Government Grant to Fund System for Special Education Students (KS)

October 13, 2010

The U.S. Department of Education has given the largest grant in KU history — $22 million — to researchers at the University of Kansas. The grant will fund the development of a new assessment system for special education students.

The system, called the Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment System, is led by Neal Kingston, director of KU’s Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation.

By using the new system, teachers can determine how each student is learning by using a “learning map.” The “learning map” details the thousands of skills students develop throughout their education in order to discover how students learn best.

“It’s long been realized that when accountability is based on test scores, teachers will teach to the test,” Kingston said in a press release. “The new system will turn around that process and design tests to model good instruction — to be driven by and be part of instruction instead of a stand-alone activity.”

Departments of education in 11 other states will use the program beginning in the 2014-15 school year. These states include: Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia and Wiscons in.

“The Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation has been a leader in the development of assessments for K-12 students for nearly 30 years,” said Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education, in the release. “This new grant is yet another example of CETE’s leadership nationally in developing assessments to assist educators with innovative approaches for supporting teachers in working with all students regardless of their academic abilities.”

In addition to the 11 participating states and the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation, the Dynamic Learning Maps consortium includes faculty from the Beach Center on Disability, Center for Research on Learning, Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis and Department of Special Education.

Key external partners include AbleLink Technologies, the Arc, the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Edvantia.

Kingston said the new assessment model eventually could be used for all students.

“With this grant, the University of Kansas has an opportunity to improve the quality of education received by countless children,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little in the release. “By shaping the future of educational accountability, Neal Kingston and his team will help teachers better connect with students.”