Author's abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of Georgia Teachers with administering the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) to elementary students with significant cognitive disabilities and determine how those experiences informed their perception of the Georgia Alternate Assessment. The GAA was designed to assess students with significant cognitive disabilities on grade level standards. The goal of including students with significant cognitive disabilities in standardized testing and statewide accountability systems is to positively impact the curriculum and instruction, and the teaching and learning process for these students. Georgia's special education teachers experience the GAA from within and are in an insightful position to share their perspectives of whether the GAA is meeting this goal. Experiences and perceptions for this study were provided by Georgia teachers who had experienced administering the GAA to elementary students with significant cognitive disabilities. A grounded theory analysis revealed common experiences and perceptions among the participants. Findings from the participants revealed the participants experienced the administration of the GAA as a balancing act in which they had to balance often conflicting aspects of meeting state and federal guidelines and meeting the daily instructional needs of their students with significant cognitive disabilities. Continued analysis revealed that these participants perceived the GAA to be a meaningless tool for teaching and a meaningless measure of assessment for elementary students with significant cognitive disabilities. Finally, continued grounded theory analysis resulted in the emergence of a theory. The participants of this study found the GAA to be an ineffective tool for measuring the teaching and learning of elementary students with significant cognitive disabilities. While not completely abandoning grade level standards, these participants advocated that teaching and high stakes assessment of elementary students with significant cognitive disabilities be based on a curriculum that has a more pivotal impact on their quality of life outcomes. They advocated teaching and assessment of daily living and functional life skills.

Despite the pressure special educators are under to ensure that their students with significant cognitive disabilities learn the important skills necessary to live a productive life, the recent educational path in Ohio has been geared towards a standards-based curriculum to prepare them for the state assessment. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore special educators' lived experiences and perceptions of the Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities (AASCD) as a measure of student progress and growth for students with significant disabilities in Ohio. It also seeks to understand factors that special educators believe are appropriate for assessing students with significant cognitive disabilities. With the conceptual framework being guided by Critical Disability Theory, Dis/ability Complex, and Experiential Learning Theory, this research is guided by the following questions: 1. How do Ohio special educators perceive the AASCD as a measure of student progress and growth for students with significant disabilities? 2. How do special educators in Ohio describe experiences using the data produced by the AASCD? 3. What factors do special educators in Ohio describe as appropriate for assessing students with significant cognitive disabilities? Data was collected from eight semi-structured interviews, notes from the researcher's reflective journal, and member checking interviews. The transcriptions were analyzed, and the researcher used affective and elemental coding methods to create themes and subthemes. The themes and subthemes assisted the researcher in reporting her findings and answering the research questions. This study has the potential to provide information regarding special educators' concerns about the current AASCD and the modifications that special educators feel are necessary to deem the obtained scores usable for lesson planning and writing IEP goals that focus on the needs of individual students with significant cognitive disabilities.

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This study examined special education teachers' perspectives of the instructional impact of the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Through purposeful sampling, six special education teachers who serve students with significant cognitive disabilities and had experience administering the FAA were identified. Interviews posed questions about how they used the FAA to impact their instructional decision-making, how the FAA has influenced how the development of Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, and how the FAA impacted how they defined access to the general education curriculum. The interviews, along with IEP artifacts, and a research journal formed the research design. Results revealed 8 major themes and 18 sub-themes. Teachers reported that the FAA ignores the complex needs of their students, and highlighted the curricular tensions between academics and life skills. A third of the teachers indicated they have created and adopted curriculum to mirror the FAA, and five out of the six teachers integrated more daily assessments similar to the FAA. In addition, the study revealed varied results for utilizing FAA results on IEP development and writing goals. Finally, teachers had varied beliefs on the value of curriculum content standards called access points for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Most of the teachers stated that higher standards lead to higher expectations. The results also revealed teachers' perspectives of the instructional impact of the FAA were influenced by their teaching context: center setting versus general education setting. Implications for future research and practice are included.

Author's abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand both contributors and barriers to use of the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (SB10). Although SB10 was designed to offer parental choice of schools for students with disabilities, it has diminished the capacity of parents to access due process granted through IDEA. Perspectives in this study were provided by parents who chose to rescind their child's participation in the voucher program and parents who continued to access the voucher. Analysis of the lived experiences of parents of students with disabilities in Georgia revealed both similar and diverse experiences, perceptions and concerns regarding educating students with disabilities in private schools. Findings from current and former participants indicated major contributor themes for SB10 enrollment to be academic and demographic factors such as the perception of qualified teachers and smaller class sizes. Former participant findings indicated academic factors such as perceived lack of individual attention, specialized services, and qualified teachers to be primary reasons for rescinding SB10 enrollment. Further, the study sought to understand all parents' knowledge of information sources, types of sources available, and use of sources related to SB10 private schools. Analysis of sources of information regarding private school selection indicated that current participants sought information from internet sources. Former participants sought information from family and friends. Conclusions based upon the research indicated that parents who had continued enrollment remain satisfied with the voucher program. Although current participants reported continued satisfaction with the academic quality in SB10 private schools, only one attributed satisfaction to his or her child's academic progress. However, findings indicated that a significant percentage of SB10 students do not maintain enrollment in the program and the primary reason for rescinding participation to be academic needs. Parents who chose to return to public school and received special education services through IDEA did so based on their belief that the special services and teacher quality provided in the private school were not satisfactory. All participants in this study agreed that the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship should continue to be available even though former participants reported that it did not meet their needs.