Johnson, E. S. (2000). The effects of accommodations on large-scale performance assessments (Publication No. 9936431) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Washington]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/304531992

University of Washington (Seattle, WA); ProQuest document ID: 304531992

All students took two math tests. Students with reading disabilities had the first items read-aloud by a trained proctor, and the second test they read themselves. The students without disabilities were divided into two groups: one receiving the read-aloud accommodation on the second test, and the other never receiving the read-aloud accommodation on either test.

A total of 115 grade 4 students in the state of Washington (U.S.) participated. Thirty-eight students (33% of sample) were receiving special education services for a reading disability. Overall, 47% of the sample was female, 69.6% were White, 5.3% were African American, 13% were Latino, 10.4% were Asian American, and 1.7% were Native American.

Participants were administered math and reading forms from the 1998 and 1997 versions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

Reading the math items to students without learning disabilities had no apparent effect on their performance. The accommodation did not have a significant differential effect for poor readers as opposed to good readers among students without disabilities; however, the effect for this approached significance (p<.093). The findings suggest that all students with learning disabilities benefited from having the math items read to them. [See also Johnson, E., 2000]