Which Kids Benefit from Read-aloud Accommodations for Arithmetic Assessments

WhichKidsBenefitfromRead-aloudAccommodations forArithmeticAssessments?

Inordertoascertainhowaccuratelyteachersprescriberead-aloud accommodationsformathexaminationsandtocreateaprofileofkidswho benefitfromsuchaccommodations,thisarticledetailsaninvestigationconducted amongspecialeducationteachersandstudents.Anachievementtestin mathematicswasgiventoelementaryandmiddleschoolstudentsineightstates, includinggeneraland specialeducation.Whenitcametoidentifyingwhichpupils mightbenefitfromtheaccommodation,teacherswerenomoresuccessfulthan chance.Pretestreadingandmathaccomplishmentresultswereutilizedin supplementalanalysestotryandcreateaprofileofkidswhopreferredoneorthe otherformat.Studentprofilesdidnotalwayscorrespondwiththeresultsof accommodations.

Researchontestingaccommodationsforchildrenwithdisabilitiesisreceiving moreattentionasaresultofrecentdemandstoincludeallstudentsinlarge-scale testing.Despitethiscuriosity,opinionsonwhenaccommodationsarewarranted aredivided.Theverbatimoralexplanationofmathematicalproblemsisa frequentlyemployedaccommodationforpupilswithinadequatereading

proficiency.Thereislittleevidencetosupporttheclaimthatteachersare ineffectiveatmakingthisaccommodation.Byinvestigatingtheaccuracyof instructors'assessmentsoftheefficacyofread-aloudaccommodationsfor studentswithdisabilities,thecurrentpaperaimstocontributeempiricalevidence tothearea.Additionally,wetrytocreateaprofileofstudentswhocouldprofit fromthiskindofhousing.

ESSENTIALDECISIONSABOUTACCOMODATION

Atestingaccommodationisanymodificationmadetotheformatofthetestor responsethatdoesnotmodifytheconstructbeingtested.Therepercussionsof badjudgmentsmakeitclearhowimportantaccommodationsare.Forinstance, someformsofaccommodationsallowparticularstudentstotaketeststhatthey wouldnototherwisebeableto.Thepracticeofreadingmathtestitemsaloudto pupilswhostrugglewithreadingisoneexampleofthis.Accordingtoanumberof studies,thismethodhelpskidswhostrugglewithreadingdifferentlythanitdoes readerswhoaremoreproficient.However,inorderforthisaccommodationtobe effective,kidswhowouldbenefitmustbeaccuratelyidentifiedbyspecial educationteachers,membersofthe individualizededucationprogram (IEP) team,andothersinvolvedinassessmentdecisions.Thestudydiscussedinthis articlemakesanefforttomeasurethiseffectiveness.

Somestudentsmaysufferifthisaccommodationismisused.Accordingtoa sizableportionofeducators,readingtestmaterialoutloudtochildrencanbe annoyinganddistractingforcertainpupils.Thishypothesisissupportedbycertain empiricaldata.Incontrasttowhenitemswerereadaloudtothem,wediscovered thatmoreproficientreadersdidbetteronaregularadministrationofa mathematicsexamination.Similaroutcomeswereobservedwithcertainstudents onaread-aloudaccommodationoflengthytextsegments.Althoughkidshave differentcapacitiesforlistening,remembering,andcreatingauditoryvsvisual schema,thereasonsforthisareunclear.

Additionally,somestudentsmayfindoralpresentations'backgroundnoise disturbingiftheyprefertoreadthematerialontheirown.Researchindicatesthat readingaloudtoproficientreadersreducestheircomprehension.Teachers frequentlyoverrecommendaccommodationsforstudentswithdisabilities.This techniqueraisesthepossibilitythatanunnecessaryaccommodationwould negativelyimpactstudents.

Anotherbenefitoflimitingtheuseofaccommodationstokidswhowillbenefit fromthemisthatitsavesmoney.Thetimeandfinancialcostsofadministering nonstandardtestsareusuallyhigher.Districtsmustorganizealternatetesting locationsandtimesforstudentswhoneedthiskindofaccommodation,aswellas trainstaffintestadministrationtechniques,whentestitemsarepresentedorally. Social implicationsswiftlyentertherealmofmeasurementvaliditywhenstates andschoolsareconfrontedwithlimitedresources.

