Huynh, H., & Barton, K. E. (2006). Performance of students with disabilities under regular and oral administrations of a high-stakes reading examination . Applied Measurement in Education , 19 (1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324818ame1901_2

Three versions of oral delivery were collapsed into one condition termed "oral administration": oral delivery through audiotape (recorded human voice) presented by test administrator, recorded delivery operated by test-takers, and oral delivery/read aloud by test administrator.

Students in grade 11 participated from across South Carolina (U.S.), including students with and without disabilities who had taken the Pre-SAT in 2000. Of the total of 3,844 students with disabilities, four disability categories were predominant (about 98% of sample): learning disabilities (76%), physical disabilities (8%), intellectual disabilities (8%), and emotional-behavioral disabilities (6%). The remaining two percent included: speech/language impairment (n=72), hearing impairment (n=65), visual impairment (n=39), multiple disabilities (n=67), and no data available (n=41).

Investigating the effect of oral administration on test structure and student performance, the researchers analyzed extant data, scores on the reading test of the South Carolina High School Exit Examination (HSEE).

Results indicated that the internal structure of the HSEE test remained stable across three student groups (students with disabilities-oral administration, students with disabilities-standard administration, students without disabilities-standard administration). In addition, it was concluded that oral administration accommodations served to level the playing field for students whose disabilities were presumably severe enough to require oral accommodations. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research possibilities were suggested.