USBE staff told assessment directors the state has tipped slightly over the federal 1% limit on students taking alternate assessments and described a multi-step effort to come into compliance.

The presenter said Utah’s classification update narrows eligibility to students with the "most significant cognitive disabilities," adding numeric guardrails so IEP teams can make defensible decisions. "We are just slightly over, but we are over that 1%, and we are anticipating we will be receiving a letter from the Department of Education," the presenter said. The state expects federal notice in the spring and anticipates a Title I administrative-grant condition that would require a corrective plan.

Why it matters: ESSA limits the share of students who can be counted as participating in alternate assessments. Exceeding that threshold can trigger federal oversight tied to Title I funding and require states and LEAs to document why students were placed on alternate assessments and to show corrective actions.

What USBE will require and the timeline: USBE has asked LEAs that exceed 1% to submit a justification letter (due Jan. 5) for committee review on Jan. 6. The agency will prepopulate spreadsheets from its SCRAM data to identify students taking alternate assessments and will ask each LEA’s special-education director to supply detailed information for every student flagged. USBE told LEAs it will focus monitoring on elementary students and newly qualifying cases; high school students will not be the monitoring priority at this stage. The state asked LEAs to propose plans to move ineligible students off alternate assessments, with a target of March 2028 for those transitions.

Definition and eligibility changes: To tighten eligibility, USBE revised its participation guidelines to use "most significant cognitive disability" criteria and for the first time included numeric thresholds based on cognitive and adaptive scores. The guidance adds language that typically identifies these students as functioning "at least 2.5 or more standard deviations below the mean." Staff said that change is intended to align Utah with approaches other states have taken when updating definitions.

Support and implementation: USBE emphasized it will not "punish students for adults' bad decisions" and said it will provide supports, training and a community of practice beginning in the spring to help LEAs implement the new guidelines and address instructional needs for any students who no longer qualify for alternate assessments.

Next steps: LEAs required to submit justification letters by Jan. 5; USBE will review submissions Jan. 6 and notify which LEAs will receive monitoring. USBE will follow up with guidance, training and a prepopulated data spreadsheet to assist special-education directors in preparing transition plans.

Sources: Presentation to assessment directors; USBE slide materials and staff remarks.