Special Topic Area:
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Publications and Other Accommodations Resources

Online Accommodations Bibliography: This searchable database allows you to search a compilation of empirical research studies on the effects of various testing accommodations for students with disabilities.

Online publications available at NCEO’s Web site (the publications are listed chronologically, with the most recent first; Policy Directions will give a general overview of the issues with other publications providing greater depth):

• English Language Learners with Disabilities in State English Language Proficiency Assessments: A Review of State Accommodation Policies (Synthesis Report 66) (HTML format available soon) / PDF format
• A Summary of Research on the Effects of Test Accommodations: 2002 Through 2004 (Technical Report 45) / PDF format (2006)
• Item-level Effects of the Read-aloud Accommodation for Students with Reading Disabilities (Synthesis Report 65) / PDF format (2006)
• 2005 State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (Synthesis Report 64) / PDF format (2006)
• A Comparison of IEP/504 Accommodations Under Classroom and Standardized Testing  Conditions: A Preliminary Report on SEELS Data (Synthesis Report 63) / PDF format
• 2005 State Special Education Outcomes: Steps Forward in a Decade of Change / PDF Version (3MB) (2006)
• 2003 State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (Synthesis Report 56) / PDF format (2005)
• Steady Progress: State Public Reporting Practices for Students with Disabilities after the First Year of NCLB (2002-2003) (Technical Report 40) / PDF format (2005)
• State Literacy Standards, Practice, and Testing: Exploring Accessibility (Technical Report 38) / PDF format (2004)
• 2003 State Special Education Outcomes: Marching On / PDF format (2003)
• Putting it All Together: Including Students with Disabilities in Assessment and Accountability Systems (Policy Directions 16) / PDF Version (2003)
• Varied Opinions on How to Report Accommodated Test Scores: Findings Based on CTB/McGraw-Hill's Framework for Classifying Accommodations  / PDF version (Synthesis Report 49/ 2003)
• Using Computer-based Tests with Students with Disabilities / PDF Version (Policy Directions 15 / 2003)
• A Summary of Research on the Effects of Test Accommodations – 1999 through 2001 (Technical Report 34 / 2002)
• 2001 State Policies on Assessment Participation and Accommodations (Synthesis Report 46 / 2002)
• Access to Computer-Based Testing for Students with Disabilities (Synthesis Report 45 / 2002)
• Empirical Support for Accommodations Most Often Allowed in State Policy  (Synthesis Report 41 / 2001)
• A Self-Study Guide to Implementation of Inclusive Assessment and Accountability Systems: A Best Practice Approach (2001) Please Note: This is a PDF file.
• Principles and Characteristics of Inclusive Assessment and Accountability Systems (Synthesis Report 40 / 2001)
• Read-Aloud Accommodation: Effects on Multiple-Choice Reading and Math Items (Technical Report 31 / 2001)
• Use of Accommodations in State Assessments: What Databases Tell Us About Differential Levels of Use and How to Document the Use of Accommodations (Technical Report 30 / 2001)
• 2001 State Special Education Outcomes: A Report on State Activities at the Beginning of a New Decade (2001)
• Students with Disabilities in Standards-based Assessment and Accountability Systems: Emerging Issues, Strategies, and Recommendations (Synthesis Report 37 / 2001)
• Student Perspectives on the Use of Accommodations on Large-scale Assessments (Minnesota Report 35 / 2000)
• Effect of a Multiple Day Test Accommodation on the Performance of Special Education Students (Minnesota Report 34 / 2000)
• Effects of a Reading Accommodation on the Validity of a Reading Test (Technical Report 28 / 2000)
• Assessment Accommodations Research: Considerations for Design and Analysis (Technical Report 26 / 2000) 
• Non-Approved Accommodations: Recommendations for Use and Reporting (Policy Directions 11 / 2000)
• Gray Areas of Assessment Systems (Synthesis Report 32 / 2000)
• State Participation and Accommodations Policies for Students with Disabilities: 1999 Update (Synthesis Report 33 / 2000)

For reports before 2000, see NCEO's Online Publications.

National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) publications:

	Rewards and Roadblocks: How Special Education Students are Faring Under No Child Left Behind
	State Testing Accommodations: A Look at their Value and Validity

	Understanding Assessment Options for IDEA-eligible Students provides an overview of the ways students with IEPs can participate in statewide tests required by NCLB, helps guide parents as the IEP team chooses the right types of assessments and offers questions to ask about the testing options.
	Determining Appropriate Assessment Accommodations for Students with Disabilities provides an overview of appropriate accommodations for students with IEPs or 504 Plans, serves as a guide to choosing accommodations and suggests questions to ask when making appropriate accommodation decisions.

