1. + Improving Accommodations Decisions for Low-Performing Students Laurene Christensen, Ph.D. National Center on Educational Outcomes

2. + What are accommodations? Accommodations are changes in materials or procedures that allow students to participate in instruction and assessment in a way that measures their abilities rather than disabilities (for students with disabilities) or proficiency in English (for English language learners). Without accommodations, the student may not have meaningful access to grade level instruction, and assessments may not accurately reflect the student’s skills and abilities.

3. + Changing landscape of testing accommodations PARCC Features for all students Accessibility features defined in advance Accommodations (available for students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities) Smarter Balanced Universal tools (available to all students) Designated supports (available to student with documentation of their use) Accommodations (available only for students with IEPs or 504 plans)

4. + Five Questions to Ask When Moving to Technology-based Platforms 1. Do technology-based assessments mean that students will no longer need accommodations? 2. What is the difference between accommodations, embedded features, and good testing practices? 3. Who makes decisions about what is used during an assessment and when are those decisions made? 4. What training is needed for teachers and students? 5. What should be tracked and documented within the technology-based platform?

5. + Accommodations Resources CCSSO/NCEO Accommodations Manuals Students with disabilities English language learners English language learners with disabilities Improving Accommodations Outcomes

6. + English Language and Disability Needs Framework (Shyyan et al. 2013) High English language needs Low disability- related needs High English language needs High disability- related needs Low English language needs Low disability- related needs Low English language needs High disability- related needs

7. + Accommodations Resources Online Training to Learn about Accommodations https://nceo.umn.edu/alabama IVARED online training http://ivared.org Accommodations bibliography

8. + laurene@umn.edu Thank you!