Understanding Nonresponse Behaviors of Students With Disabilities in Alternate Assessments

• In Event: Revisiting Sociocultural Influences in Assessment and Student Performance: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

When there is a confounding relationship between student characteristics and students' nonresponse behaviors in assessments, this may interfere with the accurate computation of test scores. This study aims to investigate whether disability type has a confounding relationship with nonresponse behaviors of students with disabilities taking alternate assessments. Diagnostic classification modeling and Item Response Theory were used for examining students’ nonresponse behaviors. Results of this study suggest that students with disabilities tend to skip many test items without providing any valid response. Students' nonresponse behaviors seem to differentiate depending on their disability type and the attributes measured in the items. The results of this study also signal lack of effectiveness of test accommodations used in alternate assessments.

Authors

• Okan Bulut, University of Alberta

• Ming Lei, American Institutes for Research

• Mehmet Kaplan, Turkish Ministry of National Education

• Damien Cormier, University of Alberta