Lastly,thevalidityofconclusionsdrawnfromtestresultsisimpactedby accommodationdecisions.Althoughstate-by-statepoliciesdiffer,several modificationstotestadministrationpracticesmaycausescorestobeseparated fromscoresobtainedundertypicaltestingcircumstances.Importantpolicy decisionsmaybemadebasedoninsufficientknowledgeifthefindingsofasizable portionofstudentsareexcludedfromdataanalysisduetoneedlesschanges madetotheirtestingsettings.Furthermore,becausedisaggregatedscoresmay indicatedifferentthingsthanscoresachievedundernormalcircumstances, individualchildrenandtheirteachersaredeprivedofimportantcomparative achievementdatainthesesituations.

TEACHEREFFECTIVENESSATASSIGNINGACCOMMODATIONS

Theaccuracyofteachers'assessmentsoftheefficacyofread-aloud accommodationsformathtestshasbeenthesubjectofsomenewresearch. Theseprovidecontradictoryoutcomes.However,wediscoveredthatwhenit cametoidentifyingwhichchildrenwouldgainfromtheaccommodation,teachers performednobetterthanchance.

Agroupofgeneralandspecialeducationteachersweregivenacopyofa standardizedmathematicstest,andtheywereaskedtodeterminewhichoftheir pupilswouldbenefitfromhavingtheitemsreadaloud.Thistestwasthengivento thestudentstwice,oncewiththeitemsreadaloudandonceintheregular format.Accordingtotheresults,studentswhoseteachershadsuggestedan accommodationprofitedmorefromtheread-aloudformatthanstudentswhose teachershadnotonconcept/applicationproblemswithlowreadingdemands. However,bothrecommendedandnonrecommendedstudentsgainedequally fromtheaccommodationonproblem-solvingtasksthatrequiredextensive reading.

Thislatterstudyindicatedthatstudentscouldbesortedmoreefficientlyforboth concepts/applicationsandproblem-solvingtaskswheninformationaboutthe effectivenessofprioradjustmentswassupplied.Increasingtheamountof informationavailabletodecisionmakersisthefoundationofbothsystems.

STUDENTPROFILES

Regardingwhichkidsbenefitfromread-aloudaccommodationsforarithmetic assessments,onlybroadinformationisavailable.Becausedifferentreference populationswereemployedinearlierstudies,itischallengingtodrawspecific conclusions.Theseincludedlow-skilledreaders,childrenwithreadingandmath skillscombinations,studentswithspecialeducationneeds,studentswithlearning impairments(LDs),andstudentswithreadingIEPs.Thefactthatmanystudentsin thetargetgroupsdidnotbenefitwhilemanystudentsinthecontrolgroupsdid complicatescurrentgroupingtechniques.

Somehintsaboutwhetherpupilsmayqualifyfororalreadingaccommodations areprovidedbyafewstudies.Wediscoveredthatwhereascompetentreaders andlowreaderswithbadarithmeticskillsdidnotbenefitfromareading accommodation,sixth-gradepupilswithlowreadingcompetencybutaverageor abovemathskillsdid.Accordingtosomeresearch,fourth-gradestudentswithLD whoperformedbetterinmathgainedmorefromaread-aloud accommodation thantheirlesssuccessfulpeers.Forfourth-gradestudentswithimpairmentswe discoveredthatthereweresubstantialcorrelationsbetweenreadingachievement andtheimpactsofaread-aloudaccommodation,butnotforotherstudents. Theseresultsimplythattheremightbeamaththresholdbelowwhichpupilslack theskillsrequiredtobenefitfromtheaccommodation,aswellasareading proficiencythresholdoverwhichaccommodationsarenolongerbeneficial.

Tosumup,testingaccommodationsareausefulinstrumentforguaranteeingthe validityandfairnessoftestfindingsandtheirinterpretations.However,improper useordenialofaccommodationscanraiseexpenses,invalidatetestresults,and depriveteachersandstudentsofimportantdata.Itseemsthatteachersare frequentlyineffectiveatidentifyingwhichpupilswouldbenefitfromhaving arithmeticproblemsreadaloud.Thiseffectivenesscouldberaisedbyorganized systems.However,itseemsthatstudents'understandingoftheirreadingand arithmeticcompetencelevelsmaybehelpfulinallocatingadjustmentsinthe absenceofthiskindofinformationregardingprioraccommodations.Inorderto verifythefindingsofearlierstudies,wefirstlookedathowwellteachers

predictedtheeffectivenessofaccommodationsforchildrenwithdisabilities acrossfourgradelevels.Inordertoascertainwhetherpatternsofcompetencyin thesefundamentalskillareascouldbeutilizedtocreateaprofileofstudentswho wouldlikelybenefitfromread-aloudaccommodations,wenextlookedatthe readingandmathpretestaccomplishmentscoresofthestudents.

