Accommodations and Accessibility

Wyoming Department of Education > For District Leadership > Assessment – State System > Accommodations and Accessibility

Accommodation Types

Designated Supports

A relatively small number of students will require additional features for their individual needs (e.g., using an audio device or enabling text-to-speech for the mathematics assessments). Providing too many tools on-screen might distract some students. Therefore, designated features must be selected ahead of time by a school-based team and based on the individual needs and preferences of the student. Documentation of team decisions should be kept at the school/district level.

Students must practice using these features and understand when and how to use them. Students may decide whether or not to use a pre-selected support without any consequence to the student, school, or district. 

Accommodations

Accommodations are changes in procedures or materials that increase equitable access during the WYTOPP and WY-ALT assessments. Accommodations all yield valid scores that count as participation in assessments that meet the requirements of ESSA when used in a manner consistent with the Guidance document. They allow these students to demonstrate knowledge. They do not give these students an advantage over their peers.  

One exception is for students who have had a physical injury (e.g., broken hand or arm) that impairs their ability to use a computer. These students may use the speech-to-text or the scribe accommodations (if they have had sufficient experience with the use of these).

Exceptional Accommodations 

An exceptional accommodation is provided to students whose IEP or 504 Plan indicates that a student needs supports that are not already addressed in the Accommodations and Accessibility Guide. Exceptional Accommodations are not behavioral supports. Behavioral supports do not change the construct of the assessment, therefore, do not require approval by the Wyoming Department of Education. After an IEP team or 504 Plan team determines that a student needs an exceptional accommodation, Building and District Coordinators may submit a request through the exceptional accommodations request link above.

Exceptional Accommodation Requests are good through June 30 of each school year and must be updated annually. Information needed for the request is the student WISER ID, accommodations considered and accessibility issues, what the specialized accommodation is and why it is needed, how long the student has used this accommodation, and name and position of the submitter. Multiple specialized accommodations, per student, can be submitted in one request.