Barton, K. E. W. (2001). Stability of constructs across groups of students with different disabilities on a reading assessment under standard and accommodated administrations (Publication No. 3036177) [Doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

UMI# 3036177 University of South Carolina

Students were administered either the standard form of an assessment, or the assessment with oral delivery—read aloud by the test administrator, recorded audio or video, or computer-synthesized text-to-speech.

The sample consisted of 8,141 students with and without disabilities in grades 10 and 12 drawn from a statewide dataset of  scores from 1996, 1997, and 1998 administrations of the assessment in a state in the Southeast (U.S.). Participants with disabilities numbered 2,196 in total. Disabilities included speech/language, visual, hearing, physical, intellectual, emotional, and learning disabilities; comparisons were not made between students with each disability category.

A statewide reading assessment given to secondary students included six areas being tested: analysis of literature, decoding and word meaning, details, inference, main idea, and reference usage.

The results indicate that a similar construct was measured across both the standard form and the test form with the oral accommodation, and among students with and without disabilities. [See also Barton, K. E., 2002]