METHOD

Eightstates'statedepartmentsofeducationwereaskedtofinddistricts interestedintakingpartinanaccommodationsexperimentaspartofawider study.Oneelementaryschoolandonemiddleschoolwerethenfoundineach state.Twogeneraleducationclassroomswith25–30pupilsandacommongrade level(eighthorseventhgradeinmiddleschoolorfourthorfifthgradein elementaryschool)wereallowedtoparticipatefromeachschool.Additionally,all childrenattheselectedgradelevelineachschoolwhowerereceivingspecial educationassistanceandforwhomextensive mathematics testingwasa componentoftheiracademicprogramwereincluded.Onlytheselatterstudents wereincludedindataanalysisforthecurrentstudy,unlessotherwiseindicated.

SUBJECTS

Students.1,218ofthe1,550studentsthatparticipatedintheprojectfinishedall thetasks.245kidsenrolledinspecialeducationserviceshadtheirprimarydata analyzed.Itwasdeterminedthatmorethan70%ofthesepupilshadlearning difficulties.Mentalretardation(5%),severeemotionaldisturbance(5%),and speechorlanguageimpairments(8%),inthatorder,werethenextmost prevalentdisability.Maleswere63%morenumerousthanfemales(37%).White studentsmadeup59%ofthestudentbody,followedbyBlackstudents(28%), andHispanicstudents(7%).

Educators.Theteacherswhotaughtmathematicstothekidsmentionedabove wereincludedinthisstudy.Thiswasageneraleducationteacherinsome instancesandaspecialeducationteacherinothers.Whenstudentsreceived instructioninmorethanonelocation,thepersonorpeoplewhoknewthemost aboutthestudents'arithmeticachievementandskilllevelsfilledoutthesurvey. Ifspecialeducationandgeneraleducationteachershaddifferentperspectiveson astudent'sability,theymayworktogethertocreatethesurveyquestionnairefor thatkid.Itwasimpossibletopinpointthepreciseidentifyoftheteacherwho answeredanygivensurveyquestionbecauseofthewaythedatawascollected.

However,the245pupilswhowerethesubjectofthestudywereknowntohave comefrom61differentclassrooms.

MEASURE

MathProficiency.Asecuredpoolofroughly100itemsfromaparticipatingstate's seventh-gradeitembankwasusedtogeneratetwo30-question,multiple-choice mathematicsachievementtests(FormAandFormB).Theremainingsevenstates' departmentofeducationofficialsexaminedeachitemtomakesureitaligned withtheirstate'scurriculum.

Itemsthatusedtopicsnotincludedintheseventh-gradecurriculaofanystate wereremovedfromthepool.Basedondatafromfieldtestinginthehomestate, the30-itemtestswerematchedforbothcontentanddifficulty. Algebraic relationships,measurement,statisticsandprobability,andgeometrywereamong themanytopicscoveredineachtest.

PROCEDURES

Theitemshadfouranswerchoicesandwordproblemsrangingfromsevento forty-fivewords.Therewerenosimplecalculationdifficulties.Thetotalnumber ofsuccessfullyansweredquestionsdeterminedastudent'sscoreoneachversion. Allparticipantsintheseventhandeighthgradestooktheseassessments.

Twoversionsofeachform(AandB)wereproduced.Thefirstusedastandard structure,withmultiplethingsperpageinatestbookletthathadwrittenitems. Additionally,amoviewasmadeforeachtestformthatdisplayedtheproblem's textononepartofthescreenandthefaceofanactorreadingeachitemonthe other.Thisstylecamewithatestbookletthathadoneitemoneachofthetwo facingpages.Studentsbubbledtheirresponsesonadifferentanswersheetfor bothversions.

Abeginningpoolofroughly100thingsselectedfromthefourth-gradeitembank inthesamestateunderwentthesameprocess.Allprimaryschoolpupilstookthe tworesultingtests.Thedomainscoveredwerethesameasthosepreviously mentioned.Thesetestshavefrom7and69wordsperitem,includingresponse choices.

Ratingsofteachers.Therelevantteacher(aspreviouslymentioned)filledouta surveyforeachstudent,ratingtheirreadingandarithmeticskillsona5-point Likertscale fromextremelypoorproficiencytoveryhighproficiency."How importantistheaccommodation(videoversion)forthisstudentingenerating successfulperformance?"wasanotherquestionaskedinthepoll.

