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Author: Benjamin J. Lovett
Publisher: Applying Psychology in the Sch
ISBN: 9781433817977
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Deciding whether to grant test accommodations for a student with disabilities is challenging and controversial. Current accommodations practice is seldom research based, and professionals charged with such decisions often reach different conclusions. The result can be either unnecessary accommodations that compromise test validity or the denial of accommodations to a student who needs them. In this book, Benjamin Lovett and Lawrence Lewandowski draw on research to offer clear, specific guidelines for deciding when accommodations are appropriate for a student with disabilities -- depending on the test being taken, the accommodations being considered, and the student's functional skills. The book also explains how laws and practices differ for K-12 accommodations versus postsecondary education and workplace accommodations, as well as how universal test design might lessen the need for test accommodations.
Author: Benjamin J. Lovett
Publisher: Applying Psychology in the Sch
ISBN: 9781433817977
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Deciding whether to grant test accommodations for a student with disabilities is challenging and controversial. Current accommodations practice is seldom research based, and professionals charged with such decisions often reach different conclusions. The result can be either unnecessary accommodations that compromise test validity or the denial of accommodations to a student who needs them. In this book, Benjamin Lovett and Lawrence Lewandowski draw on research to offer clear, specific guidelines for deciding when accommodations are appropriate for a student with disabilities -- depending on the test being taken, the accommodations being considered, and the student's functional skills. The book also explains how laws and practices differ for K-12 accommodations versus postsecondary education and workplace accommodations, as well as how universal test design might lessen the need for test accommodations.
Author: Stephen N. Elliott
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 22
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Book Description
The inclusion of students with disabilities in assessment is deemed critical to improve the quality of educational opportunities for these students and to provide meaningful and useful information about students' performance to the schools and communities where they are educated. This inclusion raises important questions, however, concerning the appropriateness of common performance standards and assessments for students with disabilities, the appropriate accommodations to use on tests, the effects of these accommodations on the validity of assessment results, and the reporting of scores when accommodations have been used. In this article, we (a) review definitional and legal issues associated with testing accommodations, (b) discuss validity issues that confront educators who must make decisions about the use and likely effects of testing accommodations, and (c) summarize the results of four experimental studies we have conducted that examined the statistical effects of accommodations on test scores of students with and without disabilities. The article concludes that educators collectively need to (a) have knowledge of the abilities and disabilities of the students they are testing, (b) be knowledgeable about the students' instructional accommodations and the state's or district's testing guidelines, (c) be familiar with the test's item content and format, (d) understand the concept of validity and what it means to invalidate a test score, and (e) have knowledge of any previous accommodations successfully used with the students. In summary, educators are required to make professional judgments about which testing accommodations are most likely to be valid for individual students prior to testing. This is relatively difficult for most educators and very important work because "good" test scores are hard to come by and highly valued. (Contains 1 footnote.).
Author: Rahul Ganguly
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Federal legislation mandates all students, including those with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD), to participate in state assessments. For most students with E/BD, testing accommodations are necessary for participating in large scale state assessments. Yet years after the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 and Title 1 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, there is a dearth of literature addressing testing accommodations used by students with E/BD on large scale state assessments. To address this gap, this study examined the testing accommodations used by students with E/BD on standardized assessments in reading and mathematics. The specific objectives of this study were to: (a) describe the personal, academic and behavioral characteristics of the students with E/BD who would most likely participate in state assessments, (b) identify the testing accommodations provided to the students with E/BD on state assessments in reading and mathematics, (c) explore the perceived functions of the testing accommodations for students with E/BD with respect to teachers0́9 perceptions and decision-making about accommodation use on state assessments, and (d) examine the differences in the number of testing accommodation, if any, as a function of personal, academic and behavioral characteristics of the students with E/BD. Data were collected in two phases. During the first phase, mail surveys were used to gather data from a nationwide sample of 290 elementary/middle school special education teachers. In the second phase of the study, qualitative phone interviews were conducted with a subset of 30 respondents to gather information about the decision making process used for recommending test accommodations. Quantitative as well as qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that a majority of the students with E/BD who were most likely to participate in state assessments were male, white, and required prescription medicine to manage their emotional problems. Academically, reading and math skills of nearly two thirds of the sample were one or more years below grade level. Behaviorally, most of the students with E/BD in the sample exhibited externalized problem behaviors of moderate to severe intensity. On state assessments in both reading and mathematics, most students with E/BD received sets of accommodations. Testing accommodations included scheduling, setting, and presentation