Alternate Assessments District Test Coordinators

Alt ELPA Screener

August 4, 2025 - May 8, 2026

Alt ELPA Summative Testing

January 26 - March 13, 2026

MSAA Testing 

March 9 - April 24, 2026

• Arizona State-Specific Policy Guidance for Alternate Assessment 2025-2026 (rev. Feb 2025)
• Recorded Policy
• CIVICS Test Guidance Document (10/2025)

• For the 2026-2027 school year, the Arizona Department of Education has launched an electronic application for submitting the District Test Coordinator (DTC) Test Security Agreement (TSA). This role will give access to both the Alternate Assessment and the 1% Threshold applications. There is a tutorial video and supplemental PowerPoint regarding this new electronic process for filling out the Test Security Agreement. Only electronic form submissions will be accepted. For step-by-step instructions regarding the electronic test security agreement, please refer to the Assessments Portal Test Security Agreement User Guide.
• 2025-2026 Alternate Assessment Test Security Agreement for Test Administrators **Do not return to ADE. Keep the signed form(s) at the district office for 6 years.

• For MSAA and Alt ELPA Summative, the District Test Coordinator will select eligible students in the Student Selector Application in the fall.

• For the Alt ELPA Screener, District Test Coordinators will need to submit the Alt ELPA Screener Request Webform to request to add eligible students. Students must have been determined eligible for Alternate Assessments by the IEP team and require an English Language Proficiency placement test (screener) based on the responses on the Home Language Survey, or have a missing English language proficiency test. 

The Alt ELPA Summative reports from the Spring 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.

Alt ELPA 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.

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 Parent Resources". 

• MSAA 2024 Student Results Layout 

• MSAA 2026 Guide for Score Report Interpretation

• COVID-19 Impact Study Report

Performance Level Descriptors - MSAA (ELA and Mathematics)

• 2021 Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) ELA

• 2021 Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) ELA- Spanish

• 2021 Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) Mathematics

• 2022 Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) Science

MSAA Science Extended Performance Expectations (EPE)

• Science EPE (06/2023)

PRESENTATIONS

• Friday Focus Webinar - Alternate Assessments Overview 9/2025 and Alternate Assessment PowerPoint

• LCI (Learner Characteristics Inventory) Presentation 10/2024

• AAC Alternate Assessment Updates 09/2022

• AAC 2022 Alt ELPA Updated 09/2022

• AAC 2022 MSAA Solutions

The MSAA Practice Site was developed as a way to become familiar with the MSAA sample items and the Assessment experience. The MSAA Practice Site does not require a username or password.

Alt ELPA (Summative and Screener) Training

MSAA Training

ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT ELIGIBILITY

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.

Specific accommodations for both instruction and the assessments should also 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.

• 2025-2026 Alternate Assessment Eligibility Form (MSAA ELA, Mathematics, and Science)

• LCI (Learner Characteristics Inventory) for Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (updated 2024)

• MSAA Participation Guidance Arizona (06/2021)

ACTION PLANS – 1% Threshold

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.

• 1% Threshold Presentation
• Action Plan Template (Word) Action Plan Template(PDF)
• 1% LEAs' Justification (SY 2023-2024)
• 1% LEAs' Justification (SY 2022-2023)