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Research on test accommodations provides valuable information that informs policy and practice. This report presents a synthesis of the research literature published in 2022 on testing accommodations for U.S. elementary and secondary students (K-12). The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has reported on accommodations research since 1999. In 2022, NCEO identified four research studies on testing accommodations that met the criteria for inclusion. This was fewer studies than in previous years. The limited number of published studies focusing on accommodations may be the result of gaps in testing data due to COVID-19, as well as other lingering effects of the pandemic. All the studies published in 2022 that met the criteria were dissertations. The studies presented in this report provide an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations. These studies addressed several topics including research on teacher, student, and parent perceptions and perspectives regarding accommodations. Primary data were collected for all of these studies, and most of the studies used qualitative methods. The studies published in 2022 included studies conducted at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. The studies addressed the use of accommodations on mathematics, reading, and science assessments; one study did not specify the content area.

Variational phase field fracture models are now widely used to simulate crack propagation in structures. A critical aspect of these simulations is the correct determination of the propagation threshold of pre-existing cracks, as it highly relies on how the initial cracks are implemented. While prior studies briefly discuss initial crack implementation techniques, we present here a systematic investigation. Various techniques to introduce initial cracks in phase field fracture simulations are tested, from the crack explicit meshing to the replacement by a fully damaged phase field, including different variants for the boundary conditions. Our focus here is on phase field models aiming to approximate, in the $\Gamma$-convergence limit, Griffith quasi-static propagation in the framework of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics. Therefore, a sharp crack model from classic linear elastic fracture mechanics based on Griffith criterion is the reference in this work. To assess the different techniques to introduce initial cracks, we rely on path-following methods to compute the sharp crack and the phase field smeared crack solutions. The underlying idea is that path-following ensures staying at equilibrium at each instant so that any difference between phase field and sharp crack models can be attributed to numerical artifacts. Thus, by comparing the results from both models, we can provide practical recommendations for reliably incorporating initial cracks in phase field fracture simulations. The comparison shows that an improper initial crack implementation often requires the smeared crack to transition to a one-element-wide phase band to adequately represent a displacement jump along a crack. This transition increases the energy required to propagate the crack, leading to a significant overshoot in the force-displacement response. The take-home message is that to predict the propagation threshold accurately and avoid artificial toughening; the crack must be initialized either setting the phase field to its damage state over a one-element-wide band or meshing the crack explicitly as a one-element-wide slit and imposing the fully cracked state on the crack surface.

There has been a paradigm shift from accommodations to the identification of levels of accessibility (e.g., universal features, designated features, and accommodations). A consequence of this shift is that many students with disabilities who previously were assigned accommodations now access many of them as universal or designated features. This Brief highlights what states and Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams can do to avoid possible unintended consequences of the paradigm shift.

Using the time-of-flight technique, we measured the beta-delayed neutron emission of $^{132}$Cd. From our large-scale shell model (LSSM) calculation using the N$^3$LO interaction [Z.Y. Xu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 022501 (2023)], we suggest the decay is dominated by the transformation of a neutron in the $g_{7/2}$ orbital, deep below the Fermi surface, into a proton in the $g_{9/2}$ orbital. We compare the beta-decay half-lives and neutron branching ratios of nuclei with $Z<50$ and $N\geq82$ obtained with our LSSM with those of leading "global" models. Our calculations match known half-lives and neutron branching ratios well and suggest that current leading models overestimate the yet-to-be-measured half-lives. Our model, backed by the $^{132}$Cd decay data presented here, offers robust predictive power for nuclei of astrophysical interest such as $r$-process waiting points., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

This paper is devoted to study of the limiting behaviour of an elastic material with periodically distributed rigid inclusions of size {\epsilon}, as the small parameter {\epsilon} goes to zero. We address here the case with inclusions of the same size as the period of the structure. The body in consideration here is suppose to be clamped on one part of its exterior boundary and submitted to given tractions on the other. By means of the well known two-scale convergence techniques, one convergence result is proved., Comment: 14 pages, Submitted in Afrika Matematika

Many students with disabilities use accessibility features and accommodations during instruction and when taking assessments. It is important to consider teacher perceptions and experiences when making accessibility decisions. The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) synthesized and summarized research conducted between 1999 and 2022 on the perceptions of teachers regarding accommodations. Based on this research on teachers' perceptions of accommodations, NCEO suggests several strategies that could improve practice.

This report highlights the findings of the sixteenth survey of states conducted by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). It has been administered for more than three decades to collect information from states about the participation and performance of students with disabilities in the assessments that comprise the comprehensive assessment system. Topics addressed included: accessibility and accommodations, alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS), interim assessments, accountability, English learners with disabilities, technology, graduation requirements, State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs)/State-identified Measurable Results (SiMRs), family engagement, and technical assistance needs.

