Effects of Testing Accommodations on Standardized Mathematics Test Scores: An Experimental Analysis of the Performances of Students With and Without Disabilities

Abstract

The study examined the effects of testing accommodations on the mathematics test scores of a sample of 86 fourth-grade students, which included 43 students with disabilities (SWD) and 43 students without disabilities (SWOD). This study featured a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed design in which all participants were tested under a treatment condition (i.e., accommodations during test) and a control condition (i.e., no accommodations during test) using equivalent forms of a mathematics test used in many statewide assessment programs. Testing conditions were randomized to counteract possible order effects. Primary analyses indicated that SWDs experienced a larger effect in the accommodated condition than did SWODs. The SWDs profited more than SWODs on the multiple-choice items, but not on the constructed-response items. Similar numbers of students with and without disabilities experienced either (a) a beneficial effect in the accommodated test condition resulting in an increased proficiency level, (b) a detrimental effect in the accommodated test condition resulting in a decreased proficiency level, or (c) a minimal effect resulting in no change in proficiency levels. These results and several limitations to the study are discussed along with implications for practice and future research.

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Notes on contributors

Aleta A. Gilbertson Schulte

Aleta Gilbertson Schulte, Ph.D., received her doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000 and is currently a school psychologist in the North Branch Schools, North Branch, MN. She is the coauthor of the Assessment Accommodations Checklist and has been actively involved in research on testing and instructional accommodations for students with disabilities. She is interested in early reading assessment and intervention. She received the APA Division 16 Dissertation Award for the research reported in this article, which was funded as a student-initiated project by the U.S. Department of Education in 1999–2000.

Stephen N. Elliott

Stephen N. Elliott, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Educational Psychology at Arizona State University in 1980. He is presently a Professor of Educational Psychology and Associate Director of the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He codirects three U.S. Department of Education grants concerning the use of testing accommodations with students with disabilities. He is a former Editor of School Psychology Review and served 3 years on the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Education Goals 2000 and Students with Disabilities.

Thomas R. Kratochwill

Thomas R. Kratochwill, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973. He is currently Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of the School Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also the Co-Director of the Information Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Co-Chair of the Task Force on Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychology.