Introduction and

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Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA)
Assessment
Introduction and Criteria for Participation
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Virginia Grade Level Alternative (VGLA)

• The purpose of the VGLA is to provide students
  with the opportunity to participate in state
  assessments whose nature and level of disability
  prevents them from accessing the Standards of
  Learning (SOL) test(s) in a content area, even
  with accommodations.

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Virginia Grade Level Alternative

• Available for students with disabilities enrolled
  in any Standards of Learning assessment content
  areas at grades 3-8
• Used as an alternative to paper and pencil
  and/or online administrations of the Virginia
  Standards of Learning test(s)
• Students that do not qualify for the Virginia
  Alternate Assessment Program and can not
  demonstrate proficiency on the Virginia Standards
  of Learning test(s) even with accommodations
• Locally submitted and scored via an online
  scoring system
• Counted in No Child Left Behind as part of the
  95 participation rate
• No limit on the number of students taking/passing
  the VGLA
• (Not held to the 1 cap)

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What is the VGLA?

• The Virginia Grade Level Alternative allows a
  student to demonstrate individual achievement of
  Virginias Standards of Learning content for a
  specific grade level through another means.
• The VGLA is made up of student evidence that
  demonstrates the students individual achievement
  on some or all of the students grade level
  content.

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Participation in Virginias Accountability
Assessment System
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Who decides?

• Participation in the Virginia Grade Level
  Alternative (VGLA) is determined on an individual
  and test-by-test basis by the IEP team/504
  committee.
• IEP/504 decisions to participate must be
  documented on the students current IEP/504 plan
  and follow appropriate procedures for
  participation.

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Participation

• The IEP team/504 committee must first consider
  participation in the Standards of Learning
  assessment for a qualifying grade level content
  area with standard and/or non-standard
  accommodations prior to considering the Virginia
  Grade Level Alternative as an option.

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Criteria for participation in the VGLA is as
follows

• The student has a current IEP/504 plan.
• The student demonstrates his/her individual
  achievement of Standards of Learning content
  through means other than multiple-choice formats.
• As a result of a disability, the student is
  unable to demonstrate his/her individual
  achievement on the Standards of Learning test for
  the assigned course or grade level using
  available standard and/or non-standard
  accommodations and/or formats.

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Procedures

• The Virginia Grade Level Alternative Procedural
  Manual will outline the process and procedures
  that MUST be followed by the student and school
  division in order to submit a Virginia Grade
  Level Alternative as an alternative test for a
  qualifying Standards of Learning test.

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VGLA Work Samples

• VGLA work samples are selections of student work
  that demonstrate the students individual
  achievement of Standards of Learning content for
  a specific content area based on the current
  Standards of Learning Blueprint.

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Work Sample Examples

• The actual samples selected may include student
  papers, projects, videotape, audiotape, permanent
  products, and other student-generated work that
  demonstrates proficiency in the selected content
  area submitted.
• However, ONLY work completed by the student under
  the direct supervision of a teacher or
  paraprofessional is allowable.

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Standards to be Evidenced

• Standards evidenced would be any and all of those
  standards contained in the Virginia Standards of
  Learning Blueprint for the specific grade level
  content area being assessed.
• Any standards excluded from the test and noted in
  the blueprint as "SOL's Excluded from This Test"
  would not need to be evidenced by the student.
• Students would not be required to evidence all
  SOL addressed within the Blueprint to pass the
  VGLA.

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Information

• Manuals delivered and available online to school
  divisions
• Training registration information and available
  dates posted online
• Scoring Teams established and maintained by
  local school divisions
• Submissions scored and submitted to the Virginia
  Department of Education

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Resources

• Division Directors of Testing
• Training/Technical Assistance Centers (T/TACs)
• DOE Division of Assessment and Reporting
• DOE Office of Special Education