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2 Characteristics of the Students, the Assessments, and Commonly Used Accomadations
Pages 18-40

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From page 18... ... This report addresses both students with disabilities and English language learners because members of both groups need accommodations and because many data collection issues have similar implications for both. However, the committee recognizes that the needs and characteristics of these two groups are in many ways very different; where relevant, we have attempted to identify the differences. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... . Students with disabilities who qualify for special education are covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... English Language Learners Nearly 4.6 million students in U.S. public schools were designated English language learners during the 2000-2001 school year (http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ askncela/01leps.htm) Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... . Although the majority of English language learners are native Spanish speakers, states reported enrolling students who spoke more than 400 languages in the 2000-2001 school year. Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... 22 KEEPING SCORE FOR ALL TABLE 2-2 Most Common Language Groups for English Language Learners Language Estimated Number Estimated Percentage Spanish 3,598,451 79.00 Vietnamese 88,906 2.00 Hmong 70,768 1.60 Chinese, Cantonese 46,466 1.00 Korean 43,969 1.00 Haitian Creole 42,236 0.90 Arabic 41,279 0.90 Russian 37,157 0.80 Tagalog 34,133 0.70 Navajo 27,029 0.60 Khmer 26,815 0.60 Chinese, Mandarin 22,374 0.50 Portuguese 20,787 0.50 Urdu 18,649 0.40 Serbo-Croatian 17,163 0.40 Lao 15,549 0.30 Japanese 15,453 0.30 Chuukese 15,194 0.30 Chinese, unspecified 14,817 0.30 Chamorro 14,354 0.30 Marshallese 13,808 0.30 Punjabi 13,200 0.30 Armenian 13,044 0.30 Polish 11,847 0.30 French 11,328 0.20 Hindi 10,697 0.20 Native American, unspecified 10,174 0.20 Ukrainian 9,746 0.20 Pohnpeian 9,718 0.20 Farsi 9,670 0.20 Somali 9,230 0.20 Cherokee 9,229 0.20 Gujarati 7,943 0.20 Albanian 7,874 0.20 German 7,705 0.20 Yup'ik 7,678 0.20 Bengali 6,587 0.10 Romanian 5,898 0.10 IIocano 5,770 0.10 Other languages 152,082 3.50 Total 4,544,777 NOTE: Percentage total does not add up to 100 percent because numbers were rounded. SOURCE: Available: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/askncela/05toplangs.htm. Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... Public schools are thus prohibited from denying students equal protection of the law or life, liberty, or property interests without due process. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin and has been interpreted as "requiring the inclusion of English language learners in testing" (Coleman in National Research Council, 2002a, p. Read the entire page →
From page 24... ... As noted above, the IDEA is also a civil rights law extending the constitutional right to equality of educational opportunity to students with disabilities needing special education. The law sets out three basic requirements with which states and local districts must comply: � All children who have disabilities and are in need of special education must be provided a free, appropriate public education. Read the entire page →
From page 25... ... However, even without the IDEA, school districts would still have a legal obligation to serve students with disabilities because of two federal civil rights statutes: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... The IEP Process6 The provisions of the federal IDEA and Section 504 and the requirements of most state special education laws require an individualized, appropriate education for students with disabilities. Two key assumptions about student evaluation and identification underlie these requirements. Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... English Language Learners For English language learners, Titles I and VII of the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act have been key pieces of legislation. These provisions required that states report disaggregated achievement test results for both students with disabilities and English language learners so that the progress of each group could be monitored. Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... 786, 1974) , later followed up on the principles of educational equality established there, holding that "there is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education." Also in 1974, Congress enacted the Equal Education Opportunities Act, judicial interpretations of which made more explicit what states and school districts must do to enable English language learners to participate "meaningfully" in the educational programs they offer. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... A 1991 policy statement from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights explains how the Casteneda case applies to possible violations of Title VI.8 The policy statement notes that "Title VI does not mandate any particular program for instruction for LEP students," but goes on to say that such programs must be recognized by experts in the field as being sound. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 The inclusion of students with disabilities and English language learners in achievement testing programs, as well as the accommodations they would need to participate in testing programs, had thus already been the subject of a significant amount of legislation when the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001. Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... LARGE-SCALE ASSESSMENTS Large-scale assessments are those given to large numbers of students for purposes that include program evaluation, establishing standards or requirements, and matching students to appropriate instructional programs. NAEP, a national assessment that yields the data on which the widely publicized Nation's Report Cards are based, provides data on groups of students so that educational progress across the nation can be monitored. