Bielinski, J., Thurlow, M., Ysseldyke, J., Freidebach, J., & Freidebach, M. (2001). Read-aloud accommodations: Effects on multiple-choice reading and math items (Technical Report No. 31). University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes. https://nceo.info/Resources/publications/OnlinePubs/Technical31.htm

The use of the oral delivery accommodation used during multiple-choice math and reading assessments were examined.

Students in grades 3 and 4, who participated in the 1998 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) were the participants studied. The data included the reading test results of 52,387 students in grade 3 and the math test results of 66,800 students in grade 4. There were 11.4% of students who took the MAP reading assessment received special education services. Likewise, 12.7% of students who took the MAP math assessment received special education services.

Differential item function (DIF) analysis of the MAP was examined to determine the effects of the oral delivery accommodation for students with disabilities. The MAP is a multiple choice reading and math assessment administered to students in grades 3 and 4. The reading assessment consisted of 41 multiple-choices questions that measure reading comprehension. The math assessment consisted of 32 multiple choice questions pertaining to number sense, geometric/spatial sense, patterns and relationships, mathematical systems and number theory, and discrete mathematics.

Results indicate that accommodations are necessary for students with disabilities for the MAP assessment results to be comparable to the test results of students without disabilities. However, it was found that providing an oral delivery accommodation to students with disabilities taking the MAP reading assessment actually increased the item difficulty for them. For the math assessment, the use of oral delivery accommodations did not significantly increase item difficulty, but items tended to be functioning similarly between students with and without disabilities not receiving any accommodations. The results of this study suggest that the oral delivery accommodation is not necessary for students in grades 3 and 4 taking the MAP reading and math assessments.