Funded through the Office of Special Education Programs prior to the establishment of NCSER.

Purpose: Learning to read and the demonstration of reading proficiency are cornerstones of educational success. This project addresses the question of whether current large-scale reading assessments result in a valid demonstration of reading proficiency for students who have disabilities that affect reading. The mission of the Center is to conduct a systematic program of research and development to make large-scale assessments of reading proficiency accessible to such students.

Project Activities: This project, the Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment (PARA) of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), the National Center for the Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), and Westat will work toward accessible reading assessments for all disabilities that affect reading. It will be supported by research partnerships with 10 states and school districts, 24 organizations, and 25 nationally known experts in reading, assessment, special education, and other areas. A Definition Panel will be formed to develop a definition of reading proficiency, analyze it in relation to current national and state academic standards, obtain input from relevant outside groups, refine the definition, and disseminate information to states, districts, and stakeholder groups. Similarly, a Principles Committee will be formed to develop working papers on research-based principles and guidelines for making large-scale assessment of reading proficiency more accessible. The program of research studies that the Center will conduct will explore sampling issues, the validity of accessible assessments for students with disabilities, universal design and individual student characteristics, and instructional sensitivity/opportunity for use of access tools. In the fourth year of the project, an experimental approach to accessible reading assessment will be field tested.

Products: This project will contribute substantially to the knowledge base on reading assessment, including a definition of proficiency, guidelines for developing tests that are accessible to students with disabilities, and a body of relevant research. Dissemination will be widespread through the established networks of the individual members of the Consortium.

Setting: Many of the studies conducted by this project use data collected in large-scale state assessment systems. In addition, studies are being conducted on motivational aspects of assessments, accessibility barriers, and test structures. Settings for these studies have not been determined.

Population: The disabilities studied in this project include learning disabilities, hearing impairments, and mental retardation. Students at 4th and 8th grades are the primary focus, although students at other grades may be included in some studies.

Intervention: The intervention of interest is an assessment of reading proficiency with accessibility features built into the design.

Research Design and Methods: A variety of research designs and methodologies are being employed in the various studies being conducted by this project, including analyses of extant data from state-wide assessments (differential item functioning, factor analysis, etc.); differential boost designs to test the effects of accessibility features; cognitive labs or "think aloud" methods to study student responses to test items, and surveys and interviews to identify factors that prevent students from demonstrating reading proficiency on large-scale assessments.

Control Condition: Two control conditions are being used in the differential boost studies, including assessments without accessibility features and students without disabilities.

Key Measures: Various assessment instruments are being employed in the studies conducted by this project, including the Stanford Achievement Test (9th ed.), as administered in a state assessment system, and additional instruments to be determined. The project will conclude by designing and field testing a reading assessment to demonstrate accessibility features.

Data Analytic Strategy: Various analysis strategies are being employed. Large sets of assessment data are being analyzed by means of differential item functioning (DIF) analyses and differential distractor functioning (DDF) analyses. Other analysis strategies are to be determined.

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Abedi, J., Kao, J.C., Leon, S., Mastergeorge, A.M., Sullivan, L., Herman, J., and Pope, R. (2010). Accessibility of Segmented Reading Comprehension Passages for Students With Disabilities. Applied Measurement in Education, 23(2): 168–186. doi:10.1080/08957341003673823

Johnstone, C.J., and Thurlow, M. (in press). Statewide Testing of Reading: What are we Testing and how Might it Affect Students With Disabilities? Journal of Special Education.

Kato, K., Moen, R., and Thurlow, M. (2009). Differentials of a State Reading Assessment: Item Functioning, Distractor Functioning, and Omission Frequency for Disability Categories. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 28(2): 28–40. doi:10.1111/j.1745–3992.2009.00145.x

Moen, R., Liu, K., Thurlow, M., Lekwa, A., Scullin, S., and Hausmann, K. (2009). Identifying Less Accurately Measured Students. Journal of Applied Testing Technology, 10(2): 1–39. Full text

Moen, R., Liu, K., Thurlow, M., Lekwa, A., Scullin, S., & Hausmann, K. (2009). Studying less accurately measured students. Journal of Applied Testing Technology, 10 (2).

Thurlow, M.L. (2010). Steps Toward Creating Fully Accessible Reading Assessments. Applied Measurement in Education, 23(2): 121–131. doi:10.1080/08957341003673765

* The dollar amount includes funds from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and NCSER.