Examining accommodation effects for equity by overcoming a methodological challenge of sparse data.

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Special Education
• Assessment and Evaluation

Background:

• Accommodation is an equity issue in education, impacting students with disabilities.
• Examining the equitability of accommodation policies is crucial for student performance.
• Policies include assistive technology, extended time, and read-aloud accommodations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of thirty-one bundled accommodations.
• Focus on students with learning disabilities, emotional/behavioral disorders, or multiple exceptionalities.
• Evaluate accommodations for a provincial literacy test in Ontario, Canada.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative analysis using log-linear analysis and odds ratio.
• Employed three adjustment methods to address sparse data challenges.
• Examined the impact of accommodation combinations on test performance.

Main Results:

• Sparse data issues in accommodation research can be overcome with adjustment methods.
• The likelihood of meeting provincial standards varies based on accommodation combinations.
• Differential effects of accommodations were observed for students with special needs.

Conclusions:

• Education stakeholders should review accommodations with significant differential effects.
• Ensuring valid and fair interpretation of test results for students with special needs is paramount.
• Findings highlight the need for careful consideration of accommodation strategies.