Lang, S. C., Elliott, S. N., Bolt, D. M., & Kratochwill, T. R. (2008). The effects of testing accommodations on students’ performances and reactions to testing . School Psychology Quarterly , 23 (1), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/1045-3830.23.1.107

Also available on journal webpage at http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/spq/23/1/107.html

The effects of up to 67 accommodations on students’ test performances were investigated, and students' reactions to the use of accommodations were described. Accommodation types included presentation, equipment, response, scheduling, and setting; specific accommodations were not identified.

A total of 170 students from nine schools in a midwestern state (U.S.) participated, including 102 grade 4 students and 68 grade 8 students, with and without disabilities. Students with disabilities numbered 75. Nearly all students with disabilities had learning disabilities (n=64); however, comparison of performance among disability categories was not part of the study design. Participants' race/ethnicity and gender were reported.

All students were administered, with and without accommodations, equivalent forms of widely used math and reading tests. Researchers engaged students in an interview protocol, in which they read students a survey seeking their reactions to the accommodations experience; researchers documented students' answers to questions as well as their comments about related issues and underlying reasons for their responses.

Testing accommodations overall had a positive impact on students’ individual reading and math scores. Furthermore, testing accommodations had a differential positive effect on reading scores for students with disabilities compared to students without disabilities. The relationship between students’ perceptions of testing accommodations and the effects of testing accommodations on their test performances was not significant, although most students had positive perceptions of testing accommodations. Students perceived the provision of accommodations as fair for students without disabilities and more fair for students with disabilities. Future research possibilities were suggested.