Off-Grade Level Assessment on Regular or Alternate Assessment

High school students in the class of 2015 through 2021 receiving special education services may take the regular or alternate assessment at an elementary or middle school grade level to meet their graduation requirement, if specified in their IEP. The student must meet the established cut score for proficiency (level 3) for the grade level at which the student is assessed.

The off-grade level assessment is an approved alternative to fulfill a student’s assessment graduation requirement towards a Certificate of Individual Achievement (CIA), but does not substitute for the on-grade level accountability assessment (Math and ELA Smarter Balanced assessment). Students who meet standard using the off-grade level assessment are still expected to participate in on-grade level assessment(s) required for federal accountability. *Note: Taking the on-grade federal accountability tests with the CIA cut score option counts as having participated in these assessments.

Off-grade level testing with the regular assessment will utilize the Smarter Balanced Assessment system for English Language Arts and mathematics.

Off-grade level testing with the alternate assessment will use the Washington-Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) for all content areas.

Assessment Graduation Alternative

Eligibility

To be eligible for this assessment graduation alternative, the student must:

• Be receiving special education services during the time of administration, as indicated in CEDARS
• Be in the class of 2015 through 2021

Submission

This assessment graduation alternative is not submitted through the Graduation Alternative application.

An off-grade level assessment must be indicated by educational professionals in the following ways:

• In the student file: IEP teams will determine what grade level to provide the off-grade level assessment for the student and document said grade level on the student's IEP. To designate an off-grade level on the Regular Assessment, administrators would indicate the assessment type in TIDE.
• To indicate off-grade level on the Alternate Assessment, teachers would register a student under an off-grade level classroom via the WA-AIM assessment platform (eDIRECT).
• Testing windows for off-grade level assessments can be found on OSPI’s State Testing Timelines/Calendar webpage.