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Abstract
Education reform efforts concerning high standards for all students, such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, require inclusion of students with disabilities in statewide large-scale testing programs. Including students with disabilities in these activities is also required by the Individuals with. Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 2004 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973). With increased availability of computers in schools, states are beginning to use technology to provide accommodations for student with special needs. It is important to check that accommodation types do not alter the construct measured by the test and that student performance does not vary with test delivery modes.
The context of this study was the English Language Arts (ELA) tests administered to student with disabilities in grades 6, 7, and 8 in a large-scale statewide assessment program in the east coast. Two test administration modes were compared in terms of test factorial structure and student performance: (1) read-aloud administration delivered by a teacher following an oral script and (2) computer delivery of the oral script by CD-ROM.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used first to check for test factorial stability. This was followed by a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) that compared student performance. The results suggested factorial invariance between test administration modes. In addition, no significant difference in student performance across the two modes was found.
