- The National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects (NARAP) is a collaboration of projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to conduct research to make large-scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading. Because public schools are accountable for demonstrating the reading proficiency of the diverse population of students in schools today, it is more important than ever that these assessments be accessible and reflect the students' true knowledge and skills.
The above center is also part of PARA as described below
- The Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment (PARA) is a consortium of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) , the National Center on the Research on Evaluation, Standards , and Student Testing (CRESST), and Westat, Inc. Together the partners are addressing the very challenging issues surrounding reading assessment, with CRESST leading the research activities and Westat leading the field test activities. PARA is conducting a program of research and development designed to make large-scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading. This research will contribute to the ultimate goal of making large-scale assessments more “universally designed,” that is, designed from the beginning to be accessible and valid for the widest range of students, including students with disabilities.
Technorati tags: reading. Grw. NCLB. universal design. accessible reading. education.