categories which were more often recommended than response and equipment/material categories. The five of the most often used testing accommodations in both reading and mathematics were extended time, small group testing, frequent breaks, read aloud directions, and praise/encouragement to continue. Audio/video equipment and magnification equipment were the least frequently used testing accommodations. On assessments in both reading and mathematics, the number of testing accommodation varied as function of student characteristics including ethnicity, diagnosis, primary educational setting, reading ability, math ability, anticipated student performance, and the severity of students0́9 behavioral problems. The strength of relationships between the dependent and independent variables ranged from small to large, with the severity of problem behaviors accounting for the largest variance. In this study, most teachers perceived the functions of testing accommodations as social/ behavioral. Follow-up interviews indicated the teachers0́9 decisions were often based on what the testing accommodations would do for the student: (a) increase access to test materials, or (b) optimize his/her performance during testing. In addition, teacher judgments outweighed data based evidence during the decision making process for selecting testing accommodations. The findings of this study have several implications for policy, research and practice. One of the key implications is to design tests that reduce the influence of negative emotional attributes such as test anxiety and frustration. Another key implication of this study is the need for teachers to undergo training to equip them with skills to not only select and monitor the effectiveness of the testing accommodations, but also to help students with E/BD deal with stress and anxiety on testing situations. A third implication of this study is the immediate need to develop research designs that evaluate the effectiveness of the sets of testing accommodations. The study concludes by discussing the limitations and highlighting areas for the future research on testing accommodations for students with E/BD.
Author: Committee on Appropriate Test Use
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309524954
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 351
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Book Description
Everyone is in favor of "high education standards" and "fair testing" of student achievement, but there is little agreement as to what these terms actually mean. High Stakes looks at how testing affects critical decisions for American students. As more and more tests are introduced into the country's schools, it becomes increasingly important to know how those tests are used--and misused--in assessing children's performance and achievements. High Stakes focuses on how testing is used in schools to make decisions about tracking and placement, promotion and retention, and awarding or withholding high school diplomas. This book sorts out the controversies that emerge when a test score can open or close gates on a student's educational pathway. The expert panel: Proposes how to judge the appropriateness of a test. Explores how to make tests reliable, valid, and fair. Puts forward strategies and practices to promote proper test use. Recommends how decisionmakers in education should--and should not--use test results. The book discusses common misuses of testing, their political and social context, what happens when test issues are taken to court, special student populations, social promotion, and more. High Stakes will be of interest to anyone concerned about the long-term implications for individual students of picking up that Number 2 pencil: policymakers, education administrators, test designers, teachers, and parents.
Author: Martha L. Thurlow
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 0761938095
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
This book is intended to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities in district and state assessments as required by the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. First, an introductory chapter offers reasons for including students with disabilities in district and statewide accountability systems. Chapters 2 through 6 address the specifics of including children with disabilities, such as deciding how students participate in district and state tests, eligibility for assessment accommodations, how to decide which accommodations are appropriate for use in assessments, the characteristics of alternate assessments, and including English language learners with disabilities in assessments. Chapters 7 through 10 address using assessment results, how the Individualized Education Program (IEP) can be restructured to promote greater participation in the accountability system, teacher and service provider collaboration, gaining support from administrators, parent involvement in testing decisions, and the legalities of restructuring accountability systems that include all students. Extensive appendices include sample forms and worksheets for participation decision making, IEP development, assessment accommodations, and student feedback; checklists of criteria for deciding about participation, accommodations, and assessment type; a guide to staff development; and a list of Technical Assistance and Dissemination Networks. (Individual chapters identify additional resources.) (CR).
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309092531
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 151
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Book Description
U.S. public schools are responsible for educating large numbers of English language learners and students with disabilities. This book considers policies for including students with disabilities and English language learners in assessment programs. It also examines the research findings on testing accommodations and their effect on test performance. Keeping Score for All discusses the comparability of states' policies with each other and with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) policies and explores the impact of these differences on the interpretations of NAEP results. The book presents a critical review of the research literature and makes suggestions for future research to evaluate the validity of test scores obtained under accommodated conditions. The book concludes by proposing a new framework for conceptualizing accommodations. This framework would be useful both for policymakers, test designers, and practitioners in determining appropriate accommodations for specific assessments and for researchers in planning validity studies.
