Testing Accommodations For Students Research Articles

Digital Module 31: Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

AbstractStudents with disabilities often take tests under different conditions than their peers do. Testing accommodations, which involve changes to test administration that maintain test content, include extending time limits, presenting written text through auditory means, and taking a test in a private room with fewer distractions. For some students with disabilities, accommodations such as these are necessary for fair assessment; without accommodations, invalid interpretations would be made on the basis of these students’ scores. However, when misapplied, accommodations can also diminish fairness, introduce new sources of construct‐irrelevant variance, and also lead to invalid interpretation of test scores. This module provides a psychometric framework for thinking about accommodations, and then explicates an accommodations decision‐making framework that includes a variety of considerations. Problems with current accommodations practices are discussed, along with potential solutions and future directions. The module is accompanied by exercises allowing participants to apply their understanding.

Practical study on test accommodations for students with visual impairments based on scientific evidence.

Professor Yasushi Nakano, based in the Faculty of Economics, Keio University in Japan, is carrying out interconnected research studies geared towards improving the quality of life for people with visual impairments, which specifically includes university students in Japan. A particular goal for Nakano is creating a high-quality higher-education environment in which students with visual impairments can flourish. As part of this, he and his team are working to create an accessible textbook system and accessible test conditions for students with visual impairments.

Private Room Testing Accommodations for Students with ADHD

Private Room Testing Accommodations for Students with ADHD

Identifying Appropriate Test Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

Identifying Appropriate Test Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

Identifying Appropriate Test Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

Identifying Appropriate Test Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

The Study on Test Accommodations for Students with Developmental Disabilities placed in Special Classroom Settings

The Study on Test Accommodations for Students with Developmental Disabilities placed in Special Classroom Settings

Statewide Testing of Reading and Possible Implications for Students With Disabilities

This article reports on findings from a review of statewide large-scale test blueprints. The qualitative and descriptive numerical review of themes found in state blueprints provides information on trends in statewide reading assessments. These trends are then set against the backdrop of testing accommodations for students with disabilities. Results indicate that most constructs tested in statewide assessments are amenable to accommodations, but some present challenges (e.g., those that test foundational skills of reading such as phonemic awareness). Next steps are proposed, focusing on both paper-based and computerized statewide tests.

Test Accommodations for Students With Disabilities: An Analysis of the Interaction Hypothesis

Test accommodations are often given to students with disabilities as one means of removing construct-irrelevant barriers to proper measurement of their knowledge, skills, and abilities. However, the practice is controversial. This article reviews numerous studies that focused on the effects of accommodations on test performance. Consistent conclusions were not found across studies because of the wide variety of accommodations, the various ways in which they were implemented, and the heterogeneity of students to whom they were given. But two consistent findings emerged: Extended time tended to improve the performance of all students, although students with disabilities tended to exhibit relatively greater score gains; and oral accommodations on math tests were associated with increased test performance for some students with disabilities.

Assessing Student Performance in Distance Education Courses: Implications for Testing Accommodations for Students with Learning Disabilities

In the virtual learning community of distance education, instructors must take into account the increased diversity of learners when determining assessment practices, test formats, and assessment strategies. This article highlights some of the defining characteristics of distance education courses and their impact on traditional assessment practices for instructors and students, including those with learning disabilities. Current diagnostic procedures, and psychoeducational reports in particular, typically offer little or no guidance on how to effectively assess students with learning disabilities in distance education courses. Understanding the interface between a technologically mediated environment and the cognitive processes involved in learning paves the way for more effective assessment of performance and more relevant evaluation reports for students with learning disabilities. The implications for adapting traditional test accommodations are also discussed.

Raising the Academic Standards Bar

In the past decade, 49 states have adopted rigorous curriculum standards. This has resulted in a significant impact on special education policy and practice. A research team consisting of 12 doctoral students and a faculty advisor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, reviewed published state standards, primary assessment procedures, and provisions related to participation by students with disabilities, to determine answers to six questions: (a) Have states adopted standards assessment criteria? (b) Are states using performance rewards and sanctions to motivate educators and students? (c) Do states require all students with disabilities to participate in the state assessment process? (d) Have states developed policies regarding testing accommodations for students with disabilities? (e) Do states link assessment performance to high school graduation? (f) How are states approaching alternate assessments? Research across states found differences in the ways in which assessment issues are being addressed and the potential impact that these policies will have on educational opportunities for students with disabilities.

Prevalence of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Participating in a Statewide Testing Program

This study reports empirical data on the use of various test accommodations for students with disabilities participating in the Missouri Assessment Program. The findings indicate that three accommodations, extended time, small-group administration, and read-aloud, account for nearly all of the students using an accommodation. The results also demonstrate that accommodations are rarely used in isolation. Students using one accommodation are very likely to use at least one additional accommodation. Although the read-aloud accommodation was not the most frequently used, we argue that more emphasis should be given to studying the effects of this accommodation.

Educators' Perceptions and Documentation of Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Abstract Many educators have limited experience in planning and using testing accommodations for state and/or district testing. Recent changes in federal and state laws have confronted many educators with the requirement of using accommodations for students with disabilities in efforts to include them in assessments. This two-part investigation focused on educators' use of the Assessment Accommodation Checklist (AAC) (Elliott, Kratochwill, & Schulte, 1996) to facilitate selection of assessment accommodations for two hypothetical students with disabilities who are taking either a test featuring multiple-choice items or performance tasks. The volunteer participants in this study included 92 educators from Wisconsin and 26 state-level educational leaders from across the United States. Results suggested that educators do not recommend significantly more accommodations for use with a student with a severe disability than a student with a more mild disability. However, educators recommended significantly more a...

The National Center On Educational Outcomes

The Online Accommodations Bibliography allows users to search a compilation of empirical research studies on the effects of various testing accommodations for students with disabilities. The studies included in the bibliography are those previously summarized in Tindal, G. & Fuchs, L.S. (1999) A Summary of Research on Test Changes: An Empirical Basis for Defining Testing Accommodations, as well as additional research studies presented or published in more recent years. Plans are underway to include similar studies on students with limited English proficiency.

Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

With a national reform agenda that includes all american students and federal legislation barring job discrimination against individuals with disabilities, concerns have mounted about how to accurately assess persons with disabilities. including these individuals in the assessment process often requires the modification of tests and testing procedures. along with these modifications come many complicated issues. this article reviews the literature pertaining to testing accommodations for people with disabilities. we address policy and legal considerations, existing standards, research on current practice, and research on technical concerns. we examine the relatively limited set of empirical studies on accommodations and assessments (many of which were conducted by test publishers) and recommend a significant program of research on testing accommodations for students with disabilities.