Improving Illustration-Based Accommodations for English Language Learners in Science Assessment: Report on an Analytical Strategy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Accessibility for English Learners: Improving Assessment Quality and Broadening the Evidence Base

Abstract

This investigation addresses the design of vignette illustrations as testing accommodations for English language learners (ELLs). We examine interpretation alignment—the extent to which students interpret illustrations that accompany test items in ways intended by test developers. Previous investigations revealed significantly higher mean alignment scores for non-ELLs than ELLs. In this investigation, we examined these differences for each illustration individually. We found statistically significant differences between the two groups of students for about one third of the items. The next step in our investigation is to determine which features make these illustrations different from the other illustrations. Our findings will inform the design of illustrations to ensure that the two linguistic groups understand them in the same way.

Authors

• Ashley M. Chrzanowski, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Chao Wang, University of Colorado

• Guillermo Solano-Flores, University of Colorado - Boulder