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... National NAEP tests nationally representative samples of students enrolled in public and nonpublic schools in grades 4, 8, and 12 in a variety of subject areas (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics and Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 2003) Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... . The achievement levels describe the range of performance that the National Assessment Governing Board believes should be demonstrated at each grade, and it reports the percentage of students at or above each achievement level. Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... , it does mandate state participation in biennial NAEP assessments of fourth and eighth grade reading and math. It is expected that NAEP will serve as a rough benchmark for each state's assessment results, in the sense that significant discrepancies between a state's scores on its own assessment and on NAEP would signal the need for further investigation of that state's data on student performance (National Assessment Governing Board, 2002a; Taylor, 2002) Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... , for use in improving teaching and learning. Regardless of the purpose of their assessment programs, states and districts are held accountable for the achievement of all of their students with disabilities and English language learners and thus are required to include them in many of the assessments they use, although attaining that goal has proved challenging. Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... Mechanisms for evaluating the validity of scores from accommodated assessments, as well as research into those questions are discussed in later chapters. Here we explore the specific factors that affect the accommodation of students with disabilities and English language learners. Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... The principal testing accommodations that are offered to students with disabilities are listed by category in Table 2-3. Accommodations for English Language Learners The requirements for including English language learners under the No Child Left Behind Act are, as we have seen, very similar to those for students with disabilities (although, as noted earlier, some increased flexibility in including English language learners has recently been written into the requirement) Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... CHARACTERISTICS 37 TABLE 2-3 Testing Accommodations Offered to Students with Disabilities Setting Timing � Individual � Extended time � Small group � Flexible schedule � Study carrel � Frequent breaks during testing � Separate location � Frequent breaks on one subtest but � Special lighting not another � Adaptive or special furniture � Special acoustics � Minimal distractions environment Presentation Response � Audio tape � Mark in response booklet � Braille edition � Use of a Brailler � Large print � Tape record for later verbatim � Audio amplification devices, hearing aids translation � Noise buffers � Use of scribe � Prompts on tape � Word processor � Increased space between items � Communication device � Fewer items per page � Copying assistance between drafts � Simplify language in directions � Adaptive or special furniture � Highlight verbs in instructions by underlining � Dark or heavy raised lines � One complete sentence per line in reading � Pencil grips passages � Large diameter pencil � Key words or phrases in directions highlighted � Calculator � Sign directions to student � Abacus � Read directions to student � Arithmetic tables � Reread directions for each page of questions � Spelling dictionary � Multiple choice questions followed by answer � Spell checker down side with bubbles to right � Special acoustics � Clarify directions � Paper secured to work area with � Cues (arrows, stop signs) on answer form tape/magnets � Provide additional examples � Visual magnification devices � Templates to reduce visible print � Eliminate items that cannot be revised and estimate score Scheduling Other � Specific time of day � Special test preparation � Subtests in different order � On-task/focusing prompts � Best time for students � Others that do not fit into other � Over several days categories SOURCE: Adapted from Thurlow et al. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... . While using tests that avoid unnecessarily complex language can enable English language learners to demonstrate their skills with respect to the measured construct, distinguishing academic progress from language skills is difficult (e.g., in mathematics when word problems are used) Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... TABLE 2-4 Testing Accommodations for English Language Learners Setting Timing/Scheduling � Small group � Extended testing time (same day) � Individual administration � Frequent, extra, longer breaks � Separate location, study carrel � Time of day most beneficial to � Preferential seating student � Teacher facing student � Several (shorter) Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... Second, the legal requirements and professional standards regarding the assessment of these two groups of students provide considerable guidance to those responsible for setting assessment policy and developing assessment tools. They have established both the necessity for testing students with disabilities and English language learners and the key questions of fairness that arise when they are tested. Read the entire page →

From page 18...

... This report addresses both students with disabilities and English language learners because members of both groups need accommodations and because many data collection issues have similar implications for both. However, the committee recognizes that the needs and characteristics of these two groups are in many ways very different; where relevant, we have attempted to identify the differences.

2 Characteristics of the Students, the Assessments, and Commonly Used Accomadations Pages 18-40

2 Characteristics of the Students, the Assessments, and Commonly Used Accomadations
Pages 18-40