What a Wonderful World of Diversity: Issues and Implications Martha L. Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes Accommodations in State Policies

Topics Frequency of use of assessment accommodations What policies/guidelines tell us Issues and implications

Frequency of Use? Tracking use of accommodations was difficult in the past Thurlow (2002) documented percentages using accommodations from 8% to 84% per state at a given school level.

States Capable of Reporting on Accommodations Use (2005) 46 regular states 2 unique states (26 regular and 2 unique can report on specific accommodations used)

State Policies and Guidelines Determine who may receive accommodations during testing Drive what is supposed to happen in state testing May or may not be related to what happens after K-12 education

Study of 2005 Accommodations Policy and Guidelines Searched Web sites of the 50 states (policies collected through January 15, 2005) Completed tables for all states and all accommodations (with notations) Sent data to state for verification (June 2005) Made changes only with written documentation

Who Receives Accommodations (besides IEP students)? 504 students (41 states) ELLs with IEPs (25 states) All students, with qualifications (6 states) All students (no qualifications) (2 states) Other (11 states)

Criteria Used to Guide Decisions

Criteria Not Used to Guide Decisions

What Happens When Needed Accommodations Are Not Listed? Number of States

Key to Current Policy Summaries A = Allowed A* = Allowed, but considered a non-standard accommodation (no implications for scoring or aggregation) AI = Allowed with implications for scoring and/or aggregation AC = Allowed in certain circumstances P = Prohibited

AA*ACAIAC/AIP Large Print Braille Sign Directions Read Aloud Direct Repeat Directions Visual Cues Familiar Examiner Admin. by Others Sign Questions Addtl. Examples Read Aloud Quest Presentation Accommodations

AACAIAC/AIP Proctor/Scribe Write in Test Booklet Brailler Tape Recorder Computer/Mach Sign Responses Comm. Device Pointing Speech/Text Dev Spell Checker Response Accommodations

AACAIAC/AIP With Breaks Extended Time Time Beneficial to Student Multiple Sessions Over Multiple Days Scheduling/Timing Accommodations

AACAIAC/AIP Individual Small Group Carrel Seat Location Separate Room Minimize Dist Student’s Home Special Ed. Classroom Setting Accommodations

States with Access Assistant Guidelines

Access Assistants – differences in what is included (e.g., scribe) Is assistant familiar to student or certified person? Can test be viewed before administration? Can scribe spell and punctuate first, then student fixes?

Issue: Research-based Practice Accommodations research is notorious for providing different outcomes. There are many reasons for this related to the complications of conducting the research.

Issue: Decision-making Challenges Despite criteria to be used to make decisions and not to be used to make decisions about accommodations, it is still difficult for educators to determine what accommodations students need.

Issue: What Happens When Non- Allowed Accommodations are Used? In the past, this has been a hidden issue. Some states quietly gave students scores of zero when they used an accommodation that the state said was not allowed or was a “modification.” Other states did nothing.

Now, State Policies Do Interact with Federal Policies December 15, 2005 NPRM indicated that reports on assessment must include only the number of children provided accommodations that did not invalidate the score – “Title I regulations would only consider a student to be a participant for AYP purposes if his or her assessment results in a valid score.”

Issue: K-12 Versus Post- Secondary Policies There is little evidence that K-12 policies have been influenced by post-secondary policies. In fact, there seems to be quite a disconnect.

Issue: Designing Assessments to Alleviate Accommodation Issues The notions of universal design or more accessible assessments have been held up as the solution to many of our accommodations issues – is there any evidence that this is going to work?

Implications: More Work New research approaches (by item) Professional development needed (for improved decision making) Auditing and follow necessary (for better implementation) Continued improvement of assessments essential