Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Educator Leader CadresFebruary 2013

Tamara Reavis, Senior AdviserPARCC Assessment Accessibility & Equity

Objectives:• Review and understand research and best practices

currently in place in PARCC states • Understand the timeline for public comment on draft

PARCC accommodations policies• Give feedback on the draft policy recommendation • Discuss current policies and implementation strategies

TODAY’S CHARGE

K-12 AND POSTSECONDARY ROLES IN PARCC

K-12 Educators & Education Leaders• Educators will be involved throughout the development of the

PARCC assessments and related instructional and reporting tools to help ensure the system provides the information and resources educators most need

Postsecondary Faculty & Leaders• Nearly 750 institutions and systems covering hundreds of

campuses across PARCC states have committed to help develop the high school assessments and set the college-ready cut score that will indicate a student is ready for credit-bearing courses

1. Create high-quality assessments

2. Build a pathway to college and career readiness for all students

3. Support educators in the classroom

4. Develop 21st century, technology-based assessments

5. Advance accountability at all levels

6. Build an assessment that is sustainable and affordable

THE PARCC GOALS

CREATE HIGH QUALITY ASSESSMENTS

Priority Purposes of PARCC Assessments:

1. Determine whether students are college- and career-ready or on track

2. Assess the full range of the Common Core Standards, including standards that are difficult to measure

3. Measure the full range of student performance, including the performance of high and low performing students

4. Provide data during the academic year to inform instruction, interventions and professional development

5. Provide data for accountability, including measures of growth

6. Incorporate innovative approaches throughout the system

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COHERENT SYSTEM ALIGNED TO COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS

PARCCAssessment

System

Implementation & Transition

Support

Aligned Instructional

Resources

Diagnostic & Informative

Assessments

Summative Assessments

BUILD A PATHWAY TO COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS FOR ALL STUDENTS

K-2 3-8 High School

K-2 formative assessment

being developed,

aligned to the PARCC system

Timely student achievement data showing students, parents and educators

whether ALL students are on-track to college and career

readiness

ONGOING STUDENT SUPPORTS/INTERVENTIONS

College readiness score to identify who

is ready for college-level coursework

SUCCESS IN FIRST-YEAR,

CREDIT-BEARING, POSTSECONDARY

COURSEWORK

Targeted interventions &

supports:• 12th-grade bridge

courses• PD for

educators

ASSESSMENT DESIGNENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY AND MATHEMATICS, GRADES 3-11

End-of-Year Assessment

• Innovative, computer-based items

• Required

Performance-BasedAssessment (PBA)• Extended tasks• Applications of

concepts and skills• Required

Diagnostic Assessment• Early indicator of

student knowledge and skills to inform instruction, supports, and PD

• Non-summative

2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration

Mid-Year Assessment• Performance-based• Emphasis on hard-

to-measure standards

• Potentially summative

Speaking And Listening Assessment• Locally scored• Non-summative, required

ACCESS AND EQUITY

All students will have equitable opportunities to access and respond to

PARCC assessment items and tasks.

ACCESSIBILITY

STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING STUDENT ACCESS

• Provide item developers with clear guidelines for writing items that are free of bias, are sensitive to diverse cultures, are stated clearly, and use consistent formats

• Require item developers to use principals of Universal Design to allow participation of the widest possible range of students, and increase the likelihood that test questions measure only what they are intended to measure

• Conduct bias and sensitivity reviews and statistical procedures that are designed to detect bias as part of the item development/field testing process

• Develop common test accommodation and participation policies for Students with Disabilities (SWD) and English Language Learners (ELL)

• Use technology to provide and increase access to testing accommodations

• Conduct research to determine factors that promote or hinder accessibility

TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTING ACCESS STRATEGIES

Summer 2012 Bias and Sensitivity Guidelines

Ongoing Bias and Sensitivity Reviews

Summer 2012 Accessibility Guidelines

Winter 2013 Common Definition ELL

Spring 2013 Common Participation Policies (SWD/ELL)

Spring 2013 Common Accommodation Policies (SWD/ELL)

Summer 2014 Statistical Reviews

Spring 2013, 2014 Research

COMMITTEES ON ACCESSIBILITY

• Operational Working Group: State representatives responsible for the day-to-day aspects of work

• Technical Working Group: National experts who advise on issues of accessibility, accommodations, and fairness. There are three sub-groups: (1) students with disabilities; (2) English learners; (3) equity

Henry BraunBoston College

Bob BrennanUniversity of Iowa

Derek BriggsUniversity of Colorado at Boulder

Wayne CamaraCollege Board

Linda CookRetired, ETS

Ronald HambletonUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst

Gerunda HughesHoward University

Huynh HuynhUniversity of South Carolina

PARCC TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Michael KolenUniversity of Iowa

