CAAVES Project in Enhanced Assessment Completed

topics: Learning Sciences

Learning Sciences Institute

The Consortium for Alternate Assessment Validity and Experimental Studies (CAAVES project), an Enhanced Assessment Grant for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, was recently completed. This project was co-directed by Elizabeth Compton of the Idaho Department of Education and Stephen N. Elliott in Peabody College's Special Education Department and involved state directors of assessments from Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, and Nevada, the Discovery Education Assessment (DEA) team of Porter Palmer and William Dycus, and a research team of Ryan Kettler and Peter Beddow (Vanderbilt) Andrew Roach (Georgia State University), Michael Rodriguez (University of Minnesota), and Daniel Bolt (University of Wisconsin).

These 13 project co-investigators collaborated to achieve three goals: (1) conduct a common validation study of the alternate assessments for students with severe cognitive disabilities in six of the states, (2) conduct an experimental study of item modifications on grade-level achievement tests for students with IEPs and persistent academic difficulties in four of the states, and (3) disseminate information to other state assessment leaders and special educators. The project successfully achieved all its goals. At its conclusion in March 2009, the CAAVES research team had worked with over 1,200 students with disabilities across six states and produced four research reports, presented eight papers at national meetings, and numerous deliverables produced by the principal investigators.