Project Advisors and PartnersEileen Ahearn, NASDSEMartha Thurlow, NCEO

June 23, 2010

What We Know from data on accommodations policies and use of accommodations

Importance of state participation in accommodations studies

Considerations for state participation in multi-state studies

Resources on accommodations studies

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Cross-state data on accommodations policies and the use of accommodations across states highlight variability

Question is whether this much variability makes sense

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Read-Aloud Questions (2007)

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To assist the state in setting its accommodations policy

To support the validity of the state’s test results for students with disabilities

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Funding Issues Relevance Timing Project Activities Other

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Whenever accommodations research is conducted we learn important things with implications for practice

We need to find better ways to share what we have learned (see CT-EAG Lessons Learned as step in right direction)

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For a text to speech accommodation, voice quality is very important

Human voice better than computer voice, but has drawbacks

Highlighting is a useful addition to text to speech

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Learn about characteristics of accommodation (e.g., voice quality)

Discover that some accommodations may be very important to some students but not others (e.g., finding that more students with disabilities than students without disabilities indicated it is easier to think while listening to text read to them

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Not all students need the same accommodations

Good decision-making process supported by good training is critical

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During research, as well as during administration of actual state or district assessment