HumRRO is pleased to announce our role as the evaluation partner for a $7.8 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to the Iowa Department of Education. The goal of the four-year grant is to design a set of English language proficiency assessments for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities, a small and underserved population of students.
Lead state Iowa will work with other participating states to design, develop, and implement the assessments, in coordination with the National Center for Research, Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California, Los Angeles, and other partner organizations.
HumRRO’s role in the grant will involve providing feedback while monitoring activities and evaluating the quality of the assessments. “It’s an honor for our team to help the grant’s participating states meet their assessment and instructional goals for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities,” said Wade Buckland, senior scientist and HumRRO’s project director. “In the process of creating these assessments, we expect the project will make advances in accessibility, accommodation, and test administration practices in English language proficiency assessment.”
Launched in 2019, the grant-funded work of this project will run through September 2023. In addition to Iowa, participating states currently include Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia.