TestofBasicMathSkills.Everystudenttookamathskillstest.16ofthe21items onthismiddleschooltestwerebasicskillscomputationsthatincludedaddition, subtraction,multiplication,anddivisionofwholenumbers,fractions,and decimals.Threetasksrequiredconvertingfractions,decimals,andpercentages intovariousformats.Thelasttwotaskswereone-stepwordproblemswith20 wordsorfewer.Everyitemwasaresponsetoproduction.Thetotalnumberof correctanswersonthistestanda60-itemmultiple-choiceproblem-solvingtest thatwasapartofasouthwesternstate'sstatewidemathassessmentprogram showedacorrelationof.75inapriorfieldtestthatinvolved240middleschool students.

Studentsinthefourthandfifthgradestookamathabilitiestestthatincluded17 addition,subtraction,multiplication,anddivisionproblemsinvolvingfractionsand wholeintegers.Studentshadtoconvertoraddunitsofmeasurefortwomore problemsthatusedfewerthansevenwords.Thisactivityandthe60-item elementaryversionofthestandardizedmathachievementexamutilizedinthis studyhadacorrelationof.60inafieldtest.Boththeprimaryandmiddleschool versionsofthistestprohibitedtheuseofcalculators.

Mazereading.Readingproficiencywasassessedusingtwolabyrinthtasks:onefor elementaryschoolpupilsandoneformiddleschoolers.Theseincludedroughly 200-wordparagraphs,25ofwhichhadblankspacesinthem.Studentswere instructedtochoosethedeletedwordfromfiveoptionsforeachblank.Words deemedsignificanttotheplotwereselected,incontrasttostandardmaze puzzlesthateliminateeverynthword.Thesewerenouns,verbs,adjectives,or adverbsineveryinstance.Accordingtoearlierfieldstudies,therewere connectionsbetweenthesemazesandtheoverallresultsof60-itemreading comprehensionexamsthatwereutilizedaspartofastatewideassessment programof.68(elementary)and.76(middleschool).Correlationcoefficients betweenthemathproblemsandthelabyrinthinthecurrentstudyvaried from.41to.46inthemiddleschoolandfrom.55to.60intheprimaryschool.

METHODS

Classroomsofpupilsinelementaryandmiddleschoolweresplitintotwogroups atrandom.Eachofthetest'sforms(AandB)wasadministeredtobothgroups onetofourdaysapart.FormBwastakeninvideoformat,andFormAwastaken inconventionalformatbyGroup1.FormBwastakeninconventionalformat,and FormAwastakeninvideoformatbyGroup2.Theadministrationorder(FormsA andB)wascounterbalancedwithineachgroup.Everytestwasgiveninagroup.

Studentswerehandedatestbookletandtoldtoreadeachitem,selectthebest responsefromthelistofoptions,andfinishthetestattheirownpacewhen takingthenormaledition.Therewasnotimerestriction.Studentshadtwo optionsforthevideopresentation:eitherfollowalongwiththereaderasthey silentlyreadfromtheirbooklet,orobserveandlistentothecontentsreadand shownonthevideomonitor.

Thevisualdisplaywasmanagedbytestadministrators.Dependingonthetypeof difficulty,thevideowaspausedforapredefinedamountoftimeaftereachitem hadfinishedbeingread.Studentsworkedoneachproblem'ssolutionduringthis time,markingtheirselections.Studentsweretoldtoturnthepageafterthe allottedpause,atwhichpointanotherdifficultyappeared.Studentsweregiven textbooks sotheymayreviewmaterialorscanitforimportantdetails.Pupils weretoldnottoflipthroughtheirbookletsuntilthenextissuewasdisplayedon thescreen.Groupsofstudentstookthevideotestsinclassroomswheretheseats wereplacedsothateveryonecouldseethemonitor.

Therecommendedstopperiodsbetweenissuesweresetbetween15and60 secondsandweredeemedliberalbasedonfieldtesting.Testadministratorswere advisedtoexercisediscretioniftheybelievedcertainstudentswouldbeunableto finishaproblemintheallottedtimeasanextraprecaution.Moretimewas allowedinthesesituations.

Inadditiontoensuringthatouradministrator-pacedstylewouldmoreclosely resemblethestudent-pacedstructurethatischaracteristicofmosttesting accommodationsofthissort,thisprecautionwasintendedtorelievestudentsof thetimepressuretofinishtasks.Evenifitseemedlikeeverystudenthadfinished anactivity,pauseperiodscouldneverbedecreased.

