Vanchu-Orosco, M. (2012). A meta-analysis of testing accommodations for students with disabilities: Implications for high-stakes testing (Publication No. 3549773) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Denver]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1284784987

University of Denver (Denver, CO); ProQuest document ID: 1284784987

In this meta-analysis, studies were described for the types of accommodations investigated: presentation, timing-scheduling, response, and setting. The dissertation researcher reported specific accommodations for the studies, including that (a) all 13 timing-scheduling studies were on extended time; (b) of the 18 presentation studies, 16 studies were on oral delivery ("read aloud"), 1 study was on segmented text, and 1 study was on simplified language; (c) of the 3 response studies, 2 studies were on calculators and 1 study was on dictated response to scribe; and (d) the setting study was on special acoustics.

A total of 13,364 students from across grades 3–12, along with 465 postsecondary students and other adults, participated in the 34 studies, which were published in the time frame 1999–2011. Performance data from 5,338 students with disabilities and 8,491 students without disabilities were examined. The dissertation researcher further reported that 18 studies involved grades 3–12 students with learning disabilities, one study involved middle school students with other health impairments, and 11 studies involved special education students but without reporting specific disabilities. In four studies, postsecondary students with learning disabilities participated. Performance scores from participants without disabilities were gathered in nearly all studies, except for three, in which only students with disabilities participated. Nearly all studies were apparently completed with participants from U.S. educational settings; one of the 10 dissertations was completed by a doctoral candidate in a non-U.S. institution (in Canada), and all of the 19 journal articles and the five reports appeared in U.S. contexts.