Accommodations on High‐stakes Writing Tests for Students With Disabilities

Abstract

With the addition of a writing component to many high-stakes tests (e.g., college admission tests and high school exit exams), a review of writing accommodations for students with disabilities becomes critical. This paper reviews the accommodation policies of 20 states with high school exit exams of writing and three testing organizations that administer high-stakes tests that assess writing. In addition, this paper reviews existing research on testing accommodations, specifically those that focus on writing assessments. A section on assistive technologies for writing is also included, because these technologies are becoming more widely used and are likely to be requested as testing accommodations. Finally, recommendations for needed research are provided.

Timed Essay Writing

“…Several studies have compared the difference between the quality scores of handwritten and word-processed essays for students with and without disabilities (Arnold et al, 1990;Cahalan-Laitusis, 2003;Hollenbeck, Tindal, Stieber, & Harniss, 1999;Powers, Fowles, Farnum, & Ramsey, 1994;Russell & Plati, 2001). Consistently, research results have indicated that student papers that are converted to word-processed versions receive lower scores than do the original handwritten versions.…”

“…For an adolescent with written expression deficits, this essay requirement often presents a significant barrier to graduation from high school, entry into and exit from postsecondary institutions (technical schools, universities), acceptance into professions (licensure), and success on the job. Although many professionals consider timed impromptu essays formulaic and unresponsive to the process of writing, the fact remains that such tasks are often levers of success for students (Cahalan-Laitusis, 2003;White, 1995). In fact, today even most portfolio writing assessments include one or more impromptu essays.…”

“…Preparing such students for success on essay writing-as well as determining scientifically based accommodationsrequires immediate attention from professionals. Cahalan-Laitusis (2003) highlighted a need for more research related to students with writing disabilities in order to better understand the predictive ability of writing assessments, the effectiveness of accommodations, and the sources of rater bias.…”

Increasing Access to Learning for the Adult Basic Education Learner With Learning Disabilities

“…The effectiveness of word processing as a test response accommodation for adolescents and/or adults with LD or ADHD has been inconclusive (Cahalan-Laitusis, 2003). Researchers reporting no differences in scores between word processed and handwritten versions of timed essay writing reviewed studies conducted a decade or more ago (Hollenbeck, Tindal, Harniss, & Almond, 1999; MacArthur & Graham, 1987).…”