Enhancing Accessibility for Students With Disabilities in Large-Scale Reading Assessments

• In Event: 35.056 - Inclusion and Accommodation in Educational Assessment SIG Paper Session

Abstract

This paper reports on a study to identify a valid set of accommodations for students with word-reading disabilities to demonstrate their skills on standardized reading comprehension assessments. A total of 285 4th-grade students, designated as either "average-ability" or "low-ability" readers according to pre-assessment screening data, across 54 schools in Ohio participated in the study. Four accommodations were tested: (1) pacing assistance; (2) questions and answer options read aloud; (3) proper nouns read aloud; and (4) full read-aloud. Results from the study have the potential to inform accommodations policies for both the PARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments, which are being implemented in up to 36 states and the District of Columbia beginning in the 2014-15 school year.

Authors

• Allison Gruner Gandhi, American Institutes for Research

• Burhan Ogut, American Institutes for Research

• Laura Stein, American Institutes for Research

• Louis Danielson, American Institutes for Research