Although more students with disabilities are attending college than ever before (Dukes & Shaw, 1999; Henderson, 2001), they are much less likely to graduate from college than their peers without disabilities (Horn & Bobbitt, 1999; National Council on Disability, 2003). This lower graduation rate for young adults with disabilities is of great concern given that there is a growing demand for a highly educated workforce and a corresponding decrease in jobs available to those who are not college educated (Kazis et al., 2007). One practice that may facilitate the learning of students with disabilities in postsecondary educational environments is the provision of accommodations. Accommodations are changes in the presentation of instructional or testing materials, changes in (how) students are expected to respond to instructional or testing materials, changes in the scheduling of instruction and/or testing, and changes to the setting in which materials are presented (Thurlow, Ysseldyke, & Silverstein, 1995). Although research directly linking accommodations with success in college among students with disabilities is currently limited, research does suggest that providing accommodations in other educational settings has promoted the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education activities (Olson & Goldstein, 1996; Sireci, Scarpati, & Li, 2005). Rules and procedures for determining which accommodations a student should receive vary considerably from secondary to postsecondary settings. In high school settings, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA; 2004) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973) mandated the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities. In particular, these laws require that students with suspected disabilities be evaluated (although criteria for identification differ depending on the law), and if a student is determined to have a disability and needs special education and related services, then the school must provide a "free and appropriate public education." Under IDEA (2004), students with disabilities must be provided with accommodations that are deemed appropriate by the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team. The IEP must contain "a statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on State and district-wide assessments" (34 C.F.R. § 300.322). Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, schools are 415098C DE34310.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether using a multiple-measure framework yielded better classification accuracy than oral reading fluency (ORF) or maze alone in predicting pass/fail rates for middle-school students on a large-scale reading assessment. Participants were 178 students in Grades 7 and 8 from a Midwestern school district. The multiple-measure framework yielded classification accuracy rates that were either similar to, or better than, the individual predictors. Specificity was improved using a combined measure of ORF and maze versus individual predictors alone. Educational implications for identifying students in need of reading intervention are discussed. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Psychology in the Schools
This descriptive study examined school professionals' perspectives of the effects of high-stakes assessment for students with and without disabilities. Participants were 249 general education teachers, special education teachers, and school psychologists from 99 schools across 19 states that have required high school exit exams. Participants completed a survey that examined their observations of the consequences of high-stakes assessment for students. Results suggested that school professionals perceived there to be a range in the effects of high-stakes assessment. Participants' responses indicated that a number of consequences have increased in frequency as a result of implementing high-stakes assessments. Many of the items that respondents indicated have increased were related to improving school and student performance. Less frequently, participants also indicated that some consequences have not changed in frequency or have decreased in frequency as a result of implementing high-stakes assessments.
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