Partners

The Assessment Community for English Learners with the Most Significant Disabilities

Iowa, CAAELP Project Lead State

CAAELP embodies the Iowa Department of Education’s strategic vision of success for all students. As CAAELP’s lead state, Iowa supervises the assessment system’s development and acts as the fiscal agent for the federal funding that supports the project.

Project Director

Jennifer Denne

Jennifer Denne is an Educational Program Consultant for alternate assessments for the Iowa Department of Education. She is actively involved with Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessments and was the former CAAELP Collaborative Council Chair. She was previously a special education instruction coach and teacher and participated in developing the CCSSO ELP Standards for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities.

Collaborative Council

The Collaborative Council, comprised of one representative from each CAAELP state, acts as the decision-making body for the project. With their input, we are better equipped to serve the students and their educators, schools, and states.

Technical Advisory Committee

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) guides the assessment system's development process — advising the project on critical areas such as assessment design; psychometrics and test validity; standards and assessment implementation; hardware and software requirements; and applications that affect design and development.

Dr. Stephanie Cawthon

Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Meagan Karvonen

Director, Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS)

Dr. William Lorié

Senior Associate at Center for Assessment

Dr. Mike Russell

Professor, Boston College

Dr. Julia Scherba de Valenzuela

Associate Professor at University of New Mexico

Dr. Gerald Tindal

Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon

Vendors

Our Design & Item Development Partner, Cognia, is a global network of enthusiastic educators. They have expertise in strengthening schools and educational communities. As a partner to the CAAELP project, they support the creation of item development, products, and services.

HumRRO is a full-service psychometrics organization that conducts studies to ensure that various components of an educational assessment system are soundly built and solidly linked. They are the project’s Evaluation Partner — providing oversight for the Lead State, ongoing external evaluation, interim project reports, final project report, and risk management guidance.

CAST's Universal Design for Learning framework optimizes teaching and learning for all people. In partnership with CAST, we will evaluate and implement all technology-based assessment solutions while accounting for cognition, accessibility, and usability. CAST's Senior Innovation Scientist, Bob Dolan, is an essential part of our team — impacting the assessment's design and development.

The NCEO, the nation’s leading technical assistance center focusing on English Learners and students with disabilities, is the project's Accessibility Lead — helping the development of CAAELP’s participation guidelines and Accessibility & Accommodations Manual.

Creative Measurement Solutions LLC (CMS) advances the theory and practice of Embedded Standard Setting (ESS). ESS integrates the essential elements of standard setting throughout the assessment lifecycle, enhancing the validity of test score interpretation and improving efficiency by obviating the need for standard setting workshops. CMS supports CAAELP in meeting the Alt ELPA standard setting requirements.