source of guidance on providing just assessment to students with disabilities are the high 
leverage practices (HLPs) identified by the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC; 
https://www.cec.sped.org) and the CEEDAR Center (Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, 
Accountability and Reform, www.ceedar.education.ufl.edu; McLeskey et al., 2017). The 22 HLPs identify 
practices of effective special education teachers, and cover four main areas: collaboration, instruction, 
social/emotional/behavioral, and assessment. Three of the 22 HLPs address assessment, highlighting 
aspects of comprehensive assessments for students with disabilities, including ongoing monitoring, 
understanding student strengths, collaboration with families and other providers, and more. 

To learn more about the specific needs of students with significant communication needs, the National 
Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC; 
https://www.asha.org/NJC), a group comprised of nine professional organizations, created the 
Communication Bill of Rights to guide accommodations for the speech and communication needs of 
persons with severe disabilities. Accommodations and recommendations for just assessment practices 
for students with severe disabilities include the use of dynamic assessments that assess student learning 
and accounts for the relationship between the student and the teacher, and ecological inventories as 
recommended earlier (Brady et al., 2016). 

Ms. Hernandez displays a great deal of respect in all her interactions with Charlie and his family. She is 
considerate of the family’s efforts and involvement and remains open to learning about Charlie’s life 
outside of school. Ms. Hernandez is a member of several professional organizations dedicated to 
individuals with disabilities, and regularly attends professional conferences and workshops. She 

https://www.cec.sped.org/
https://www.asha.org/NJC/


Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum 
Jolan Smith 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

continues to learn about ongoing progress monitoring, how to collect and analyze data, culturally 
responsive teaching, assistive technology and more. Ms. Hernandez realizes that her responsibility to 
Charlie and all her students is to conduct ethical assessments that are respectful and fair.  

Recommendations for the Field 
As we push towards educational policy and practice that supports the inclusion of students with 
disabilities in school accountability systems, we must be careful to do so in a way that promotes 
equitable and ethical assessment practices for our students with the most extensive support needs who 
are learning on an alternate curriculum. The push to include these students in accountability systems 
requires support from school leaders and administrators to provide resources, training, and 
opportunities for teachers of students on alternate curriculum to collaborate with other professionals. 
School leaders must acquire the appropriate assessment tools and provide proper training on how to 
administer them. Lastly, school leaders and administrators can work with special education teachers to 
adapt school data systems to the particular needs of students on alternate curriculum, and highlight 
these systems during professional developments, instructing others how to develop systems to track 
individual student performance data in the classrooms.  

For teachers like Ms. Hernandez who support students on an Alternate Curriculum, the way to ensure 
equitable and just assessments that promote student growth is to become knowledgeable of proper 
assessment procedures. Teachers must be advocates for their students, and also self-advocate for what 
is needed to support the students, such as the proper assessment and curricular materials. Effective 
teachers remain lifelong learners, joining professional organizations, learning new efficient data 
collection and analysis with technology, and requesting training and additional opportunities to learn 
such as attending conferences, and observing other teachers or administrations of assessments. Lastly, 
effective teachers who concern themselves with equity and justice in educational practice, should 
choose assessment practices and considerations that honor the cultural diversity and strengths of 
students and their families. For students on Alternate Curriculum, the field needs assessment practices 
that are comprehensive, on-going, formative, and carefully selected to identify student growth and 
strengths. It should align with the vision of educational reforms to more fully include students with 
disabilities in school accountability measures, while also honoring the individualized extensive 
educational support needs of various students on Alternate Curriculum.  

About the Author 
Jolan Smith, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling at CSU, 
Long Beach where she teaches courses on assessment of students with disabilities, transition planning 
and collaboration, and collaborative models of education for secondary schools. She graduated from the 
Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education at CSULA and UCLA.  Dr. Smith earned her Bachelor’s degree 
in psychology from Stanford University, and a Master’s degree in special education with a concentration 
on moderate-severe disabilities from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She was a high school 
special education teacher for nine years, serving low-income high school students with emotional 
disturbance, intellectual disabilities, autism, and other health impairments in traditional public schools, 
non-public schools, and home settings. Dr. Smith’s research interests include underserved minority 
students and families in special education, juvenile justice-involved youth with developmental 
disabilities, and cultural considerations in the transition to post-secondary.   



Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum 
Jolan Smith 

Allies for Education 2018, 2, 2 
https://journals.library.csuci.edu/ojs/index.php/afe 
 

References 
Brady, N., Bruce, S., Goldman, A., Erickson, K., Mineo, B., Ogletree, B., Paul, D., & Wilkinson, K. (2016). 
Communication services and supports for individuals with severe disabilities: Guidance for assessment 
and intervention. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 121(2), 121-138.  

Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-95 § 114 Stat. 1177 (2015-2016). 

McLeskey, J., Barringer, M-D., Billingsley, B., Brownell, M., Jackson, D., Kennedy, M., Lewis, T., & Ziegler, 
D. (2017, January). High-leverage practices in special education. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional 
Children & CEEDAR Center. Retrieved from https://highleveragepractices.org/about-hlps/  


	Making Assessment Equitable for Learners on an Alternate Curriculum
	Students on Alternate Curriculum
	Assessment that Promotes Student Growth
	Assessment that Promotes Equity
	Assessment that Promotes Justice
	Recommendations for the Field
	About the Author
	References

