Digital Module 31


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Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities


Module Overview

Students with disabilities often take tests under different conditions than their peers do. Testing accommodations, which involve changes to test administration that maintain test content, include extending time limits, presenting written text through auditory means, and taking a test in a private room with fewer distractions. For some students with disabilities, accommodations such as these are necessary for fair assessment; without accommodations, invalid interpretations would be made on the basis of these students’ scores. However, when misapplied, accommodations can also diminish fairness, introduce new sources of construct-irrelevant variance, and also lead to invalid interpretation of test scores. This module provides a psychometric framework for thinking about accommodations, and then explicates an accommodations decision-making framework that includes a variety of considerations. Problems with current accommodations practices are discussed, along with potential solutions and future directions. The module is accompanied by exercises allowing participants to apply their understanding.

Meet the Instructor

Benjamin J. Lovett, Teachers College, Columbia University

Associate Professor


Benjamin J. Lovett is Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. A school psychologist by training, he teaches courses on psychoeducational assessment and legal and ethical issues in school psychology. His research focuses on (a) the diagnostic assessment of learning and attention problems, (b) the provision of educational accommodations to students with disabilities, and (c) the nature and management of test anxiety. He has over 100 publications on these and related topics, including a book entitled Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. He also serves as a consultant to testing agencies and schools on issues related to assessment, disability, and accommodations.

Contact Benjamin J. Lovett: BL2799@tc.columbia.edu 

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Upon completion of this ITEMS module, learners should be able to:
  • Describe common testing accommodations and contrast them with other test features and alterations.
  • Explain how appropriate accommodations reduce construct-irrelevant variance and increase fairness.
  • Apply Phillips’s 5-question model to determining when accommodations are appropriate.
  • Describe best practices in accommodations and current common problems in practice.
  • Describe future directions in testing accommodations, particularly needed research.



Referenced ITEMS Modules:

Module Content

SECTION 1

Introduction to Testing Accommodations

Upon completion of this section, learners should be able to:
  • Define testing accommodations and give examples of different types.
  • Contrast accommodations with alternate assessments, comfort measures, and universal design features.
  • Provide an overview of best practices in accommodation usage.
  • Describe several common problems with current accommodations practices.

Video: 

Interactive Learning Check:
Learning_Check_-_Section_1.pptx
Please right click on File. Then, click "Save Link As..." and open with PowerPoint on your PC.

SECTION 2

Why Testing Accommodations?

Upon completion of this section, learners should be able to:
  • Define and apply the distinction between target skills and access skills
  • Describe how testing accommodations can affect construct-irrelevant variance and fairness in assessment
  • Describe and apply a typical legal framework for providing testing accommodations
  • Explain several concerns about the possible misuse of testing accommodations
Video: 

Interactive Learning Check:
Learning_Check_-_Section_2.pptx
Please right click on File. Then, click "Save Link As..." and open with PowerPoint on your PC.

SECTION 3

A Framework for Decision-Making: Phillips’s 5 Questions

Upon completion of this section, learners should be able to:
  • Describe potential effects of accommodations on a test’s psychometric characteristics
  • Decompose test item demands into various response processes and identify which ones are construct-relevant
  • Interpret data on differential benefit of accommodations (across students with different disability statuses)
  • Describe features that make accommodation decision-making procedures more or less reliable
Video: 

Interactive Learning Check:
Learning_Check_-_Section_3.pptx
Please right click on File. Then, click "Save Link As..." and open with PowerPoint on your PC.

SECTION 4

Future Directions in Testing Accommodations

Upon completion of this section, learners should be able to:
  • Describe the tension between test access features and generalization to other situations
  • Discuss ways of addressing test-related anxiety and its resulting pressure for accommodations
  • Apply an “interventions first” strategy of improving examinees’ test access
  • Describe several areas of needed research related to testing accommodations
Video: 

Interactive Learning Check:
Learning_Check_-_Section_4.pptx
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SECTION 5

Activity

Interactive Activity
DM 31 - Activity
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Downloadable Content

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