Taylor, E. (2017). The influence of testing accommodations on academic performance and disciplinary rates (Publication No. 10688649) [Doctoral dissertation, Capella University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2008665931

Capella University (Minneapolis, MN); ProQuest document ID: 2008665931

Oral delivery (live/in-person) and calculator were investigated for their impact on state assessment performance, as well as their relationship to students' class grades and disciplinary records.

One hundred extant data sets from special education students in grades 6 through 12 were sampled, 50 from students receiving both oral delivery and calculator accommodations during state ELA and math assessments, and 50 from students not receiving either oral delivery or calculator during these state tests. Disability categories included learning disabilities (n=49), health disability (n=25), communication disabilities (n=12), autism (n=5), emotional/behavioral disabilities (n=4), neurological disabilities (n=2), multiple disabilities (n=2), and sensory disability (n=1). Seventy-six participants were in high school, and 24 were in middle school. Additional demographic data such as age and ethnicity were also reported.

Extant data sets were drawn from 2015–2016 archival records in a Massachusetts school district. A necessary prerequisite of the 100 student data sets was completeness, since data were from different sources. Those sources were: 2016 scores on English language arts (ELA) and mathematics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) state assessments, academic grades for school years 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 (based on grade point average/GPA), and disciplinary records from 2015–2016—that is, whether they have received disciplinary referrals.

Students with disabilities who received both oral delivery in-person by a test administrator and calculator accommodations scored significantly lower on state ELA and math assessments than students with disabilities who did not receive either accommodation. When comparing the academic grades of both groups, neither student group scored significantly differently than the other, indicating that there was no specific relationship between having received these accommodations and students' GPAs. Finally, there were no significant differences in disciplinary records between the group receiving those accommodations and the group not receiving them. The researcher noted that disabilities' severities were not expressly identified for students, and suggested that this factor might have been influential in the results patterns. In addition, the student groups were not matched by disability category. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research directions were suggested.