Alternate assessments aligned to alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) are designed and implemented for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Historically, these assessments have been described as reflecting reduced "depth," "breadth," and "complexity." Yet, the meaning of these terms is often not defined. The purpose of this report is to provide: (1) an overview of relevant history and legislation that address depth, breadth, and complexity of AA-AAAS; and (2) questions for states to consider as they revise or develop new AA-AAAS. This information also can be useful for states submitting evidence for an existing AA-AAAS to the U.S. Department of Education peer review process.

There continues to be confusion among some educators and staff in State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) about what is an accommodation and what is a modification. This confusion about accommodations and modifications happens in how these words are used in both instruction and assessment. The confusion is further compounded by the use of the term "modified curriculum" when describing the academic content taught to some students with disabilities. The misunderstandings of these terms affect how Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are written and then implemented. The purpose of this Brief is to clarify what accommodations and modifications are for both instruction and assessment for students with disabilities. We also disentangle the use of the term "alternate or modified curriculum" from the meaning of modification used for instruction and assessment. Accommodations and modifications can also be appropriate for English learners; however, this Brief is focused on students with disabilities, including English learners with disabilities.

The rapid increase of computed tomography (CT) scans and their time-consuming manual analysis have created an urgent need for robust automated analysis techniques in clinical settings. These aim to assist radiologists and help them managing their growing workload. Existing methods typically generate entire reports directly from 3D CT images, without explicitly focusing on observed abnormalities. This unguided approach often results in repetitive content or incomplete reports, failing to prioritize anomaly-specific descriptions. We propose a new anomaly-guided report generation model, which first predicts abnormalities and then generates targeted descriptions for each. Evaluation on a public dataset demonstrates significant improvements in report quality and clinical relevance. We extend our work by conducting an ablation study to demonstrate its effectiveness., Comment: Paper accepted to ISBI 2025

Given a weighted, undirected graph $G$ cellularly embedded on a topological surface $S$, we describe algorithms to compute the second shortest and third shortest closed walks of $G$ that are homotopically non-trivial in $S$. Our algorithms run in $O(n^2\log n)$ time for the second shortest walk and in $O(n^3)$ time for the third shortest walk. We also show how to reduce the running time for the second shortest homotopically non-trivial closed walk to $O(n\log n)$ when both the genus and the number of boundaries are fixed. Our algorithms rely on a careful analysis of the configurations of the first three shortest homotopically non-trivial curves in $S$. As an intermediate step, we also describe how to compute a shortest essential arc between \emph{one} pair of vertices or between \emph{all} pairs of vertices of a given boundary component of $S$ in $O(n^2)$ time or $O(n^3)$ time, respectively., Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures

Polonium isotopes having two protons above the shell closure at $Z=82$ show a wide variety of low-lying high-spin isomeric states across the whole chain. The structure of neutron-deficient isotopes up to $^{210}$Po ($N=126$) is well established as they are easily produced through various methods. However, there is not much information available for the neutron-rich counterparts for which only selective techniques can be used for their production. We report on the first fast-timing measurements of yrast states up to the 8$^+$ level in $^{214,216,218}$Po isotopes produced in the $\beta^-$ decay of $^{214,216,218}$Bi at ISOLDE, CERN. In particular, our new half-life value of 607(14) ps for the 8$_1^+$ state in $^{214}$Po is nearly 20 times shorter than the one available in literature and comparable with the newly measured half-lives of 409(16) and 628(25) ps for the corresponding 8$_1^+$ states in $^{216,218}$Po, respectively. The measured $B(E2;8_1^+ \to 6_1^+)$ transition probability values follow an increasing trend relative to isotope mass, reaching a maximum for $^{216}$Po. The increase contradicts the previous claims of isomerism for the $8^+$ yrast states in neutron-rich $^{214}$Po and beyond. Together with the other measured yrast transitions, the $B(E2)$ values provide a crucial test of the different theoretical approaches describing the underlying configurations of the yrast band. The new experimental results are compared to shell-model calculations using the KHPE and H208 effective interactions and their pairing modified versions, showing an increase in configuration mixing when moving towards the heavier isotopes., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures (main manuscript), 2 pages (supplemental material)

The propagation path of quasistatic cracks under monotonic loading is known to be strongly influenced by the anisotropy of the fracture energy in crystalline solids or engineered materials with a regular microstructure. Such cracks generally follow directions close to minima of the fracture energy. Here we demonstrate both experimentally and computationally that fatigue cracks under cyclic loading follow dramatically different paths that are predominantly dictated by the symmetry of the loading with the microstructure playing a negligible or subdominant role.