Suzanne LaneUniversity of Pittsburgh

Richard LuechtUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro

Jim PellegrinoUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

Barbara PlakeUniversity of Nebraska- Lincoln

Rachel QuenemoenNational Center on Educational Outcomes

Laurie WiseHuman Resources Research Organization, HumRRO

ACCESSIBILITY, ACCOMMODATIONS, & FAIRNESS OPERATIONAL WORKING GROUP

• The AAF Operational Working Group members represent the following states:

Arizona Colorado* Florida Illinois Indiana Louisiana Maryland* Massachusetts New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Rhode Island Tennessee

* Co-chairs of the AAF OWG

AAF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES SUB-TWG

AAF TWG SWD Sub- Group Affiliation

Dave Edyburn University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Claudia Flowers University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Dianne Piche Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

Alba Ortiz The University of Texas at Austin

Diane Spence Region 4 Education Service Center, Braille Services

Martha Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes

Daniel Wiener* Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

*Chair of the AAF TWG and liaison to the AAF OWG

AAF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER SUB-TWG

AAF TWG ELL Sub-Group Affiliation

Diane August Center for Applied Linguistics

H. Gary Cook University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kenji Hakuta Stanford University

Alba Ortiz The University of Texas at Austin

Charlene Rivera George Washington University

Daniel Wiener* Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

*Chair of the AAF TWG and liaison to the AAF OWG

AAF EQUITY SUB-TWG

AAF TWG Equity Sub-Group Affiliation

Amy Epstein Leadership Public Schools

Keena Arbuthnot Louisiana State University

Edward Bosso Gallaudet University

Yvette Jackson National Urban Alliance for Effective Education

Carol D. Lee Northwestern University

Teresa L. McCarty Arizona State University

Daniel Wiener* Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Dianne Piche Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

*Chair of the AAF TWG and liaison to the AAF OWG

ACCESSIBILITY AS A PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

• Accessibility guidelines • Design review and feedback• Test blueprint development• Technology development and selection• Passage and media review committee involvement• Item review & bias and sensitivity committee involvement• Testing the efficacy of assessment items with accommodations

with the intended groups of students in pilot and field testing• Including sufficient number of students with identified needs

(across sub-categories) in pilot and field testing• Data review committee involvement• Cognitive labs & item development research

• Screen readers/ text-to-speech/speech-to-text software • Highlighting• Enlargement of text/graphics• Customized colors• Graphic organizers or representations• Customized dictionary or other home language supports/tools• Embedded/pop-up glossary• Reducing visual distractions surrounding written text• Captions for audio• Descriptive audio for students with visual impairments• Option response: adapted keyboards, StickyKeys, MouseKeys, FilterKeys• Braille (tactile/refreshable)• Signing supports (ASL)• Assistive technology

EMBEDDED SUPPORTS BEING DISCUSSED

Selected Key Deliverables

Bias & Sensitivity Guidelines for item development

Accessibility Guidelines for item development

Item & Passage Review Committees; Bias & Sensitivity Review Committees

Common PARCC definition of ELLParticipation guidelines for SWD & ELL

PARCC Common Accommodations ManualResearch & Cross-Consortia Collaboration

DESIGNING ACCESSIBLE ASSESSMENTS: KEY PARCC DELIVERABLES

INCREASING EQUITY AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR ALL STUDENTS

DEVELOPING A COMMON PARCC ACCOMMODATIONS

MANUAL

PARCC has committed to developing a common PARCC Accommodations Manual

by spring 2013.

• A testing accommodation is a change in how a test is presented or how the test taker responds, which may include changes in the presentation format, response format, test setting, timing, or scheduling.

• This term generally refers to changes that do not significantly alter what the test measures.

• It results from a student need; it is not intended to give the student an unfair advantage.

WHAT IS AN ACCOMMODATION?

• One of the primary objectives of PARCC is to report comparable results across all states in the Consortium

• In order to achieve comparability in results, students must have comparable testing experiences, therefore, accommodation policies for SWDs and ELLs, among other factors, must be commonly defined and implemented across PARCC states.

WHY MUST PARCC HAVE COMMON ASSESSMENT ACCOMMODATION POLICIES?

ACCOMMODATIONS COMPARABILITY ISSUE

While PARCC states currently allow for the provision of a range of accommodations that are common among them, there are a few that are not commonly allowed

Reading access accommodationsWriting response accommodationsBraille and signing support accommodationsCalculator use accommodationsTranslations

• Teachers need to know which accommodations will be offered

• Public feedback is essential to state-led policy development • States need to know if PARCC accommodations policy

decisions will impact current state statue / regulation / policy

• Accommodations information is necessary for field testing (& item tryouts)

WHY RELEASE SELECT DRAFT POLICIES NOW?

