IDEA

       In accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; see What is IDEA?) and the No Child Left Behind Act, all students with disabilities must participate in state assessments.  The only state assessments recognized by NCLB are the HSPA and the Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA).

IEP

       If the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP; see Special Education) states that the student must pass the HSPA in one or more content areas in order to graduate but the student does not pass the specified content areas in 11th grade (or age 18 if ungraded), the student will participate in the SRA in grade 12.
       The IEP team may exempt the student from taking the HSPA a second or third time, if taking the HSPA again would be detrimental to the student. (N.J.A.C. 6A:14-4.11[a]4).
       However, if the student's IEP states that the student is exempt from taking the HSPA or exempt from passing the HSPA, the student should not be placed in the SRA process.

ELL

       English language learners (ELLs) may demonstrate proficiency in required SRA content areas through completion of the SRA process in their native language, and/or in English with appropriate accomodations (N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1[f]). If ELLs take the SRA PATs in their native language, then they must also take the Maculaitis (MAC) II and meet the English fluency standard of 530 for the Mac II.