A Parent Requests the CAA, and the Team Looks for the Safer Choice
At a March IEP meeting, a mother requests that her son, a fourth grader, be placed in the California Alternate Assessments for ELA and mathematics. The student has diagnoses of dyslexia and ADHD; his most recent psychoeducational evaluation reports a full-scale IQ of 96 and average reasoning skills. He reads at a beginning first-grade level, writes two- and three-word sentences, and becomes tearful during long tests. He spends about 70 percent of his day in general education, receives instruction in grade-level ELA standards, and uses accommodations including audio books, scribing, and extended time. The school psychologist supports the parent's request, arguing that the CAA 'will show what he really knows' and that the Smarter Balanced test is 'not accessible' for him. The principal, worried about how a low score will reflect on the school, asks the coordinator whether the CAA is 'the safer choice.' The IEP team reconvenes in ten days, and the mother has asked for a written answer.
1. Should the IEP team determine that this student is eligible for the CAA? Explain the eligibility framework and apply it to the facts.
Read the worked answer
No. CAA participation is reserved for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities: students whose IEPs reflect instruction linked to alternate achievement standards through the Core Content Connectors, who require extensive, highly specialized instruction and substantial supports, and who cannot participate meaningfully in the general assessment even with accommodations. The IEP team makes the decision, and it must be based on that framework rather than on a disability category, a placement, a single test score, or a preference expressed by a parent or a psychologist.
This profile points the other way. Average cognitive ability, most of the day in general education, instruction in grade-level ELA standards, and a functioning set of accommodations describe a student with a significant reading disability who needs intensive intervention and well-matched test supports. Dyslexia and ADHD with a large reading gap are not the same as a significant cognitive disability.
Placing him in the CAA would also misrepresent his achievement. The CAA reports against alternate achievement standards and would not show what he can do with grade-level content, and it could narrow the curriculum offered to him going forward. The team should decline in writing, with the reasoning stated.
2. How should the team respond to the psychologist's 'will show what he really knows' argument and the principal's 'safer choice' question, and what must the district do for the parent?
Read the worked answer
Both arguments have to be named and rejected. Choosing an assessment because a low score would look bad inverts the purpose of the test and would be a misadministration. 'Showing what he really knows' sounds student-centered, but the CAA does not measure the same construct; it measures alternate standards, so a CAA result would not tell the family or the school how he is doing with grade-level ELA.
The productive response is to fix the experience the psychologist is actually describing. The team should review the current IEP accommodations against the accessibility matrix and the grade four ELA rules, add anything missing that is permitted, spread sessions across days with breaks and a separate setting, and prepare the student using the practice and training tests so the format is familiar.
The district must also provide prior written notice explaining what was proposed, what it refused, and the basis for the refusal, and must tell the parent about dispute resolution options. A parent's disagreement does not create eligibility, and the team's agreement would not either; only the criteria do.