Test accommodations and standardized assessment for students with learning disabilities who are second language learners

Abstract

Federal mandates require that all students participate in large-scale assessments. A population of students with learning disabilities and who are second language learners are emerging within the schools. The purpose of this descriptive study was to gain additional knowledge about accommodation use by determining what accommodations were provided and whether the accommodations used were related to student achievement. Information was collected on accommodation use by 6^th and 7^th grade students who participated in a large-scale assessment. A post hoc data analysis was conducted to investigate accommodation use during the AIMS-DPA reading assessment. A questionnaire completed by teachers provided additional data on accommodations use by English language learners. In this descriptive study, the frequency data indicated the type and number of accommodations received and any relation to reading scores. The collected data indicated a high percentage of accommodations were provided to English language learners, who have learning disabilities in 6 ^th grade than 7^th grade. A higher number of non-linguistic accommodations were provided than language-related accommodations. Language-related accommodations were provided more frequently to 6^th grade students. Analyses indicated that reading performance and accommodations were not significantly related. Students who were identified with a learning disability and who were second language learners had the lowest reading scores among the student groups.