DATAANALYSES

Wecomputedstandard(z)scoresforthe30-itemoralpresentationand30-item paper-and-pencilexaminationsforallGroup1primarypupils(generalandspecial education).Wecalculatedtheamountofthedifference(Diff)inrelative performancebetweenthetwoformsinstandarddeviationunitsbysubtracting thepaper-and-pencilz-scorefromtheaccommodatedz-score.Apositivescore meantthattheoralpresentationhadbeenthestudent'sbestcomparable performance.Everystudentwhosedifferenceexceededorwasequivalenttothe absolutevalueof.5wasnoted.Asaresult,wegotalistofeveryGroup1student whosawachangebetweenthestandardandaccommodatingtestformatsofat leasthalfastandarddeviation,eitherway.Weconsideredthistobeadiscernible changewithreal-worldapplications.Thesepupilswereclassifiedaseither"Favor Standard"or"FavorOral."Wewentthroughthesameprocesswithmiddleschool pupilsandGroup2members.Onlyspecialeducationstudentsthatexperienced this.5magnitudeshiftareincludedinthemajorityofthedataanalysisincludedin thispaper.

Wedividedstudentsintofourgroupsaccordingto(a)theirbesttestperformance (standardorvideo)and(b)theirteachers'perceptionofthenecessityofatest accommodationinordertoexaminetheaccuracywithwhichteachersawarded read-aloudaccommodations.Teachers'answerstooursurveyservedasthebasis forthislastcriterion.Iftheteacherindicatedthattheaccommodationwasofhigh orveryhighrelevance,wetookthatintoconsiderationwhenrecommendingitto astudent.Iftheteachermarkedtheaccommodationaslowpriorityorextremely lowimportance,wedeemedthestudentnotrecommendedforthe accommodation.Thosewhofaredbetterinthevideoformatwererecommended bytheir teachers,whereasthosewhoperformedbetterintheregularversion werenot.Thesetwogroupsreflectedstudentswhoseteachers'predictionshad cometrue.Theothertwogroups—recommendedstudentswhodidbetteronthe conventionalformatandnon-recommendedstudentswhodidbetteronthe videoversion—representedincorrectpredictions.Theaccuracyoftheteachers wasgaugedbytheproportionofaccuratepredictions.

WecomparedthemazeandbasicmathskillscoresoftheFavorStandardand FavorOralgroupsusingt-testsinordertocreateaprofileofkidswhobenefited fromread-aloudaccommodations.Inaddition,weseparatedstudentsintofour groupsbasedonreadingproficiency(usingaMazez-scoreof-0.5astheboundary betweenpoorandsatisfactoryreading)andbasicmathproficiency(usingamath

skillz-scoreof-0.5asthedividingline)inordertoexaminewhethermathand readingskillswererelated.Asaresult,wewereabletoidentifybothproficient andpoorreaderswhohadbothsuitableandinsufficientmathematicalabilities. Fortworeasons,arelativelylowbarwasestablishedtodistinguishbetweenhigh andlowachievers.First,webelievedthattestingaccommodationswouldnot typicallybegiventokidswhosereadingandmathaccomplishmentscoreswere closetoz-score=0.Asaresult,ouruseofthetermshighandlowisrelatedtoour particulargoalratherthanbeingnormative.Second,wewereabletoinclude enoughstudentsineachcategorytoconductsignificantstatisticalanalysesthanks tothecriteriaweselected.Afterthestudentsweredividedintogroups,we comparedtheDiffscoresofeachgroupusinganalysisofvariance.

RESULTS

For1,218ofthe1,550initialpupils,completedatasets(surveyinformation, maze,basicmathskillsexam,andbothvariantsofthemathematicsachievement test)weregathered.Oneverymeasureacrossallgradelevels,unpairedt-tests revealedasignificantdifference(p<.01)betweengeneraleducationandspecial educationstudents.About56%ofspecialeducationpupilsassessedthe significanceofanaccommodationashighorveryhigh.Ontheotherhand,just9% ofthesepupilswereratedashavingloworverylowimportance.

Thedifferencebetweenthevideoandpaper-and-pencilversionsofthemath achievementtestwasatleasthalfastandarddeviationfornearly600(46%)of thekids.Theseweredividedbetweenthetwotestingformatsaboutequally.Of the122specialeducationchildrenwhoweresubjectedtosuchashift,60 preferredthevideoversionand62preferredthenormalversion.