READING ACCESS ACCOMMODATION POLICY

• Providing reading access accommodations, specifically for reading aloud the passages, items, and response options on the ELA/literacy summative assessments for SWD who meet eligibility criteria

• The reading access accommodation may be delivered through human read-aloud, recorded voice presented via an audio file, and other text-to-speech technologies.

READING ACCESS

Two populations:• Student with a specific disability that severely limits or prevents him/her from accessing

printed text even after varied and repeated attempts to teach the student to do so. The student must be a virtual non-reader;

OR• Student with visual impairments who has not yet learned braille; Student must also:• Receive ongoing, research-based interventions to access printed text or learn braille, as

deemed appropriate by the IEP team AND

• Has access to written text in instruction only through the use of reading access accommodations, outside time spent in direct reading or braille instruction

AND• The accommodation is listed in an approved IEP with the disability documented by

objective, measurable data points and evaluation summaries from locally-administered, research-based diagnostic assessments

READING ACCESS

CALCULATOR ACCOMMODATION POLICY

• Provide calculator accommodations on the non-calculator test sessions of the mathematics summative assessments for SWD who meet the eligibility criteria

CALCULATOR

Population:• Student has a specific disability that severely limits or prevents him/her from

calculating, even after varied and repeated attempts to teach the student to do so. The student must be unable to calculate single-digit numbers (i.e., 0-9) without a calculation device, using the four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division;

Student must also:• Receive ongoing, research-based intervention strategies in learning to calculate, as

deemed appropriate by the IEP team AND

• Has access to mathematical calculation in instruction only through the use of a calculation device, outside time spent in direct instruction on calculation

AND• The accommodation is listed in an approved IEP with the disability documented by

objective, measurable data points and evaluation summaries from locally-administered, research-based diagnostic assessments

CALCULATOR

• PARCC states will monitor the number and percentage of students using these accommodations at the school, district, and state level

• Summative assessment scores for students who receive this accommodation will be aggregated with the scores of all students and those of relevant subgroups

• Scores will be included for accountability purposes

• Confidential parent/guardian reports, non-public rosters of school- and district-level results, and other non-public reports will include notations in cases where these accommodations were provided. District and school reports available to the public will not include the notations in cases where these accommodations were used

SCORING & REPORTING

WRITING ACCESS ACCOMMODATION POLICY

• Scribe• Word prediction

WRITING ACCESS POLICY

Definition• A scribe is a human or device that records verbatim what a student

dictates Human scribe; recording device, augmentative communications

device; speech to text software, communication interpretation/transliteration, or by gesturing pointing or eye-gazing

Who Requires the Accommodation?• Student with a physical disability that impedes motor process for writing

OR• Student with a specific disability that significantly impacts the area of

written expression

SCRIBE

• Word prediction is recommended to be used as an accommodation for eligible students

• Proposed Definition: Word prediction software provides a student with a selection of word options based on spelling or frequent/recent use by the student, given partial input of words (i.e., letter characters)

• Proposed Eligibility Criteria: Students who have difficulty producing text due to the speed with which they are able to enter keystrokes

AND/OR

Students who have difficulty with language recall

WORD PREDICTION

• Where Do I Find the Information? http://parcconline.org/open-policies-public-comment

• What Should I Read? PARCC Draft Writing Access Accommodations Public Comment Document

• How Do I Provide Feedback? Fill out the survey online.

• When Is Feedback Due? February 20, 2013

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!

TIMELINE FOR ADOPTINGCOMMON ACCOMMODATIONS POLICIES

Public Comment Date

Reading access and calculator accommodation policy for students with disabilities

Jan.-Feb., 2013

Writing access accommodation policy for students with disabilities

Feb.-Mar., 2013

Draft PARCC Accommodations Manual, including accommodations for English learners and students with disabilities

Apr.-May, 2013

Governing Board vote on the approval of the PARCC Accommodations Manual

June 2013

PUBLIC COMMENT ON READING ACCESS &

CALCULATOR POLICIES

• Provide reading access accommodations, specifically for reading aloud the passages, items, and response options on the ELA/literacy summative assessments for SWD who meet eligibility criteria

• Provide calculator accommodations on the non-calculator test sessions of the mathematics summative assessments for SWD who meet the eligibility criteria

DRAFT POLICIES FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

• Policies were released for public comment on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

• National Stakeholder Meeting held on Friday, January 18, 2013 at Achieve (Approximately 40 participants)

• States engage stakeholders and solicit public comment

• Public comment due Monday, February 4, 2013

PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS

• 2,615 responses have been recorded.

• All Governing Board states have submitted surveys

• 48 out of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia responded

• Role of Respondents:18% of respondents – K-12 Instructors37% of respondents – Special Educators12% of respondents - Parents22% of respondents – Other

PRELIMINARY FEEDBACK

TAMARA REAVIS treavis@achieve.org

FEBRUARY 2013

www.PARCConline.org

THE PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS