Accommodation Decisions:

1. Accommodation Decisions: Policy, Training, and Monitoring as Critical Aspects of an Objective Approach Martha L. Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes www.nceo.info CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment Orlando, FL June 17, 2008

2. The challenges in selecting assessment accommodations are many – they include: • Use of evidence to judge the effectiveness and validity of accommodations • Appropriate policy setting, with strong rationales about the validity of accommodations – when experimental studies have not been conducted or cannot be conducted • Training of decision makers • Monitoring of what actually happens to ensure that there is validity

3. Summaries of Published Evidence • Summaries available since 1999 (with spotty reviews before that) • Tindal & Fuchs summary in 1999 • NCEO summaries of 1999-2001; 2002-2004; 2005-2006 • Sireci, Scarpati, & Li summary of 2005 (in Review of Educational Research) • The evidence basis for accommodations is very important – yet, does not answer all the policy questions.

4. Number of Accommodations Studies

5. * From Johnstone, Altman, Thurlow, & Thompson (2006). ** From Zenisky & Sireci (2007).

6. What is Studied? • Extended time, oral administration are most often studies (followed by computer administration) • Studying multiple accommodations at one time has fallen dramatically • The most frequently allowed accommodations (large print, individual, small group, magnification, braille) are studied less often; accommodations used by small numbers of students are rarely studied

7. Policy Setting Requires More Than Research Evidence • Research evidence may focus on different standards from those of the state, or be based on different selection criteria for students using the accommodation • States may find that conducting research is very difficult to do – given all the complexities that arise when doing this research

8. Steps States Need to Take • Examine data on use of accommodations • Develop good policies, documenting the rationale for each accommodation • Provide guidance for human suppliers of accommodations • Provide training of teachers and decision makers • Monitor on test days, and examine relation to decisions and instruction

9. Examine Data Multiple Ways • By category of disability • By grade or school level • By type of accommodation or specific accommodations of interest • By other factors that may be important • Ethnicity • Socioeconomic status

10. Reading Assessment Accommodation Rates in Elementary School: Percentage of Students with IEPs Taking the Regular Reading Assessment with Accommodations 32 54 63 2005-2006 40 8 72 47 55 52 md 22 40 md 71 md 42 53 79 77 47 52 61 52 41 49 63 36 39 59 80 69 61 11 24 33 71 66 57 69 35 67 52 47 45 20 62 AS 1 73 94 BIE 64 59 CNMI 65 73 DC Key 71 FSM ≥ 75% (n=3 regular states and 1 unique states) md GU 67 Palau 50% - 74% (n=25 regular states and 5 unique states) md PR 26% - 49% (n=13 regular states and 1 unique states) 59 RMI < 25% (n=6 regular states and 0 unique states) md VI 43 md =missing data (n=3 regular states and 3 unique states) From NCEO analysis of APR data – Thurlow et al., 2008

11. Reading Assessment Accommodation Rates in High School: Percentage of Students with IEPs Taking the Regular Reading Assessment with Accommodations 18 53 43 2005-2006 36 5 51 44 53 47 md md 37 md 70 57 45 42 76 77 53 md 38 73 49 23 41 27 35 59 79 65 43 5 46 0 59 46 81 59 22 66 56 50 62 0 61 AS 0 100 59 BIE 39 22 CNMI 28 42 DC Key 48 FSM ≥ 75% (n=4 regular states and 1 unique state) md GU 61 Palau 50% - 74% (n=17 regular states and 2 unique states) md PR 26% - 49% (n=17 regular states and 3 unique states) 46 RMI < 25% (n=8 regular states and 1 unique state) md VI md =missing data (n=4 regular states and 3 unique states) 53 From NCEO analysis of APR data – Thurlow et al., 2008

12. Policy Setting Think about the need for changes each year. States with Read Aloud Question Changes in Policy – comparing 2003 to 2005 and 2007 Number of States No changes since 2003 19 One change since 2003 19 Two changes since 2003 12 From NCEO Data Viewer at http://data.nceo.info

13. Constrain the Number of Students Using Certain Accommodations Examples from States • Massachusetts • Texas

14. Massachusetts – Read Aloud

15. Texas – Bundled Accommodations Eligibility for Dyslexia Bundled Accommodations A student who meets the following criteria is eligible to receive the three bundled accommodations on English or Spanish TAKS, including TAKS (Accommodated), reading tests at grades 3–6, or English TAKS, including TAKS (Accommodated), reading tests at grades 7 and 8. A student not receiving special education services must be identified with dyslexia. A student receiving special education services must either be identified with dyslexia or have a severe reading disability that exhibits the characteristics of dyslexia, causing the student to lack word-identification skills and to have difficulty reading words in isolation. The student must routinely receive accommodations in classroom instruction and testing that address the difficulties he or she has reading words in isolation. Authority for Decision For a student with dyslexia not receiving special education services who meets both criteria above, the decision to provide the bundled accommodations must be made either by the student’s placement committee as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or by the committee of knowledgeable persons as outlined in The Dyslexia Handbook. In both of these cases, the committee’s decision must be documented in writing in accordance with district policies and procedures.

16. Figure 2. States with Written Guidelines for Access Assistants in 2003 and 2005 Number of States

17. Monitoring Accommodations • Do decisions made by the IEP team get carried out on the day of testing? • Do accommodations used during testing reflect – to the extent appropriate – accommodations that are used during instruction? • Do accommodations get recorded properly on assessment forms? • Etc!