CCSS and Students with Reading Disabilities

A new fact sheet is available from the International Dyslexia Association titled “Common Core State Standards and Students with Disabilities”.

As the standards are implemented in states across the country, parents and teachers have expressed concern regarding the education and literacy skills of students with reading disabilities. Literacy trainers at Keys to Literacy are often asked questions such as:

• What impact will these standards have on students with dyslexia or other disabilities if they cannot read or write at the expected grade level?
• Do the new state assessments allow for accommodations?

The IDA fact sheet is a good place to start for answers to these questions. Here are a few other related resources:

• Application to Students with Disabilities: document that highlights key issues related to students with disabilities.
• Implementing the Common Core State Standards for Students with Learning Disabilities: Free, archived webinar from RTI Action Network delivered by George Batsche, Louisa Moats, and Margaret McLaughlin.
• Access to the Common Core For All- Six Principles for Principals to Consider in Implementing CCSS for Students with Disabilities: A web article by Margaret McLaughlin provided by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
• Resource List: Students with Disabilities and the CCSS: a resource list provided at the Achieve.org website

Resources related to state assessment accommodations:

• PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual: a comprehensive policy document provided by PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career Readiness).
• Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines: a comprehensive document provided by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.