Welcome to the Special Education and Alternate Assessments webpage. The Special Education Department and the Assessment and Accountability Department collaborate to inform schools and parents on the educational trends related to standards-based instruction, classroom assessments materials, and accessibility options. Idaho believes in high expectations and achievement for every student, including students with disabilities.

One element of having high expectations for students with disabilities is having them participate in statewide assessments. The expectation is that every student with a disability participate in all statewide assessments. This expectation focuses an IEP team’s assessment participation decision not on IF the student will participate, but HOW the student will participate. A student with a disability can participate in statewide assessments in one of three ways:

  • Regular assessment without accommodations.
  • Regular assessment with accommodations.
  • Alternate assessment, intended only for those students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, representing about 1.0% of the total student population.
    • The ISAT alternate assessment is known as the Idaho Alternate Assessment (IDAA)
    • The ACCESS for ELLs alternate assessment is known as the WIDA Alternate ACCESS.

Frequently Asked Questions

General
Idaho Alternate Assessment (IDAA)
Students with Disabilities Taking Other Statewide Assessments