Department of Education
Kevin Huffman, Commissioner

TCAP-Alternate Portfolio Assessment (TCAP-Alt PA)

The TCAP-Alt Portfolio Assessment is designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities and is based on alternate content standards.  It may be used to evaluate a diverse population of students pursuing individual goals, reflect skills that should be taught in the classrooms, and measure how closely each student’s program comes to meeting ideals that most people agree would be good for most children. These ideals are to make progress, to be given the autonomy to make some choices regarding instruction, and to be given the opportunity to interact and learn from teachers and typically developing peers in a variety of inclusive settings. The ideals reflected in the dimensions measured by the TCAP-Alt PA are Content, Choice, Settings, Supports, and Peer Interactions.  The decision for TCAP-Alt PA participation is an IEP team decision based on the needs of the individual student. All student work contained in a portfolio assessment must be performed by the student and in the presence of a teacher and/or paraprofessional.