TEACHERACCURACY

Teachers'evaluationsofthesignificanceofaccommodationsforspecial education studentswhowereclassifiedaseitherinneedof(rating4or5)ornotinneedof (rating1or2)anaccommodationisdisplayedhere.Thesearecategorizedbythe actualperformancepreferencesofthestudents.Fourthandfifthgraders,aswell asseventhandeighthgraders,weremergedtocreateelementaryandmiddle schooldivisionsinordertoexpandthecellsizefordataanalysis.Asignificant majority(81%)ofthe122studentswhopreferredoneortheothertestingforms wereclassifiedasneedinganaccommodation,with80ofthemreceivingratings attheextremes(ratingsof3weredeleted).

52%ofelementaryschoolpupilswhoseteachersthoughtitwascrucialthatthey begivenatestaccommodationdidbetterinregularclassroomsettings.The recommendationsmadebythesepupilswereerroneous.Fiftypercentofmiddle schoolstudentsmadethewrongrecommendations.While88%ofmiddleschool studentswhoseteachersbelievedthataccommodationswerenotsignificantdid betteronthevideotest,14%ofprimaryschoolstudentswhoseteachersbelieved thataccommodationswereoflowprioritydidbetter.Inaccurate recommendationsarealsorepresentedbythesestudents.Overall,teachersgave inaccuraterecommendationsto57%ofmiddleschoolpupilsand45%ofprimary schoolstudents.

PROFILE

ThemazeandbasicmathscoresfortheFavorStandardandFavorOralgroupsare interesting.Whencomparingstudentswhoperformedbetteronthestandard testtothosewhoperformedbetterontheaccommodatedversion,therewere threenotablevariationsinthescoresofthesevariables.Boththemathabilities examandthemazepretestscoreswereconsiderablyhigherforfourth-gradekids whoperformedbetterinthemodifiedformat.Butwediscoveredtheopposite outcomeinthefifthgrade.

Mathskillscoresweresignificantlyhigherforstudentswhoperformedbetteron theconventionalversion,andtheirhighermazescoreswereclosetosignificance (p=.09).Inmiddleschool,nonotabledifferenceswereobserved.

TheDiffscores(z-scoredisparitiesbetweenstandardandaccommodating formats)ofthefourachievementgroups(LowRead/LowMath,HiRead/LowMath, LowRead/HiMath,andHiRead/Hi-Math)werecomparedinourfinal analysis.The LowRead/HiMathgrouphadthehighestvalueacrossbothlevels.

Theaverageperformanceineachinstancewasaroundhalfastandarddeviation betterwhenthestandardtestwasadministered.Inbothelementaryschool(F [3,100]=4.36)andmiddleschool(F[3,137]=6.08),showedamaineffectforthe group.Follow-upcontrastsforprimaryschoolpupilsshowedasubstantial differencebetweenHiRead/LowMathandLowRead/HiMath.LowRead/HiMath versusHiRead/Low-MathandLowRead/HiMathversusLowRead/LowMathwere twonoteworthycontrastsinmiddleschool.

DISCUSSION

Twoquestionswereraisedbythisstudy.Howreliablearetheread-aloud accommodationssuggestedbyteachersforarithmetictests?Andwhat characteristicsdistinguishastudentwhogainsfromthiskindofaccommodation? Regretfully,wecouldonlycomeupwithaprovisionalresponsetooneofthese questions.

TEACHERPREDICTIONACCURACY

Whenitcametorecommendingwhichchildrenwouldbenefitfromhaving arithmetictestitemsreadaloud,theteachersinourstudydidn'tseemtobevery successful.Onlyabouthalfofthetimedidteachers'assessmentsoftheir students'needfortestingaccommodationsmatchthestudents'actual performance.Thisresultisnobetterthanwhatasimplerandomguesswould havepredicted.

Wediscoveredthatteachersfrequentlysuggesttoomanyaccommodations, whichisinlinewiththeresearchofFuchsandassociates.Thisisnotshocking.It standstoreasonthathearingthetextreadaloudtopupilswhostrugglewith independentreadingwouldbebeneficial.Thisviewwassharedbyallofthe teachersinabrand-newstudy.However,whentestitemswerereadaloud,only abouthalfofthe children inourstudysawanimprovementintheirrelative performance,andonlyabouthalfofthesekidssawanincreaseinperformanceof atleasthalfastandarddeviation.Thisappliedtobothregulareducationand specialeducationpupils.Ingeneral,teachers'strongfeelingsonstudents' accommodationswereunaffectedbythis.

Thebenefitsthatkidsreallyreceivedhadlittletodowithteachers'opinions abouthowimportantitwastomakeconcessionsforspecificpupils.

