An Experimental Analysis of Accommodation Decisions on Large-Scale Mathematics Tests

Abstract

This article reports on an investigation of teachers and students within special education to determine the accuracy with which teachers recommend read-aloud accommodations for mathematics tests, and develop a profile of students who benefit from this type of accommodation. Students in both general (n = 973) and special education (n = 245) in elementary and middle schools from eight states were administered an accommodated and standard mathematics achievement test. Teachers were no more successful than chance at predicting which students would benefit from the accommodation. Supplementary analyses used pretest reading and mathematics achievement scores in an attempt to develop a profile of students who favored one or the other formats. The outcomes from accommodations did not necessarily match student profiles. Exceptional Children

Identifying Appropriate Test Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

“…Actually, empirical evidence demonstrates that, compared to their typical peers, many students with disabilities do not profit differentially from typical accommodations, such as timing of the test and writing answers directly on the test (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1999;Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, Binkley, & Crouch, 2000;Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, & Karns, 2000;Tindal & Fuchs, 2000; Tindal, Heath, Hollenbeck, Almond, & Harniss, 1998). Another common accommodation-orally reading the test to students-has been shown to be helpful to some students and detrimental to others (Helwig & Tindal, 2003;Tindal et al, 1998).…”

“…Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, and Karns (2000) found that presenting a test orally produced more score gains for students with LD over their nondisabled peers, demonstrating the validity of this accommodation. Helwig and Tindal (2003) were unable to develop a profile of students who preferred having mathematics tests read aloud to them and those who preferred traditional presentation of tests. This demonstrates that the response to certain accommodation preferences may be individual rather than tied to disability categories.…”

“…Teachers-because they have the greatest amount of educational engagement with students-take a primary role in identifying appropriate accommodations. This is disconcerting, given past research that shows teachers to be ineffective at choosing accommodations that benefit students (Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, Binkley, et al, 2000;Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, & Karns, 2000;Helwig & Tindal, 2003). Helwig and Tindal (2003) found that teachers were no more successful than chance at identifying students who would benefit from read-aloud testing accommodations.…”

“…This is disconcerting, given past research that shows teachers to be ineffective at choosing accommodations that benefit students (Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, Binkley, et al, 2000;Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, & Karns, 2000;Helwig & Tindal, 2003). Helwig and Tindal (2003) found that teachers were no more successful than chance at identifying students who would benefit from read-aloud testing accommodations. Their results uphold prior findings in math and reading showing that teachers' choices of accommodations for students did not correspond with those from which students actually profit (Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, Binkley, et al, 2000;Fuchs, Fuchs, Eaton, Hamlett, & Karns, 2000).…”

Identifying Appropriate Test Accommodations for Students With Learning Disabilities

“…Past studies have demonstrated the difficulty in developing student profiles that fit certain accommodations (Helwig & Tindal, 2003). Furthermore, some accommodations actually harm students and worsen their scores (Schulte, Elliott, & Kratochwill, 2001).…”