2010-2011 APR Snapshot #5:
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Differences between reading and mathematics accommodations among the unique states that reported data in grade 8 (n = 5) was less than 5 percentage points. In the five unique states, all but one had more than 80 percent of students with using accommodations for both reading and mathematics. These states are not included in Figure 1, but are included in the data tables that are available at www.nceo.info/APRsnapshot/data.
Figure 2 shows the percentage of students with disabilities using accommodations during statewide reading assessments in grade 4 and grade 8. The figure shows states ordered by their grade 4 rates of students using accommodations for the regular reading assessment. The figure indicates visible differences between the percentages of students with disabilities using accommodations in the two grade levels. In the 17 states with differences greater than 10 percentage points, 13 had lower percentages of students with disabilities using reading accommodations in grade 4 than in grade 8. The figure also shows that in 11 states, more than 75 percent of students with disabilities used accommodations during the statewide reading assessment in both grade 4 and grade 8; in 7 states, fewer than one in four students used accommodations during reading assessment in grade 4 and grade 8 (see data available at www.nceo.info/APRsnapshot/data).
Figure 2. Percentage of Grade 8 and
Grade 4 Special Education Students Using
Accommodations in 2010-2011 Reading
Assessments
Differences in accommodation rates in unique states that reported data were as much as 33 percentage points between grade 4 and grade 8 data. These states are not included in Figure 2, but are included in data tables available at http://nceo.info/APRsnapshot/data). Rates for accommodations on the reading assessment ranged from 13.9 percent to 93.1 percent across grade 4 and grade 8 in unique states.
Figure 3 shows performance of students with disabilities on grade 8 statewide reading regular assessments (in terms of the percentage of students performing at a proficient or above level) along with the percentage of students using accommodations. This figure indicates that there is no evident relationship between the percentage of students using accommodations and performance. This conclusion should be interpreted with caution because it refers only to overall relationships. It does not speak to the performance of individual students who used accommodations.
Figure 3. Percentage of Grade 8
Special Education students Scoring
Proficient or Above and Percentage of
Grade 8 Special Education Students Using
Accommodations in 2010-2011 Reading
Regular Assessments
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The same finding was true in unique states, though they are not included in Figure 3. State data for unique states (n = 6) are available in data tables available at www.nceo.info/APRsnapshot/data. Unique state regular assessment proficiency rates ranged from as low as 0.6 percent to as high as 22.5 percent while accommodation rates varied. For example the unique state with the lowest proficiency rate had the highest rate of students with disabilities using accommodations (92.5 percent).
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The information presented in this report summarized the accommodations data submitted by states to the U.S. Department of Education for the year 2010-2011. Considerable variability among states was evident in the percentage of students with disabilities using accommodations on the grade 8 reading and mathematics statewide assessments. Further, in most states more students with disabilities received accommodations for the mathematics assessment than received them for the reading assessment. Also evident were differences in many states between the percentages of students using accommodations in grade 8 compared to grade 4, with a slight trend toward a high percentage of students with disabilities using one or more accommodations at the grade 8 level. Finally, there appeared to be no relation between the percentage of students with disabilities using accommodations and the percentage proficient on the grade 8 regular reading assessment.
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Lazarus, S. S., Thurlow, M. L., Lail, K. E., & Christensen, L. (2009). A longitudinal analysis of state accommodations policies: Twelve years of change, 1993-2005. Journal of Special Education, 43(2), 67-80.
Lindstrom, J. H. (2010). Mathematics assessment accommodations: Implications of differential boost for students with learning disabilities. Intervention in School and Clinic, 46(1), 5-12
Rogers, C. M., Christian, E. M., & Thurlow, M. L. (2012). A summary of the research on the effects of test accommodations: 2009-2010 (Technical Report 65). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.