Appropriate Accommodations for Individual Needs Allowable by State Guidelines

Abstract

Accommodation decisions should be based on the validity and accountability to provide the least restrictive accommodations for students with learning disabilities. Accommodations are based upon the allowable guidelines set by the Ohio Department of Education but the scribing accommodations do not meet the least restrictive criteria for many students with disabilities. While it is important to have guidelines and consistency when considering accommodations, it is even more crucial to determine the accommodations that would best fit the individual need of the student. Student, parent and teacher input of how they view the usefulness and effectiveness of accommodations is vital to determining the most appropriate accommodations to be used. Research comparing the specific accommodations used during state assessments versus classroom accommodations has been limited. A particular concern is the lack of attention to differences between classroom accommodations and statewide accommodations for groups of students with disabilities. This study offers an in-depth analysis of interviews of ten intervention teacher and testing proctors, five parents with children who have specific learning disabilities, and six students with learning disabilities regarding their perceptions of the usefulness accommodations allowed during statewide assessments. A pilot study was used to determine accommodations frequently used by general education teachers and intervention specialists. With information from the review of 40 IEP testing pages and results from the pilot study, typological analysis was used to begin analysis of predetermined accommodations then inductive analysis was used to discover emerging themes across the 21 semi-structured interviews. Within the data set of the pilot study and semi-structured interviews, the scribing accommodation was identified as having the greatest differences in use between classroom and statewide uses and acceptability. Teachers stated that they used a variation of scribing methods in the classroom, but during state testing, scribing was provided using only the state allowed dictation method. Student perceptions of the accommodations used were positive or null but no negative comments were made about testing accommodations. Other perceptions concerning differences between classroom and statewide accommodations are identified and limitations to this research as well as implications for future research are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]