The MSAA was developed to ensure that all students with significant cognitive disabilities are able to participate in an assessment that measures what they know and can do in relation to grade-level State Content Standards. The MSAA is one component of a system of curriculum, instruction, and professional development that allows students with the most significant cognitive disabilities to access grade-level content aligned to State Content Standards. For more information, visit https://wiki.ncscpartners.org.

MSAA’s long‐term goal is to ensure that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities achieve increasingly higher academic outcomes, and leave high school capable of pursuing a variety of postsecondary options. A well‐designed summative assessment alone is insufficient to achieve this goal.

The MSAA is designed to meet the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These laws mandate that all students participate in assessments that measure student achievement on grade-level content standards.

For the purposes of this manual, the MSAA will be referred to as “the Test.”

Related Content: Test Administration