Maximizing the Effectiveness of Online Accountability Assessments for Students with Disabilities. Policy Briefs (original) (raw)
2005, Appalachia Educational Laboratory at Edvantia
nline assessment promises a faster and more useful return of data about student performance in states' accountability assessments. The prospect of gaining quick access to such information is alluring, and many states are creating new assessments for an online environment in order to obtain it. This period of retooling presents a significant additional opportunity-that of improving the assessment of students with disabilities. By employing universal design principles-i.e., using methods that take differing abilities into consideration from the start of a project-states can maximize the effectiveness of their new assessments for measuring the knowledge and skills of students with disabilities, while also improving the speed and usefulness of their systems generally. Adapting universal design practices can guide assessment developers as they work to capture the considerable potential of online environments to give educators a better picture of student learning. Universal design of assessment is specifically intended to benefit those students who have physical disabilities or learning disabilities that impede their interpretation of assessment items or their responses to them. Secondary benefits for all students, however, are likely to be the final result. This brief outlines the potential of acting during this historical moment to significantly improve accountability assessments through universal design of their online versions. Success with universal design will require collaboration among individuals with expertise in several distinct areas of specialized knowledge-including universal design, special education, online technology systems and applications, assistive technology, assessment, and content standards-all working within an environment of evolving legislation. This document provides an overview of the various facets of this congruence of specialties, discusses the potential of their interplay, and encourages a joint effort as states create online assessments. Why Seek Change? Using state accountability assessments to measure the academic progress of students with disabilities is a relatively recent development. Until 1997, students with disabilities were routinely excluded from large-scale assessments, and reporting of scores for disabled students who did participate varied widely. 1
Related papers
2000
This guide provides information about the assessment and inclusion of all students in statewide and district assessment programs. In particular, it focuses on tactics for including students with disabilities in assessment to achieve a more complete picture of student learning and educational accountability. It is designed to help Wisconsin educators become familiar with the state's academic content standards and knowledgeable of the general content of tests in the Wisconsin Student Assessment System, so that they can actualize the requirements of the recently reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the potential of standards-based education for all students. In addition, the book provides detailed information on the state's testing guidelines, the valid use of testing accommodations and alternate assessments, and how to communicate these assessment results to educational stakeholders. Specific chapters include: (1) "Educational Assessment Today"; (2) "Characteristics of Good Assessment"; (3) "Understanding and Using the Wisconsin Student Assessment System"; (4) "Facilitating the Participation of All Students in Assessments"; and (5) "Best Practices in Assessment Programs for Educational Accountability." Appendices include standards for teacher competence in educational assessment of students, guidelines for testing procedures, and a code of fair testing practices in education. (Chapters include references.) (CR)
National Center on Educational Outcomes, University of Minnesota, 2008
Abstract: Building on research and practice, the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has revisited and updated its 2001 document that identified principles and characteristics that underlie inclusive assessment and accountability systems. This report on a principled approach to accountability assessments for students with disabilities reflects lessons learned during the past seven years, presenting six core principles:(1) All students are included in ways that hold schools accountable for their learning;(2) Assessments ...
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...
On the Road to Accountability: Reporting Outcomes for Students with Disabilities. Technical Report
2001
This fourth annual study reports on state practices in 1999-2000 concerning reporting on the participation and performance of students with disabilities in statewide assessments. Unlike previous reports, the unit of analysis was the state assessments rather than all publicly available print reports. The report describes the assessment systems used in each state and whether the state publicly reports participation and performance for students with disabilities on each test. It also provides participation data when available and data on the performance gap between students with disabilities and the total population. Only 16 states reported participation and performance results for students with disabilities on all of their tests, although 15 additional states provided this data for some tests. Most states that reported disaggregated performance results also reported disaggregated participation results. Six recommendations include: (1) provide data no more than 6 months after test administration; (2) establish reporting practices consistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and (3) report the number and percent of students with disabilities using accommodations. Appendices provide the sample verification table and disaggregated participation information. (DB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document.
Accounting for the Performance of Students With Disabilities on Statewide Assessments
The Journal of Special Education, 2005
The current study investigates school-level factors that affect the performance of students with disabilities on statewide assessments. Data were collected as part of a larger study examining the effects of education policy reform on students with disabilities. Statewide assessment data for students with disabilities from 2 school districts within 1 state were analyzed. Assessment results in reading and math in 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades across 2 school years were analyzed using a series of hierarchical linear regressions. Of the variables considered, only the performance of schools' general education students on the assessments added any predictive value to the regression model after accounting for school demographic indicators.
1996
The Maryland-Kentucky-NCEO Assessment Project encompasses a comprehensive array of research studies on assessment accommodations and alternate assessment approaches that facilitate inclusion of all students in statewide assessment programs. The planned research program include: comparative studies involving a qualitative examination of the assessment systems in Kentucky and Maryland; studies that involve secondary analyses of existing data bases to address critical technical and implementation issues in the assessment of students with disabilities; and experimental field studies that involve the collection of new data to address several technical issues crucial to the development and modification of state assessment policies.
2011
A report analyzing public reporting of disaggregated assessment data for elementary and secondary students with disabilities in the United States - the 12th annual report by NCEO to do so. Reporting disaggregated performance data at the state and district level to the public is required of states by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); the 2007-2008 school year marks the ninth annual reporting period since this requirement was established, and the sixth reporting period since the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The public reporting of participation and performance for 2007-2008 assessments was fairly consistent with the reporting in 2006-2007. There continues to be a need for states to report clearly, to publicly report on accommodations use, and to strive to make the data that are reported accessible to those who seek them via public Web sites.
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.
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