modified achievement tests for students with disabilities: design strategies and experimental...

CAAVES Item Modification 2008 1

Modified Achievement Testsfor Students with Disabilities:Design Strategies and Experimental Results

Stephen N. Elliott Vanderbilt University

CCSSO’s National Conference on Student AssessmentJune 2008

CAAVES Item Modification Study 2008 2

Project, Partners & Presenters

CAAVES = Consortium for Alternate Assessment Validity and Experimental Studies

(USDE funded; October 2006 - March 2009; 6 states involved)

Partners = AZ, HI, ID*, IN, MS, & NV + Vanderbilt Measurement Group + Discovery Ed. Assessment

Presenters Beddow & Kettler, Vanderbilt University Palmer, DEA Roach, Georgia State University Rodriguez, University of Minnesota Compton (ID), Bruen (AZ), Hinton (HI), & McGrath (IN)


Session Goals: Design & Data Review w/ Application Focus

Review item modification development methods, the resulting items, and suggested steps to improve the effectiveness of these strategies for assessing students with persistent academic difficulties.

Review Reading (Total, Vocabulary, & Comprehension) for 3 groups of students who took a 39 item test with 3 different item conditions. Also review Math (Total, Numbers, & Data) for the same students.

Discuss results and share observations about the findings and the implications for the design and use of alternate assessments of modified achievement standards.

Hear state assessment leaders perspectives on this study and their take-away lessons.


Policy Context for Our Study

Our research has the potential to inform current testing practices and policies concerning students with disabilities who have experienced persistent academic difficulties and poor performance on statewide assessments.

USDE Regulations 34 CFR Part 200 (2007)


CAAVES Project Goal #2

Goal #2 of the CAAVES Project is to “investigate feasibility of item modification strategies for future alternate assessments.”

This goal was accomplished by (a) developing a common set of test items from existing reading and mathematics tests using modification principles that facilitate reading access and valid responses and (b) using a computer-based delivery system to experimentally examine student preferences, score comparability, and item statistics of the modified items for students with and without disabilities.


To Accomplish Goal #2

We proposed and completed the following….. Modified a common set of existing reading and math items to

create items designed to be more accessible and still measure the same grade-level content as the original items.

Conducted a cognitive lab study with a small sample of students with and without disabilities to gain their insights into which item modifications are preferred and most likely to improve test access for students whose disability involves reading difficulties.

Conducted a cross-state experimental study to compare the effects of tests with and without modified items on students’ test performances and test score comparability.


Original Motivating Questions

We wanted to answer the following questions about item modifications:

1. Will modifications in testing conditions change the skill being measured?

2. Will taking the test under modified conditions change the resulting scores?

3. Will non-disabled examinees benefit if allowed the same modifications?


Participation Criteria for Students with Disabilities


Multi-State Sample

CAAVES Item Modification Study 2008 10CAAVES Item Mod Data 2008 10

Order of Forms and Conditions

Students were

randomly assigned to

one of 36 possible

reading and math tests

comprised of 39 items

that represented three

types of multiple choice

items: unmodified,

modified, and modified

with reading support.


Psychometric Outcomesto be Examined


Questions & Evidence from Analyses

1. Will modifications in testing conditions change the skill being measured?A. Content analysis by panelB. DIF analysisC. Factor analyses (across groups for same condition and within groups for different conditions)C. Depth of Knowledge of items (Compare mean DOK for 3 conditions)

2. Will taking the test under modified conditions change the resulting scores?A. MANOVA with groups and conditions as IVs & Reading and Math Scores as DVsB. Effect size calculations (comparing modified conditions to the unmodified condition for the total sample and each of the 3 groups)C. Item difficulties (Compare mean item difficulties for 3 conditions)

3. Will non-disabled examinees benefit if allowed the same modifications?A. MANOVA

B. Chi-square analysis (use 50% on Unmodified as cut score for Proficiency level) C. Descriptive analysis of post-assessment survey

4. Do item modifications change key psychometric characteristics of items or the test?A. Reliability estimates (Cronbach alphas and test-retest)B. DIF analysis


Group by Condition Overview

In the remainder of this session we focus on two sets of initial analyses: (1) group performance comparisons on reading and math tests and (2) item difficulty and distractor analyses.

CAAVES Item Modification Study 2008 14CAAVES Item Mod Data 2008 14

Item Summary Reports: An Example


Thanks!

Thank you very much for your time and joining us for this session.

Please provide all follow-up questions and suggestions in writing to:Steve Elliott at Vanderbilt

[email protected]

modified achievement tests for students with disabilities: design strategies and experimental...

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