Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA): Eligibility, Levels, 2027 Dates

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) is Florida’s statewide, standardized alternate assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, aligned to the Access Points rather than to the general standards. It has two components, the Performance Task and the Datafolio, and the IEP team decides, with the parent’s written consent, who takes it. This guide covers the change from FSAA to FAA, eligibility, how each component works, subjects, achievement levels, the standard diploma, the 2026-27 dates and the FAA Portal. It describes state rules, not legal advice: check current FDOE guidance and district counsel when a decision is disputed.

Executive Summary

In 2024-25, 23,256 Florida students took the FAA as their only ELA test, 1.39% of those tested, with 1.48% in mathematics and 1.49% in science, according to the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). Federal rules cap participation at 1.0% per subject, and on December 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education declined to extend Florida’s waiver for 2025-26 because rates had risen in every subject.

The test itself changed recently. New ELA and mathematics items aligned to the B.E.S.T. Access Points were first given in 2023-24, and the State Board made the name Florida Alternate Assessment official in its rules in December 2024. For 2026-27, the spring Performance Task window opens on March 1, 2027.

What Is the Florida Alternate Assessment?

The Florida Alternate Assessment is a statewide, standardized assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, fully aligned to Florida’s alternate academic achievement standards, the Access Points, and offered in two components that form a continuum: the FAA Performance Task and the FAA Datafolio.

Access Points reflect the key concepts of the Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards in ELA and mathematics and of Florida’s statewide standards in science and social studies, at reduced levels of complexity, according to FDOE’s FAA page. Rule 6A-1.09963 calls them Access Points, Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AP-AAAS), and classifies them as modifications, which is why the decision carries weight; see accommodations vs modifications. How alternate assessments work nationally is covered in our alternate assessment guide.

From FSAA to FAA: What Changed

Sources: FDOE’s FAA page, which files FSAA documents under 2016-2023; the 2026 Understanding the FAA Performance Task Reports guide; and Rule 6A-1.09430, F.A.C. Science and social studies kept their earlier baselines. Many district pages and older forms still say FSAA; it is the same program.

Florida Alternate Assessment Eligibility

Under Rule 6A-1.0943(5), F.A.C., the IEP team makes the decision and records it in the IEP. The rule defines a most significant cognitive disability as a global cognitive impairment that adversely impacts multiple areas of functioning across many settings, results from a congenital, acquired or traumatic brain injury or syndrome, and is verified by a full-scale score of 67 or under (first percentile) or, when that score is unattainable, an FDOE-approved district procedure using data from multiple sources.

All of the rule’s criteria must be met. In short:

• Program: a current IEP and aligned access courses for two consecutive FTE reporting periods before the test.
• Instruction: specially designed and small-group foundational instruction, with very limited to no progress on the general standards.
• Evidence exhausted: modifications still needed after documented accommodations, materials, assistive technology and direct instruction.
• Opportunity to learn: present for grade-level instruction at least 70% of the prior year and taught by a certified teacher at least 80% of it, except transfer students.
• A fair measure: a cognitive test chosen to limit the impact of known impairments.

A student is not eligible if identified with a specific learning disability or as gifted, if identified only with certain disabilities such as a speech, language or orthopedic impairment, or after scoring level 2 or above on a previous general statewide test, absent a later documented brain injury or health complication (Rule 6A-1.0943(5)(d)). FDOE’s “Checklist for Course and Assessment Participation” turns these criteria into questions.

Parental Consent and Meeting Notice

Instruction in Access Points and administration of the alternate assessment both require the parent’s written informed consent on FDOE Form 313181, available in English and nine other languages (Rule 6A-6.0331(10), F.A.C.). A district may proceed without it only after documented reasonable efforts to which the parent did not respond, or through a due process hearing. When an IEP meeting is called to review or change these actions, the parent receives written notice at least 10 days before, unless the parent agrees to meet sooner. Dispute options are covered in Florida procedural safeguards.

Extraordinary and Medical Complexity Exemptions

An extraordinary exemption, requested at least 60 calendar days before the window, applies when a condition prevents a student from physically demonstrating mastered skills. A student with medical complexity may be exempted for one year by the superintendent, or for up to three years or permanently by the Commissioner, with parental consent (Rule 6A-1.0943(6) and (7)).

Performance Task or Datafolio?