Ourstudy'sdeliberateexclusionofstudentswhodidnotseeaperformanceshift ofatleasthalfastandarddeviationbetweenthestandardandadaptedformatsis oneofitslimitations.Abouthalfofthekidswhoweretestedarerepresentedby this.Becauseofthis,wemighthavedisregardedalotofgoodteacheradvice, whichwouldhaveledtoamorenegativeassessmentofteacheraccuracythanwe otherwisewouldhave.Despitethispossibility,wesupportouranalysistechniques withtwoarguments.

First,itmakessensethatweoriginallyconcentratedonthepupilswhostoodto benefitthemost,asthereisn'tmuchworkinthisarea.Itisobviouslyusefulto findouthowaccuratelyteachersbelievethat reading testitemsaloudto studentsgreatlyimprovedorhamperedtheirperformance.Examiningteacher accuracyinrelationtopupilswhoaltertheirrelativeperformancejustslightlyhas littlepracticalsignificance.Second,teacherswereabletoforecastperformance moreaccuratelybecausetoourmethod.Teacherswhoareawareofhowpupils willfarewithexamaccommodationsshouldundoubtedlybemoreawareofthose whoareattheextremes.Itisevidentthatifthepoolconsistedsolelyofsubjects withdistinctpreferences,itwouldbesimplertodeterminewhichformata studentwouldfavor.Evenforpupilsattheextremes,thefactthatteachers' forecastswereineffectivespeakssomethingabouttheirperceptions.

STUDENTPROFILE

However,wetakecaretoavoidcriticizingteachersforseeminglylacking awarenessoftheirstudents'read-aloudaccommodationsneeds.Wecouldn't havedonemuchbetter,evenwiththeadvantagesofpostfactodataand statisticalanalyticmethods.Bycomparingthereadingandbasicmathsuccess levelsofkidswhoscoredbetteronthenormalformatofthetestwiththosewho didbetter,wetriedtocreateaprofileofthosestudentswhobenefitfromreadaloudaccommodations.Wediscoveredsurprisinglyfewdifferencesbetweenthe twogroups.Outofthe14comparisonswedid,onlythreeweresignificantand providedcontradictingdata.Studentsinthefourthgradewhopreferredthe modifiedformatperformedbetteronreadingandarithmeticassessments. However,similarhighperformersinthefifthgradepreferredtheconventional style.Wedidnotfindanycorrelationbetweenkids'preferenceforaspecific assessmentmethodandtheirachievementinreadingormathinmiddleschool.

Wedividedpeopleintofourgroupsonthebasisofthetheorythatreadingand mathabilitiescouldinteracttoaffecthoweffectiveanaccommodationis.Even thoughwediscoveredsomenoteworthyvariations,theydidnotgointhe expecteddirection.Weanticipatedthatthepupilsmostlikelytobenefitfroma read-aloudaccommodationwouldbethosewithlowreadingproficiencybut strongmathabilities.Althoughtheirmathaccomplishmentscoressuggestedthat theywouldhavethemathematicaltoolsrequiredtosolvemanyoftheissues oncetheyunderstoodtheproblemstatement,thesestudentsseemedtobethe oneswhowouldstruggletoextractmeaningfromtext.

Incontrasttowhatweexpected,lowreaderswithsufficientarithmeticskills outperformedtheconventionalversionbyanaverageofhalfastandarddeviation inbothelementaryandmiddleschool.Inadditiontobeingparadoxical,thisis remarkablebecausewediscoveredthatthesestudentsweretheonlygroupwho preferredaread-aloudaccommodation.Theeffectthattheseresearcherssaw maybeexplainedbythefactthattheyrestrictedtheiranalysistosixtestitems thatsatisfiedintricate linguistic requirements.Generallyspeaking,theitemsused inthisearlierstudywereeasiertoreadthanthoseusedinthisone.Itshould comeasnosurprisethatread-aloudaccommodationsassistpupilsmorewhen theitemsareofahighreadabilitylevelthanwhenthelanguageisrelativelyplain.

It'spossiblethatasizableportionofstudentswereabletoidentifythetypeof problemorobtainenoughhintsaboutthesolutionmethodfromkeyterms withouthavingtoreadanitemthroughtotheend.However,thisdoesnot accountforthefactthatwediscoveredthatstudents'performanceimproved whentheywererequiredtoreadtheitemsthemselves.Itwouldseemmostlikely thatproficientreaderswouldbetheoneswhoweredistractedbyourvideo presentation.