Author: Michael Russell
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1617353167
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 493
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Book Description
The importance of student assessment, particularly for summative purposes, has increased greatly over the past thirty years. At the same time, emphasis on including all students in assessment programs has also increased. Assessment programs, whether they are large-scale, district-based, or teacher developed, have traditionally attempted to assess students using a single instrument administered to students under the same conditions. Educators and test developers, however, are increasingly acknowledging that this practice does not result in valid information, inferences, and decisions for all students. This problem is particularly true for students in the margins, whose characteristics and needs differ from what the public thinks of as the general population of students. Increasingly, educators, educational leaders, and test developers are seeking strategies, techniques, policies, and guidelines for assessing students for whom standard assessment instruments do not function well. Whether used for high-stakes decisions or classroom-based formative decisions, the most critical element of any educational assessment is validity. Developing and administering assessment instruments that provide valid measures and allow for valid inferences and decisions for all groups of students presents a major challenge for today’s assessment programs. Over the past few decades, several national policies have sparked research and development efforts that aim to increase test validity for students in the margins. This book explores recent developments and efforts in three important areas. The first section focuses on strategies for improving test validity through the provision of test accommodations. The second section focuses on alternate and modified assessments. Federal policies now allow testing programs to develop and administer alternate assessments for students who have not been exposed to grade-level content, and thus are not expected to demonstrate proficiency on grade-level assessments. A separate policy allows testing programs to develop modified assessments that will provided more useful information about achievement for a small percentage of students who are exposed to grade-level content but for whom the standard form of the grade-level test does not provide a valid measure of achievement. These policies are complex and can be confusing for educators who are not familiar with their details. The chapters in the second section unpack these policies and explore the implications these policies have for test design. The third and final section of the book examines how principles of Universal Design can be applied to improve test validity for all students. Collectively, this volume presents a comprehensive examination of the several issues that present challenges for assessing the achievement of all students. While our understanding of how to overcome these challenges continues to evolve, the lessons, strategies, and avenues for future research explored in this book empower educators, test developers, and testing programs with a deeper understanding of how we can improve assessments for students in the margins.
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309057892
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 305
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Book Description
In the movement toward standards-based education, an important question stands out: How will this reform affect the 10% of school-aged children who have disabilities and thus qualify for special education? In Educating One and All, an expert committee addresses how to reconcile common learning for all students with individualized education for "one"â€"the unique student. The book makes recommendations to states and communities that have adopted standards-based reform and that seek policies and practices to make reform consistent with the requirements of special education. The committee explores the ideas, implementation issues, and legislative initiatives behind the tradition of special education for people with disabilities. It investigates the policy and practice implications of the current reform movement toward high educational standards for all students. Educating One and All examines the curricula and expected outcomes of standards-based education and the educational experience of students with disabilitiesâ€"and identifies points of alignment between the two areas. The volume documents the diverse population of students with disabilities and their school experiences. Because approaches to assessment and accountability are key to standards-based reforms, the committee analyzes how assessment systems currently address students with disabilities, including testing accommodations. The book addresses legal and resource implications, as well as parental participation in children's education.
Author: Gerald Tindal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 50
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Book Description
In this paper we review different methods for teachers to recommend accommodations in large scale tests. Then we present data on the stability of their judgments on variables relevant to this decision-making process. The outcomes from the judgments support the need for a more explicit model. Four general categories are presented: student proficiency, ease of completing various (test relevant) activities, benefit from the use of various accommodations, and provision of accommodations in the classroom. Both mean level of ratings and stability of ratings argue against continued use of informal systems. (Contains 25 tables.) [This research was supported by Project AVAD--Adding Value to Accommodations Decision-Making through a contract with South Carolina Department of Education, as part of a 2006 Enhanced Assessment Instruments Grant funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, U. S. Department of Education.].
Author: Melissa J. Margolis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351064762
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
Integrating Timing Considerations to Improve Testing Practices synthesizes a wealth of theory and research on time issues in assessment into actionable advice for test development, administration, and scoring. One of the major advantages of computer-based testing is the capability to passively record test-taking metadata—including how examinees use time and how time affects testing outcomes. This has opened many questions for testing administrators. Is there a trade-off between speed and accuracy in test taking? What considerations should influence equitable decisions about extended-time accommodations? How can test administrators use timing data to balance the costs and resulting validity of tests administered at commercial testing centers? In this comprehensive volume, experts in the field discuss the impact of timing considerations, constraints, and policies on valid score interpretations; administrative accommodations, test construction, and examinees’ experiences and behaviors; and how to implement the findings into practice. These 12 chapters provide invaluable resources for testing professionals to better understand the inextricable links between effective time allocation and the purposes of high-stakes testing.