See The Effects of Test Accommodations on Test Performance: A Review of the Literature (PDF file) Center for Educational Assessment Research Report no. 485  by Stephen G. Sireci, Shuhong Li, and Stanley Scarpati, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst. This paper was commissioned by the Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences.

Also, see the following on-line documents on accommodations from the Assessing Special Education Students (ASES) Work Group, Council of Chief State School Officers (1998):

• Brief: Determining When Accommodated Test Administrations Are Comparable to Standard Test Administrations
• Executive Summary: Models for Understanding Task Comparability in Accommodated Testing
• Report: Models for Understanding Task Comparability in Accommodated Testing
  

Additional Resources:

Cahalan-Laitusis, C., & Cook, L. (Eds.). (2007). Accommodating students with disabilities on state assessments: What works? Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.

Crawford, L., Helwig, R., & Tindal, G. (2004). Writing performance assessments: How important is extended time? Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37, 132-142.

Crawford, L., & Tindal, G. (2004). Effects of a read-aloud modification on a standardized reading test. Exceptionality, 12, 89-106.

CTB/McGraw-Hill. (2004). Guidelines for inclusive test administration 2005. Monterey, CA: CTB/McGraw-Hill L.L.C.

DeStefano, L., Shriner, J.G., & Lloyd, C.A. (2001). Teacher decision making in participation of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment. Exceptional Children, 68 (1), 7-22.

Dolan, R. P., Hall, T. E., Banerjee, M., Chun, E., & Strangman, N. (2005). Applying principles of universal design to test delivery: The effect of computer-based read-aloud on test performance of high school students with learning disabilities. Journal of Technology, Learning & Assessment, 3(7).

Elliott, S.N., Braden, J.P. & White, J.L. (2001). Assessing one and all: Educational accountability for students with disabilities. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.

Elliott, S.N., & Marquart, A.M. (2003). Extended time as a testing accommodation: Its effects and perceived consequences. Exceptional Children, 70(3), 349-367.

Elliott, J. L., & Thurlow, M. L. (2006). Improving test performance of students with disabilities on state and district assessments (2nd ed.).  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Fuchs, L. S. (2002). Best practices in providing accommodations for assessment. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology IV. Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.

Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (2001). Helping teachers formulate sound test accommodation decisions for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 16(3), 174-181.

Geisinger, K.F. (2002). The psychometrics of individuals with disabilities. In R.B. Ekstrom & D.K. Smith (Eds.), Assessing individuals with disabilities in educational, employment, and counseling settings. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Haladyna, T. M., & Downing, S. M. (2004). Construct-irrelevant variance in high-stakes testing. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 23(1), 17-27.

Ketterlin-Geller, L.R. Yovanoff, P., & Tindal, G. (2007). Developing a new paradigm for conducting research on accommodations in mathematics testing. Exceptional Children, 73, 331-347.

Koenig, J. A., & Bachman, L. F. (Eds.). (2004). Keeping score for all: The effects of inclusion and accommodation policies on large-scale educational assessments. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

Lang, S.C., Kurnke, P. J., Ray, C.E., Cowell, E.L., Elliott, S.N., Kratochwill, T.R., et al. (2005). Consequences of using test accommodations: Student, teacher, and parent perceptions of and reactions to testing accommodations. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 31, 49-62.

Langley, J., & Olsen, K. (2003). Training district and state personnel on accommodations: A study of state practices, challenges and resources. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.

Shriner, J.G. & DeStefano, L. (2003) Participation and accommodation in state assessment: the role of Individualized Education Programs. Exceptional Children, 69 (2) 147-161.

Sireci, S. G. (January/February 2005). Unlabeling the disabled: A perspective on flagging scores from accommodated test administrations, Educational Researcher 34(1), pp. 3-12.

Sireci, S. G., Scarpati, S., & Li, S. (2005). Test accommodations for students with disabilities: An analysis of the interaction hypothesis. Review of Educational Research, 75(4), 457-490.

Thurlow, M., Elliott, J., & Ysseldyke, J. (2003). Testing students with disabilities: Practical strategies for complying with district and state requirements. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Thurlow, M. L., Lazarus, S. S. Thompson, S. J., & Morse, A. (2005). State policies on assessment participation and accommodations for students with disabilities. Journal of Special Education, 38(4), 232-240.

Tindal, G. (2002). Accommodating mathematics testing using a videotaped, read-aloud administration. Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington D.C.

Tindal, G., & Haladyna, T. (2002). Large scale assessment programs for all students: Development, implementation, and analysis. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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