Rule 6A-1.09430(4) designs the Performance Task for a student “who can make meaningful independent choices,” and the Datafolio for students who “typically do not have a formal mode of communication.” FDOE’s guidance asks four questions:

1. Communication: does the student communicate mainly through cries, facial expressions, eye gaze or muscle tone that observers must interpret?
2. Directions: does the student respond to sensory input but need physical help to follow simple directions?
3. Stimuli: does the student react mainly to stimuli, communicating only states such as hunger or fatigue?
4. Past results: did earlier Performance Task results show limited growth within Level 1? This does not apply in grades 3 and 4 or without earlier scores.

Three no answers point to the Performance Task; a yes to any of the first three, plus a yes to the fourth where it applies, points to the Datafolio.

Grades and Subjects Tested

Source: Rule 6A-1.09430(3) and the 2026 Performance Task reports guide. Both components cover the same grades and subjects.

How the FAA Performance Task Works

• Who gives it: the ESE teacher, a certified teacher or another trained licensed professional who knows the student well, one student at a time.
• Format: paper-based; the teacher records responses in the booklet, then enters them in the Response Entry Interface.
• Responses: usually a choice among three pictures, words, numbers or symbols; braille, large print, real objects and augmentative communication are available.
• Design: 16 item sets per content area. Each set has three tasks on one Access Point, from Task 1 (least complex) to Task 3 (most complex).
• Stopping rule: every student starts at Task 1 and continues until an incorrect answer or the end of Task 3. At Task 1 only, an incorrect answer leads to scaffolding: the options drop from three to two and the task is given again.
• Writing: ELA in grades 4-10 adds two writing prompts.

Source: Understanding the FAA Performance Task Reports (2026).

How the FAA Datafolio Works

The Datafolio measures progress, not a single performance. Each content area has three predetermined standards. For each, the teacher picks one of two or three classroom activities in the blueprint and gives the student five to eight opportunities to perform it. Evidence is uploaded to the Response Entry Interface and scored independently.

• Progress: less assistance, from physical help toward independence, and greater accuracy.
• Goals: set at the end of the first collection period.
• Scores: a progress score from 0 to 5 per standard, converted to achievement levels 1 to 3 (Rule 6A-1.09430).

Source: Understanding the FAA Datafolio Reports (2025-26). The daily data behind these goals are the same kind teachers keep in IEP data collection sheets.

Florida Alternate Assessment Levels and Scores

The minimum Level 3 score is the Performance Task passing score; in grade 3 ELA, Level 3 starts at 400. Grade-by-grade cut scores are in FDOE’s achievement levels table. Results can inform the present levels statement; see PLAAFP examples.

FAA Results and the Standard Diploma

A student on Access Points can earn a Florida standard diploma through access courses under Rule 6A-1.09963(3), F.A.C.:

• Participation in the alternate assessment in Access ELA I and II, Access Algebra I, Access Geometry, Access Biology I and Access U.S. History.
• A score of 3 on the alternate assessment in Access ELA II, Access Algebra I or Access Geometry, as the rule states, unless the IEP team waives the results.
• A waiver needs parental approval, is subject to review by an independent reviewer the parents choose, and requires a graduation portfolio of evidence.

FDOE’s parent FAQ adds that instruction on Access Points can limit future options because the standards are at lower complexity. Plan with transition IEP goals.

Florida Alternate Assessment Dates for 2026-27

Source: FDOE, 2026-2027 Florida Statewide Assessment Program Schedule (updated August 27, 2026). Districts set daily schedules within these windows.

The FAA Portal and Family Portal

• FAA Portal: faa.fsassessments.org has separate pages for families, teachers and assessment coordinators, for each component.
• For teachers: training modules in the learning management system, TIDE, a practice site for response entry, and the Response Entry Interface.
• For results: schools use PearsonAccess Next; families use the Family Portal.
• For families: report guides for both components in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

Florida and the 1% Cap

Florida’s participation has fallen since its first waiver request, from 1.54% in ELA and 1.63% in mathematics in 2018-19, but not below 1.0%, and rose slightly in 2024-25. Districts above 1.0% must justify their rates, and FDOE describes tiered supports and annual data discussions in its 2025-26 waiver extension request. The federal rule is explained in our alternate assessment guide.

English Learners Who Take the FAA

Florida English language learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities take WIDA Alternate ACCESS, a paper test given one-on-one in grades K-12, instead of WIDA ACCESS. FDOE requires Alternate ACCESS test administrators with certificates dated before September 1, 2025, to recertify for spring 2027. See WIDA Alternate ACCESS.

Funding and Staffing

The FAA is provided by the state; districts carry the staff time of one-on-one administration, Datafolio evidence collection over three periods, and annual training for every administrator, which FDOE requires. The Access Project, an IDEA-funded project of FDOE’s Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services, supports instruction in Access Points. How exceptional student education is organized and funded in Florida is covered in our exceptional student education guide.

