Dealing with Flexibility in Assessments for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. Synthesis Report 60 (original) (raw)
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2006
Dealing with flexibility—or its converse, the extent of standardization—is fundamental to alignment, assessment design, and interpretation of results in fully inclusive assessment systems. Highly standardized tests make it easier to compare (performances, students, and schools) across time and to common standards because certain conditions are met that (ostensibly) reduce the irrelevant variation and support stronger inferences for interpretation. Alternate assessments on alternate achievement standards—and the corresponding instruction for these students—have come from a highly individualized tradition in which such comparisons have not been the focus. Alternate assessment (and instruction) is moving more firmly into a standards-based accountability world, due in large part to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 and the reauthorization of 2004 (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). There is no question that NCLB has ratcheted up the p...
2017
Additional support for targeted projects, including those on English learners, is provided by other federal and state agencies, and other educational organizations. The Center is affiliated with the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. The contents of this report were developed under the Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, but does not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the U.S. Department of Education or Offices within it. Readers should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Improving Assessment Validity for Students With Disabilities in Large-Scale Assessment Programs
Educational Assessment, 2005
A test designed with built-in modifications and covering the same grade-level mathematics content provided more precise measurement of mathematics achievement for lower performing students with disabilities. Fourth-grade students with disabilities took a test based on modified state curricular standards for their mandated statewide mathematics assessment. To link the modified test with the general test, a block of items was administered to students with and without disabilities who took the general mathematics assessment. Item difficulty and student mathematics ability parameters were estimated using item response theory (IRT) methodology. Results support the conclusion that a modified test, based on the same curricular objectives but providing a more targeted measurement of expected outcomes for lower achieving students, could be developed for this special population.
A Validity Framework for Evaluating the Technical Quality of Alternate Assessments
Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 2007
This article presents findings from two projects designed to improve evaluations of technical quality of alternate assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. We argue that assessment technical documents should allow for the evaluation of the construct validity of the alternate assessments following the traditions
Technical Documentation for Alternate Assessments
Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 2005
The three usual criteria for assessments from the psychometric perspective-reliability, validity, and utility-are discussed in this paper in the context of alternate assessments that are individualized for students with severe cognitive disabilities. Possible sources of data for documentation of the technical quality of alternate assessments are discussed. Some suggestions for developing alternate assessments are presented.
Focus on Exceptional Children , 38 (7), 1-8.
This article solely addresses "accommodations" associated with assessments, as differentiated from assess ment "modifications." Accommodations afford adjustments to the practice of the assessment and do not alter the construct being evaluated. When an assessment is "modified," the construct inherent to the assessment is changed. Given the purpose and design of two assessments, the same allowance (e.g., extending time limits) could be an accommodation to both or an accommodation for one (a test built to be a power test) and a modifi cation (change the inherent nature of the trait on a test intended to be speeded) for the other. Edward L. Meyen is a professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas and codi rector of the e-Learning Design Lab. John Poggio is a professor in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education at the University of Kansas and codirector of the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation. Soonhwa Seok is a doctoral student in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas. Sean Smith is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas.
Assessment concessions for learners with impairments
South African Journal of Education, 2005
Assessing the abilities of learners with barriers to learning (BtL) is particularly difficult in the case of learners with severe physical difficulties or those who have little or no functional speech. We focus on the use of different types of assessment concessions as a basis for the development of more reliable assessments for those learners who are unable to participate in general assessment procedures. As the term assessment generally refers to a broad concept, including different types of evaluation procedures and strategies, we use the term assessment task in order to focus on a specific assessment tool as part of the process of providing access for learners with impairment to general assessment procedures. The requirements for different types of assessment concessions are contrasted, i.e. accommodations, adaptations, and modifications. A classification system for assessment concessions is critically discussed and strategies for further research are indicated.
Focus on Exceptional Children
One of the most significant challenges facing policy makers in education today is to ensure that state assessments designed to measure student performance across specified grade-level curriculum content standards will allow all students to demonstrate what they have learned. This challenge is made complex by the varied attributes of students with disabilities and the curriculum these students receive. For the diverse population of students with high-incidence disabilities, statewide assessments remain largely undifferentiated based on their needs or capacity. Accommodations, while of value, focus on test-taking behaviors (e.g., use of calculators) and practices (e.g., more time), but do not address curriculum alignment or item design to measure standards-based performance. Thus, the authors suggest the adoption of Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) to accommodate students with special needs. In this article, the authors describe how CAT works and cite its advantages. (Contains 2 fi...