Historically, many students with disabilities were excluded from large-scale assessments. Recent federal and state policy initiatives, including the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, require that the large majority of students with disabilities be included in the statewide assessments used in accountability systems. Although most observers agree that educational outcomes for students with disabilities were inadequate before the new policies were implemented, the research undergirding the new policies is limited. The reforms have spurred a rapid increase in relevant research, but more and improved research is needed. This article reviews the status of research on issues that are central to the new reforms and recommends directions for future research.
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Koretz et al. (2004) studied this question.