• All students must have access to the general education curriculum
• New York State must have a system of accountability for student performance that includes all students

All Children:

• can learn given opportunity, appropriate instruction, and time
• have a right to relevant instruction based on high expectations

Standards:

• Standards, assessment, curriculum, and instruction must enhance post-secondary opportunities and independence
• More effective learning for all students results from the alignment of standards, assessment, curriculum, and instruction
• The NYSAA must be an authentic measure of student progress toward the New York Learning Standards

Participation:

• Participation in the New York State Alternate Assessment [NYSAA] must be based on individual abilities and needs relative to clearly defined criteria
• Students participating in the alternate assessment will be assessed at the same chronological age as the population participating in other large-scale assessments

Alternate Assessment:

• must measure and communicate individual growth and performance.
• requires broad stakeholder commitment and involvement throughout development, implementation, evaluation, and refinement
• measurement and reporting must be defensible in terms of feasibility, validity, and comparability
• is designed for a very few students with disabilities

Student Performance:

• data must guide policy
• must guide instruction