Cook, L., Eignor, D., Steinberg, J., Sawaki, Y., & Cline, F. (2009). Using factor analysis to investigate the impact of accommodations on the scores of students with disabilities on a reading comprehension assessment . Journal of Applied Testing Technology , 10 (2). http://www.jattjournal.com

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The accommodation examined was audio presentation, termed "read-aloud," delivered through CD players with headsets.

Participants included 1,181 grade 4 students and 847 grade 8 students from throughout 84 public schools in New Jersey (U.S.). Of the fourth-graders, 527 had reading-based learning disabilities and 654 had no disabilities; of the eighth-graders, 376 had reading-based learning disabilities, and 471 had no disabilities.

The dependent variable was students' scores on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT) subtest on comprehension, presented in both standard and accommodated conditions to both student groups.

The achievement pattern for participants demonstrates that students without disabilities who received the read-aloud accommodations scored higher than the group without disabilities who did not receive the accommodation. Both of the groups without disabilities scored higher than the group of students with disabilities receiving accommodations, who scored higher than the students with disabilities not receiving accommodations. Further, exploratory and confirmatory analyses both indicated that the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test comprehension subtest "measures the same underlying constructs when administered with and without a read-aloud test change" (Abstract by Authors). Also, there seems to be a unitary construct being measured by this subtest.