Accommodations for Students with Disabilities on Standardized Tests

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Under guidelines from IDEA and NCLB, most students with disabilities are required to take district and state standardized tests, including state high-stakes tests. A list of standard accommodations provided is shown here. Keep in mind that research on effective strategies for determining which students get which accommodations is still being done. Given the range of abilities within all disability groups, it is recommended that teachers avoid using students' labels to make these decisions and instead base them on individual student characteristics.

Research Note

Elliott and Roach (2002) have conducted a series of studies about the impact of providing testing accommodations to students with disabilities. While Elliott and Roach emphasize that much more research is needed, they were able to draw the following conclusions from their work:

• Students with disabilities participate in large-scale assessments more often when testing accommodations are available.
• Packages of individual accommodations are more effective than individual accommodations alone.
• Approximately 50 to 70 percent of students with disabilities produce higher test scores when they receive accommodations.
• Approximately 15 to 20 percent of students without disabilities also produce higher test scores when they receive accommodations.
• Reading aloud is not a valid accommodation for students taking reading tests.

Edgeman, Jablonski, and Lloyd (2006) have described a process for IEP teams to use when deciding on testing accommodations for individual students.

Types of Testing Accommodations

Setting

• Provide special lighting.
• Provide adaptive or special furniture.
• Provide special acoustics.
• Administer the test to a small group in a separate location.
• Administer the test individually in a separate location.
• Administer the test in a location with minimal distractions.

Timing

• Allow a flexible schedule.
• Extend the time allotted to complete the test.
• Allow frequent breaks during testing.
• Provide frequent breaks on one subtest but not another.

Scheduling

• Administer the test in several sessions, specifying the  duration of each session.
• Administer the test over several days, specifying the duration of each day's session.
• Allow subtests to be taken in a different order.
• Administer the test at a different time of the day.

Presentation

• Provide the test on audiotape.
• Increase spacing between items or reduce number of items per page or line.
• Increase size of answer spaces.
• Provide reading passages with one complete sentence per line.
• Highlight key words or phrases in directions.
• Provide cues (for example, arrows and stop signs) on answer  forms.
• Secure papers to work area with tape or magnets.

Responding

• Allow marking of answers in booklet.
• Tape-record responses for later verbatim transcription.
• Allow the use of a scribe.
• Provide copying assistance between drafts.

Other

• Make special test preparations.
• Provide on-task/focusing prompts. 
• Make any accommodation that a student needs that does not fit under the existing categories.
• Conduct an alternate assessment.

Source: Testing Students with Disabilities: Practical Strategies for Complying with District and State Requirements (2nd ed.), by M.L. Thurlow, J.L. Elliott, and J.F. Ysseldyke, 2003. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Reprinted with permission.