AnothersurprisingdiscoverywasthattheHiRead/LowMathgroup(FavorOral) performedsubstantiallybetterthantheLowRead/HiMathgroup(FavorStandard) inbothelementaryandmiddleschool.Wedidn'tthinkthatthislatergroupof proficientreaderswithpoormathskillswouldbenefitinanywayfromour accommodation.Thisistheexactgroupthatisleastlikelytoapplytheknowledge (lowmathcompetence)andtogainfromhavingstuffreadaloud(highreading skill).Toascertainwhetherthesetrendsapplytoothergroups,replication researchisrequired.

CONSEQUENCESFORPRACTICE

Ourstudysupportsotherresearchers'conclusionsthatteachersmakeinaccurate adjustmentsassignments.However,giventherequirementfortestvalidityand federaldemandstoincludeallchildreninextensivetestingprograms,the significanceofaccommodationsforspecialeducationstudentsdoesnotdiminish. Itistheresponsibilityofresearcherstocreatestrategiestoimproveteacher efficiencyratherthancircumventingtheminthedecision-makingprocess,as instructorsaretheoneswhodealdirectlywithstudentsandhavethebest understandingoftheirskills.

Ourtentativeadviceissupportedbypromisingsystemswhichtargetkidsfor accommodationsbasedontheoutcomesofprioraccommodations.However,the greatmajorityofteachersareforcedtousealternativeapproachesbecausethey lackaccesstothesekindsof technology.Accordingtoearlierstudies,screening forreadingandmathskillsmaybehelpfulindeterminingifapersonqualifiesfor read-aloudaccommodations.Regretfully,thiswasnotconfirmedbythecurrent study.However,wedonotentirelygiveuponthisapproach.Thisapproach appearstohavedrawbackswhenusedasthemainmethodofidentification.As analternative,it'spossiblethatteachersortestingcoordinatorsmayimprove decision-makingefficiencybycombiningtheirin-depthknowledgeofstudents— whichwedon'thave—withreadingandmathprofiles.Forinstance,weusedthe resultsofaccomplishmentteststodeterminethecompetencelevelsinreading andmath.However,readingproblemscantakemanydifferentshapes.Thereare kidswhohavebothlowfluencyandstrongreadingcomprehension(oneofthe qualitiesassessedbymazetests),despiteourtemptationtoavoidsuggestinga read-aloudaccommodationtosomeonewhoscoredhighlyonareadingmaze screener.Eventhoughthereadingscreenerindicatedthataread-aloud accommodationwasnotrequired,itcouldbewisetouseoneifdirectinstructor experienceofastudentinthisgroupindicatedthatthestudentfelteasily frustratedwhenreadingchallengingtexts.

Studentsarealsolikelytogainfromtheuseofanaccommodationinthe classroombeforetests.Anassessment/instructionrelationshipisnotnecessaryin manystates;however,itisinsomeofthem.Informationfromscreeningsfor readingandmathskillsaswellasactualinstructorexperiencemaysuggestthata certainstudentwouldbenefitfromtestitemsbeingreadaloud.Nevertheless,the noveltyofthistestingmethodcanbedistractingorperplexingenoughtooffset anypotentialbenefits.Implementinganaccommodationthatpupilshavenever seenbeforemayintroduceanotherirrelevanttestingcriteriainanattemptto removethefirstone(readingability).Thiscouldbeonereasonwhythetwo approacheswelookedatwereineffectual.Byincorporatingmodificationsinto regularclassroomactivities,anoveltyeffectcanbeeliminated,perhaps improvingtheaccuracyofteacherassessments.

Teachersshouldneverthelessassignthiskindofaccommodationwhiletakingthe necessarysafeguards,evenwhenweareunabletoconfirmaneffective identificationsystem.Thereislittleevidencetosupporttheideathatgivingpupils toomanyread-aloudaccommodationsisbadforthem.Furthermore,kidswho arenotnormallytargetedforaccommodations—likehigh-abilityreaders—are

probablymostatrisk.TeachersandIEPteammembersshouldrelyontheir understandingofstudents'readingandmathproficiency,learningpreferences, classroomexperiences,andtestinghabitsuntilempiricalresearchconfirmsa workablesystemforallocatingread-aloudaccommodations.Teachersshouldbe abletotargetchildrenforaccommodationsmorepreciselyiftheyhaveup-todateandpertinentinformationineachoftheseareas.

JeffPalmer isateacher,successcoach,trainer,CertifiedMasterofWeb Copywritingandfounderof https://Ebookscheaper com.Jeffisaprolificwriter, SeniorResearchAssociateandInfopreneurhavingwrittenmanyeBooks,articles andspecialreports.

Source: https://ebookscheaper com/which-kids-benefit-from-read-aloudaccommodations-for-arithmetic-assessments/