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DPI data show persistent gaps for students with disabilities as committee examines cohort declines
Summary
NDDPI interim assistant superintendent Stanley Shower told the committee the new NDA+ and NDSA data show students with disabilities remain overrepresented in lower performance levels and show less year-to-year variance than peers, prompting requests for more disaggregated cohort data and discussion of policy responses.
Stanley Shower Jr., interim assistant state superintendent overseeing data and assessment at the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, told the legislative committee that statewide assessment results show a clear pattern: students with disabilities are overrepresented in the novice and approaching-proficient categories and exhibit smaller year-to-year swings than students without disabilities.
Shower, who presented longitudinal views combining NDSA, NDAA and ACT data, said the pandemic years left visible drops and only partial recovery, and that the alt assessment (NDAA) accounts for roughly 1% of testers. "We usually are below or right at that 1%," he said, explaining that the alt assessment is reserved for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. He described standard-setting as a multi-round process led by panels of roughly 120 educators working with the vendor to set cut scores.
Committee members pressed for additional detail, asking whether the 1% cap is applied at the grade level and whether the department can separate regular and alternate-assessment results in cohort comparisons. Senator Axman asked whether the state could identify schools opting into curriculum changes such as the newly required "science of math" and track their outcomes; Shower said DPI should be able to disaggregate results when districts provide opt-in information.
Shower emphasized that the department will soon implement a micro-growth value table that separates student growth from achievement status. "With the new change, we'll actually be able to see if the state as a whole is actually making growth," he said, describing a plan to track incremental movement within performance levels (for example, 1.1 to 1.3). He also offered to return with further disaggregations—including cohort views for students without disabilities and grade-by-grade breakdowns of alt-assessment participation—at the committee's next meeting.
Educators and practitioners in the room said continuity of services during COVID likely helped limit declines for students with disabilities. "We were not allowed to discontinue services for students with disabilities, and so they likely received more services than their peers," a practitioner said. Cori Jensen, a high-school special-education teacher from Harvey, described classroom realities, noting that many high-school students tested on the alt assessment are academically functioning multiple grade levels below their peers but continue to receive IEP-driven instruction and objectives.
The committee did not take formal action on the assessment presentation. Members directed DPI to compile the requested disaggregations, including breakdowns by disability category where feasible, and to bring two years of NDA+ data and cohort comparisons to a future meeting.
The committee recessed for a short break and reconvened to begin an extended discussion on special-education funding policy options.
