Accommodation for Challenge, Diversity and Variance in Human Characteristics

Abstract

Assessment accommodations emerged during the 1990s as the avenue to access for students with disabilities. Defined at that time as changes in materials or procedures that provided access to largescale assessments, accommodations became both the hope of students, parents, and educators of students with disabilities, and the bane of test developers and psychometricians.Accommodations were seen as the way to ensure that students with disabilities could participate in national, state, and district assessments at a time when lack of participation was the norm rather than the exception (Kantrowitz & Springen, 1997; Shriner, Spande, & Thurlow, 1994; Ysseldyke, Algozzine, & Thurlow, 1992; Ysseldyke, Thurlow, & Linn, 1999; Zlatos, 1994). Today, accommodations are viewed as a way to ensure that assessments really avoid measuring construct irrelevant variance and instead measure what students with disabilities know and are able to do. Accommodations are defined in a variety of ways that conform to this critical element-the validity of results when accommodations are used (Bolt & Roach, 2009; Laitusis & Cook, 2007).Much has changed since the early 1990s, with nearly 99% of students with disabilities now participating in state assessments (Thurlow & Vang, 2014). Just as participation rates and perceptions of accommodations have changed, so too has the context of instructional and assessment systems. These changes are part of an evolution that leads to continued questions about the extent to which accommodations are needed, and who needs them.The purpose of this article is to explore some of the continuing evolution in instructional and assessment accommodations. This will be done by providing background on the theoretical perspectives underlying assessment accommodations, including the history of accommodations, accommodation policies, and validity considerations. The author will address changing perspectives on accessible assessments and the implications of these changes for instructional and assessment accommodations. Also, the author will explore ways in which educational needs, not due to disability or limited English proficiency, are being addressed through greater accessibility in assessments and through the provision of accommodations. This topic is particularly relevant to students from diverse backgrounds. Many of these students are identified as struggling learners, and are frequently among those identified as having a disability or limited English proficiency. Finally, lessons learned from disability research and practice will be summarized that have application to students other than those with identified disabilities or limited English proficiency while not attempting to address accommodations in the array of alternate assessments that federal policy has allowed for students with disabilities.A landmark study by the National Research Council (McDonnell, McLaughlin, & Morison, 1997) explored the apparent exclusion of students with disabilities from many of the benefits of educational reform. It confirmed the importance of the participation of students with disabilities in large-scale assessments, particularly statewide assessments, if students with disabilities were to benefit from standards-based educational reforms. This study also pointed to the importance of accommodations for students in order for them to have access to the general curriculum, and to be able to show their knowledge and skills on assessments.Perspectives on assessment accommodations have changed quite dramatically over time. Initially, accommodations were viewed as a way to level the playing field as well as to improve the validity of assessment results (Bums, 1998; McDonnell, McLaughlin, & Morison, 1997; Thurlow, Elliott, & Ysseldyke, 1998) and to provide a way for students to take assessments when they otherwise would not be able to take them. These goals do not necessarily mean that student performance will improve (Thurlow, Elliott, & Ysseldyke, 2003). …