West Virginia General Summative Assessment: What IEP and 504 Students Need to Know

Every spring, West Virginia parents of students with IEPs and 504 plans hit the same wall: the school sends home a testing notice, and it's not immediately clear whether their child is taking the regular assessment, an alternate assessment, or the regular test with accommodations — or what any of those distinctions actually mean for their child's future.

The short answer is that your child's IEP or 504 team makes this call, and you are part of that team. The longer answer requires understanding how West Virginia's two assessment systems work, what accommodations are available, and when the alternate assessment is the right choice — and when it isn't.

The West Virginia General Summative Assessment (WVGSA)

The WVGSA is the standard state test administered in grades 3 through 8, covering English Language Arts, math, and science. Grade 11 students take the SAT School Day instead. Federal law requires that students with disabilities participate in state accountability systems — schools cannot simply opt students out because of a disability.

For students with IEPs or 504 plans, participation in the WVGSA with accommodations is the default. The IEP or 504 team selects specific, pre-approved accommodations that are documented electronically in the West Virginia Education Information System (WVEIS) and monitored through the MAE.4SA compliance tracking system during the spring testing window.

The WVDE organizes accommodations into three categories with alphanumeric codes:

Presentation accommodations change how the test is delivered. These include braille paper test booklets (P03), braille computer tests (P17), large print paper tests in 18-point font on enlarged paper (P19), and closed captioning for audio content (P36 — this replaced the retired "listening scripts" accommodation in the 2025-2026 school year).

Response accommodations change how students answer questions. A scribe (R04) allows a student to dictate answers verbally to an educator who transcribes them — but this must always be paired with code R34 (printed test book), and the student must test in a separate 1-on-1 setting (T10) so they don't disrupt others. Assistive technology (R11) authorizes alternate response hardware like trackballs, touch screens, or custom keyboards for students who need them for motor or physical reasons.

Timing and setting accommodations include extended time and separate testing locations.

One important rule: accommodations on the WVGSA must reflect what the student actually uses in daily instruction. A student who has never used text-to-speech in the classroom should not suddenly receive it as a testing accommodation. Consistency between classroom use and test use matters for validity and for audit compliance.

If you aren't sure what accommodations your child is approved for on state testing, request a copy of the testing accommodations section from their IEP before the spring window opens. This is documentation you're entitled to review.

The West Virginia IEP & 504 Blueprint walks through how to read your child's accommodations documentation and how to flag discrepancies if the school is not implementing what's written.

The West Virginia Alternate Summative Assessment (WVASA)

The WVASA is a completely separate assessment designed for the approximately 1% of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. When a student takes the WVASA, they are assessed against the state's Alternate Academic Achievement Standards — a different set of learning targets than the standard College- and Career-Readiness Standards that other students work toward.

This distinction carries significant long-term consequences. Participating in the WVASA means a student's entire instructional program shifts to alternate standards, and successfully completing those standards leads to an Alternate Diploma rather than a standard high school diploma. This affects post-secondary pathways. Parents must be explicitly informed of this trajectory during the eligibility determination meeting.

How WVASA eligibility is determined

The IEP team must complete a formal Eligibility Determination Checklist, evaluating multiple pieces of evidence before placing a student on the alternate assessment. Eligibility cannot be based on disability category alone, native language, attendance or behavior issues, expected low performance on the general assessment, or the convenience of the district.

The checklist criteria are stringent. A student qualifies only if they have a significant cognitive disability that requires alternate achievement standards across all academic areas, not just one subject. If your child has a significant disability in some areas but can access grade-level curriculum in others with accommodations, the WVASA is likely not appropriate.

What to watch for as a parent

Districts occasionally recommend the WVASA for students who don't actually meet the eligibility criteria — sometimes because it simplifies instructional planning, sometimes because the school lacks staff to provide the level of support needed for a student to access grade-level content. Neither is an acceptable reason.

If your child's IEP team is recommending a shift to the WVASA and you weren't expecting it, ask for the completed Eligibility Determination Checklist, the specific evidence the team used, and a clear explanation of what the Alternate Diploma means for your child's post-secondary options. You have the right to disagree and request the team reconvene. A disagreement over alternate assessment placement can be documented through Prior Written Notice and, if unresolved, through a state complaint or mediation.

Conversely, if your child is currently on the WVASA but you believe they could access more of the general curriculum with better supports, that's a conversation to bring into the annual IEP review with current progress data in hand.

Accommodations Must Be in the IEP Before Testing

A common source of conflict: a parent assumes the school will provide a familiar classroom accommodation during testing, but it wasn't formally entered into WVEIS by the required deadline. Once the spring testing window opens, accommodations cannot be added retroactively.

If your child's IEP is being reviewed in the fall or winter, confirm that:

1. The testing accommodations section is explicitly addressed — not just classroom accommodations.
2. Each accommodation has the correct WVDE code (P, R, or T prefix) so it can be properly entered in WVEIS.
3. The accommodations listed are ones your child actually uses daily, so they're audit-defensible.

If a testing accommodation was missed and your child didn't receive it during a state assessment window, that is a procedural failure by the district. It should be documented and addressed in the next IEP meeting, and depending on the circumstances, it may support a compensatory education request.

The Bottom Line on WV State Testing

The WVGSA with appropriate accommodations is the right track for most students with IEPs and 504 plans. The WVASA is reserved for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities and carries a major trade-off in diploma pathway. Your job as a parent is to make sure the accommodations written into your child's IEP actually make it onto their testing profile before the window opens — and to push back firmly if you're being pressured toward alternate assessment eligibility without solid evidence to support it.

The West Virginia IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a testing accommodations reference guide with the current WVDE accommodation codes, a checklist for reviewing your child's IEP testing section before the spring window, and documentation templates for addressing testing failures. It's the kind of tool that's most useful months before the testing window — not the night before.

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