In the years since the 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) placed a 1.0% cap for states on participation in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS), states have worked hard to navigate the new restrictions on participation in this assessment. This 1.0% cap limits participation in the AA-AAAS to students with the "most significant cognitive disabilities." To meet this requirement, states have developed guidelines, definitions, and decision-making tools to assist individualized education program (IEP) teams in determining which students are eligible to participate in the AA-AAAS. This report provides an update to previous analyses of the guidelines, definitions, and criteria states have developed for making decisions about AA-AAAS participation. The authors analyzed criteria that should be used and factors that should not be used to determine participation, the state definitions of "most significant cognitive disabilities," the information provided to parents about the AA-AAAS, mentions of English learners in materials related to the AA-AAAS, exemption and non-exemption materials regarding participation, and the content areas for which participation decisions are made. In this analysis of the 2021-22 policies of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the most commonly included criteria for participation in the AA-AAAS were: (1) extensive individualized instruction or supports (N=51); (2) significant cognitive disability, or significantly affected cognitive or adaptive function (N=51); (3) has disability or IEP (N=51); and (4) alternate or modified curriculum standards (N=42). The most frequent factors that are not to be used in making participation decisions were: (1) poor performance or impact on accountability system (N=48); (2) excessive absences (N=46); (3) social, cultural, linguistic, or economic factors (N=46); and (4) disability label, placement, or services (N=46). Forty-six states met the criteria for having an explicit definition of "most significant cognitive disabilities," and the most common components of definitions were: significant cognitive/intellectual deficits (N=41) and poor adaptive skill level (N=38). The authors also analyzed materials related to parent information, English learner mentions, exemption materials, and content areas for participation. Forty-seven states included some form of parent information related to the AA-AAAS, with the most common components included in the information being notification that their student would participate in the AA-AAAS (N=31), mention of academic standards (N=24), and mention of the effect on diploma type or postsecondary options (N=23). There was an overall increase in information available for this analysis compared to previous analyses, with almost all states (N=46) including definitions of "most significant cognitive disabilities." Additionally, most states provided information on criteria or tools for decision making in more than one format.

The alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) is designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), placed a 1% cap for states on student participation in the AA-AAAS. This meant that states, districts, and individualized education program (IEP) teams needed to carefully consider which students should be included in these assessments. In this analysis more restrictive environment was computed by summing the percentage of students in the following educational environment placement categories: (1) inside the regular class less than 40% of the day; (2) separate school, residential facility; (3) homebound/hospital; (4) correctional facility; and (5) parentally placed in private school. This study found that states with higher percentages of students in more restrictive environments tended to have higher percentages of students participating in the AA-AAAS for both mathematics and reading. This suggests that in states where a higher percentage of students with disabilities were taught in inclusive settings, the students may have had access to more rigorous academic standards-based content, and thus IEP teams in those states may have been more likely to decide that a student with disabilities on the border between the alternate assessment and the general assessment met participation guidelines for the general assessment. The report concluded with a discussion of several components identified in Lazarus et al. (2019) as important drivers in creating and sustaining systems change efforts that support more inclusive educational practices: (1) a common vision; (2) a common understanding of and a commitment to the change process; (3) effective formalized structures for top-down, bottom up, and sideways communications; (4) meaningful data; and (5) coordinated efforts at multiple levels.

Up to 1.0% of the total tested state student population in a subject area may participate in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). This Brief presents the results of analyses of states' AA-AAAS participation rates from 2015-16 through 2018-19. Information is presented on: (a) the number of states meeting the 1.0% participation requirement in each year from 2015-16 through 2018-19 for mathematics (i.e., math) and reading/language arts (i.e., reading), and (b) states with decreasing and states with increasing patterns of participation rates across the four years in math and reading.

This report contains the proceedings of a forum held on June 28, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to discuss issues surrounding meaningful accessibility of assessments. The forum was a post-session to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) and was a collaboration of the "Assessment, Standards, and Education for Students with Disabilities" (ASES) Collaborative and the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). A specific goal of the forum was to gather representatives from state education agencies (SEAs), assessment vendors, assistive technology experts, and others to discuss the meaningful accessibility of assessments and to identify possible solutions to the challenges that students face when accessing assessments. [This report is a result of a collaboration with the Assessment, Standards, and Education for Students with Disabilities (ASES) Collaborative.]

This Brief provides an overview of how students' insights on the usefulness and feasibility of various accessibility features and accommodations should be taken into account when identifying accessibility features and accommodations for instruction and assessment. Students are often the best source of information about their strengths and needs, and what helps. This Brief uses synthesized and summarized research NCEO conducted on the perceptions of students with disabilities regarding accommodations between 1999 and 2021, and provides suggestions for soliciting students' perceptions on accommodations and involving them in advocating for their needs.

To help ensure that assessments are properly administered, states have developed policies about who can administer or proctor assessments, and the training they must have. This report presents the findings of our analysis of states' 2021 policies on the qualifications and requirements for test administrators, proctors, and accommodations providers for general state summative content assessments (e.g., math, language arts, science), specifically as they relate to students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities. The individuals who administer or proctor assessments, as well as those who provide accommodations (e.g., scribes, test readers, sign language interpreters, translators), need to be qualified and knowledgeable about how to appropriately administer assessments and how to provide accommodations.

This Brief provides an overview of issues related to the inclusion of students with disabilities and English learners with disabilities in early grade (that is, K-2) assessments and offers strategies for improved practices.