Digging Into the Data to Learn More About Low Performing Student with Disabilities Sheryl Lazarus Successfully Transitioning Away from the 2% Assessment Meeting Atlanta, GA February 11-12, 2014 National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

This presentation will describe how a few states are using data to learn more about low performing students with disabilities. National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) Overview and Purpose As you listen to this presentation, think about how your state might look at its own data to learn more about the students participating in the AA-MAS.

Multi- State GSEG Consortium Members

Some Questions States Had National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) What are the characteristics of low performing students? Is it an assessment issue or an instructional issue? o And, if it’s an assessment issue—is a new test needed or more universally accessible general assessments? o If it’s an instructional issue, is the issue—access to the content?... IEP teams that don’t know how to write and implement standards-based IEPs?...an accommodations issue?...

Longitudinal Analysis of State Data Sets National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Male Students Source: Lazarus, Wu, Altman, & Thurlow (2010) Reading, Grades 5 and 8

Minority Source: Lazarus, Wu, Altman, & Thurlow (2010) Reading, Grades 5 and 8

Free-Reduced Lunch Source: Lazarus, Wu, Altman, & Thurlow (2010) Reading, Grades 5 and 8

Special Education. Reading, grades 5 and 8 Source: Lazarus, Wu, Altman, & Thurlow (2010)

Percentage of Low Performing (LP) Students Who Stay or Move Out of LP Across Three Years Legend: Dark Purple: PLP; Medium Purple: move in and out; Light Purple: first year only Source: Lazarus, Wu, Altman, & Thurlow, (2010)

. Persistently Low Performance Accommodations Practices (AL, SD, TN) Nature of Instruction Received (SD, TN, WI) Effects of Learning Progressions (HI) Digging Deeper Individual State Analyses and Studies

Digging Deeper Accommodations Issues National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) Additional Individual State Analyses and Studies South Dakota Alabama

Digging Deeper South Dakota Source: Wu, Thurlow, Lazarus, Christian, & Turner (2011) Source: Wu, Lazarus, Thurlow, & Turner (2010) Average Number of Accommodations by Performance Group

. Average Number of Accommodations by Placement Source: Wu, Lazarus, Thurlow & Turner (2010)

Qualitative Studies Cognitive Labs Focus Groups (Test Administrators) National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

Student Performance Source: Lazarus, Thurlow, Rieke, Halpin & Dillon (2012)

Number of Students Who Performed at Selected Levels With and Without the Read Aloud Accommodation. Source: Lazarus, Thurlow, Rieke, Halpin & Dillon (2012)

Focus Groups Purpose: The study sought to learn more about test administrators’ perceptions of the read-aloud accommodation. Research questions: 1.What are appropriate practices in administration of the read-aloud accommodation? 2.How does the read-aloud accommodation benefit students? 3.What differences exist in the use of the read-aloud accommodation in math versus other content areas (e.g. reading, science)? 4.What differences exist between the read-aloud accommodation and other accommodations for students? Source: Hodgson, Lazarus, Price, Altman, & Thurlow (2012)

. QuestionFocus Group Responses How does the read-aloud accommodation benefit students? Promotes cognitive engagement (e.g., focus, attention, and motivation) Promotes social-emotional engagement (e.g., reduces anxiety and frustration) Pacing Increases student performance Source: Hodgson, Lazarus, Price, Altman, & Thurlow (2012)

Digging Deeper Alabama Which factors influence IEP team decisions about how accommodations are used for instruction and assessment? Are there differences in the factors and considerations identified by respondents for selecting instructional and assessment accommodations? What are the most frequently used accommodations for instruction and assessment? Source: Altman, et al. (2010) Research Questions Survey –Special Education Teachers

Special education teachers were asked to select three factors that influenced IEP decisions about accommodations used on statewide assessments Source: Altman, et al. (2010)

Online Accommodations Training Modules Available at:

. Fast Forward a Few Years....

. Lessons Learned in Federally Funded Projects That Can Improve the Instruction and Assessment of Low Performing Students with Disabilities Summarizes findings of 14 projects involving 26 states. Projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education in under three funding sources (General Supervision Enhancement Grants, Enhanced Assessment Grants, and Supplemental Funding) Source: Thurlow, Lazarus & Bechard (Eds.) (2013)

ELLs with Disabilities Example from One State State wanted to learn more about the characteristics of ELLs with disabilities Discovered data limitations –Data not collected for some relevant variables –Data silos (Special Education, ELL) State made revisions to its system so that better data will be available in the future National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)

What questions do you have about low performing students with disabilities or the assessments they take that data might help answer? (If you need a some ideas, see handout for a few suggestions.)

For More Information National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) Sheryl Lazarus

. References (Available at Hodgson, J.R., Lazarus, S.S., Price, L.M., Altman, J.R., & Thurlow, M.L. (2012). Test administrators’ perspectives on the use of the read aloud accommodation in math on state tests for accountability. (Technical Report 66). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. Lazarus, S.S., Thurlow, M.L., Rieke, R., Halpin, D. & Dillon, T. (2012). Using cognitive labs to evaluate student experiences with the read aloud accommodation in math. (Technical Report 67). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. Lazarus, S.S., Wu, Y., Altman, J., & Thurlow, M.L. (2010). The characteristics of low performing students on large-scale assessments (NCEO Brief). Minneapolis MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes Thurlow, M.L., Lazarus, S.S. & Bechard, S. (Eds.) (2013). Lessons learned in federally funded projects that can improve the instruction and assessment of low performing students with disabilities. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. Wu, Y., Lazarus, S.S., Thurlow, M.L., & Turner, L. (2010). What have we learned about student characteristics, accommodations, and AA-MAS? Paper presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, Denver CO, April 30-May 4.