Common Mistakes District Leaders Make

1. Treating the 67 score as the whole test. Every criterion must be met.
2. Missing the two FTE periods. Without them, the student takes the general assessment.
3. Proceeding without Form 313181 or documented reasonable efforts to obtain consent.
4. Choosing the Datafolio for convenience. It is for students without a formal mode of communication.
5. Starting Datafolio goals late. Goals are set after collection period 1, which closes on September 25, 2026.
6. Using old FSAA documents. ELA and mathematics items and achievement levels changed with the B.E.S.T. Access Points.
7. Leaving diploma planning to grade 11. The Level 3 requirement and waiver route should be explained when access courses begin.

Questions District Leaders Should Ask

• How many FAA students qualified through a full-scale score, and how many through our approved procedure?
• What share take the Datafolio, and is it stable?
• How many scored Level 3 or above in Access ELA II, Algebra I or Geometry?
• Did any student test without a signed consent form or documented efforts?
• How many FAA students returned to the general assessment this year?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Florida alternate assessment?

It is Florida’s statewide alternate assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, aligned to the Access Points. The Performance Task is a paper test given one-on-one in item sets of increasing complexity; the Datafolio measures progress on classroom activities across three collection periods for students without a formal mode of communication.

What is FSAA?

FSAA stands for Florida Standards Alternate Assessment, the name of Florida’s alternate assessment from 2015-16 through 2022-23. With new ELA and mathematics items aligned to the B.E.S.T. Access Points in 2023-24, it became the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA), made official in Rule 6A-1.09430 effective December 24, 2024. It still has a Performance Task and a Datafolio.

What are the Florida alternate assessment requirements?

The student must meet every criterion of Rule 6A-1.0943(5), F.A.C.: a current IEP, aligned access courses for two consecutive FTE periods, documented evidence that accommodations, materials, assistive technology and direct instruction were not enough, and a most significant cognitive disability verified by a full-scale score of 67 or under or an approved procedure. A parent consents in writing.

What are the Florida alternate assessment dates for 2026-27?

The Performance Task runs from March 1 to April 16, 2027, for grades 3-8 and Civics, and from March 8 to April 23, 2027, for high school ELA and EOC tests, with a fall makeup window from September 21 to October 23, 2026. Datafolio evidence is collected in three periods, the last from February 22 to March 26, 2027.

What are the Florida alternate assessment levels?

Performance Task results use four achievement levels, with Level 3 as satisfactory and the passing score; ELA and mathematics scale scores run from 340 to 460. Datafolio results use three levels, built from progress scores of 0 to 5 on each of three standards. Cut scores are set in Rule 6A-1.09430.

Can a student who takes the FAA earn a standard diploma?

Yes, through access courses under Rule 6A-1.09963, F.A.C. The student takes the alternate assessment in the required access courses and needs a score of 3 in Access ELA II, Access Algebra I or Access Geometry, unless the IEP team waives the results with parental approval, subject to an independent reviewer and supported by a graduation portfolio.

Related Resources

• Alternate Assessment: Who Qualifies and the 1% Cap
• Exceptional Student Education in Florida
• Florida Procedural Safeguards
• WIDA Alternate ACCESS
• Transition IEP Goals
• PLAAFP Examples

Conclusion

The Florida Alternate Assessment is the same two-part program many teachers knew as the FSAA, with new ELA and mathematics items and levels since the B.E.S.T. Access Points. What has not changed is where it succeeds or fails: an IEP team that applies every criterion of Rule 6A-1.0943, a signed consent, the right component, careful evidence through the year and an early, honest conversation with families about the diploma.

Sources: FDOE, Florida Alternate Assessment; Rule 6A-1.0943, F.A.C., Statewide Assessment for Students with Disabilities; Rule 6A-1.09430, F.A.C., Statewide, Standardized Alternate Assessment Program Requirements; Rule 6A-1.09963, F.A.C., High School Graduation Requirements for Students with Disabilities; Rule 6A-6.0331, F.A.C.; FDOE, Understanding the FAA Performance Task Reports (2026); FDOE, Understanding the FAA Datafolio Reports (2025-26); FDOE, 2026-2027 Florida Statewide Assessment Program Schedule; U.S. Department of Education, response to Florida’s 1.0 percent cap waiver extension request (December 31, 2025); FDOE, Frequently Asked Questions about Access Points and the Florida Alternate Assessment (2025). Other FDOE documents are linked where they are cited.

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