Alternate Assessments District Test Coordinators
Students must meet the eligibility requirements as determined by the student’s IEP team in order to participate in the State’s Alternate Assessments. The Eligibility Form should be completed and filed within the student's current IEP.
MSAA was designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities. MSAA ELA & Mathematics are tested in grades 3-8 and 11. MSAA Science is testing in grades 5, 8, and 11
The Alt ELPA is an alternate English language proficiency assessment designed for English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Alt ELPA is tested in grades K-12.
For MSAA and Alt ELPA Assessments, the District Test Coordinator will select eligible students in the Student Selector Application in the fall.
For the Alt ELPA Screener, ADE uploads all eligible students directly into TIDE. District Test Coordinators will e-mail the Alternate Assessment Team with the students' SSID number for the request. Students must have been determined by the IEP team to be eligible for alternate assessments and require an English Language Proficiency placement test (screener) based on the responses on the Home Language Survey or missing English language proficiency test.
Alt ELPA Screener August 1 - May 9, 2025 Alt ELPA Summative Testing January 27 - March 14, 2025 MSAA Testing March 10 - April 25, 2025 The Alt ELPA Summative reports from Spring 2024 are available in TIDE. The ADE Alternate Assessment Unit shipped two hard copies of each student report to the District of Attendance. One copy is sent home to parents/guardians, and the other is placed in the student’s secure file. Screener Reporting- Student reports will be available almost immediately after testing in the Cambium portal. Based on the results, follow the same processes required by the Office of English Language Acquisition Services (OELAS) as you would for students who take the AZELLA Placement Test. The MSAA reporting portal will be open from July 15 to September 6, 2024. MSAA Student Reports are not available outside the current year reporting window; however, the Accountability application in ADEConnect can provide individual student scores. The ADE Alternate Assessment Unit will ship two hard copies of each student report to the District of Attendance the week after the reporting portal opens. One copy is sent home to parents/guardians, and the other is placed in the student’s secure file. The MSAA Parent Guides accompany the student reports and should be sent home with the student. Teachers may download additional MSAA Parent Guides from the ADE Assessment website on the tab labeled "MSAA Parents Resources". The MSAA Practice Site was developed as a way to become familiar with the MSAA sample items and Assessment experience. The MSAA Practice Site does not require a username or password. IEP Teams must remember to address assessment eligibility and accommodations for the alternate assessments, MSAA Math, ELA, and Science Specific accommodations for both instruction and the assessments also should be considered in the student’s annual IEP. Information regarding MSAA accommodations and eligibility criteria can be located on the ADE MSAA webpage under General Information. 2024-2025 Alternate Assessment Eligibility Form (MSAA ELA, Mathematics, and Science) LCI (Learner Characteristics Inventory) for Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (updated 2024) Under federal regulation, the state is required to "provide appropriate oversight to each LEA that the State anticipates will assess more than 1% of its assessed students...using alternate assessments aligned with alternate academic achievement standards." An LEA may test students who qualify for alternate assessment, even if that participation means that the LEA will exceed 1%. Alternate Assessment Test Coordinators will be notified of your LEA's percentages and will provide the next steps. Please contact us by emailing the Alternate Assessment inbox [email protected] or at (602) 542-8239. Performance Level Descriptors - MSAA (ELA and Mathematics)
MSAA Science Extended Performance Expectations (EPE)
PRESENTATIONS
ACTION PLANS – 1% Threshold
Contact Information
