Yes. Federal law requires the participation of students with disabilities in state and district-wide assessments of student achievement with individual appropriate accommodations where necessary. Participation in these assessments and any necessary individual appropriate accommodations must be documented on the student’s IEP.^[1] For a full discussion of your child’s rights with regard to these assessments, see Chapter 11, Information on District-Wide Assessments/Graduation Requirements.

In addition, the IEP team may exempt students from these assessments. If the IEP team determines that your child will not participate in state or district-wide assessments (or part of an assessment), a statement of why the assessment is not appropriate for your child and how they will be assessed must be included in the IEP.^[2]

1. 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1412(a)(16); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.320(a)(6); Cal. Ed. Code Secs. 56345(a)(5) & (6).[↩]
2. 20 U.S.C. Secs. 1412(a)(16)(C) & 1414(d)(1)(A)(i)(VI)(bb); 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.320(a)(6)(ii); Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 56345(a)(6)(ii).[↩]