NARAP Reports: Accessibility Principles for Reading Assessments

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Part of the NARAP Reports series.

Author(s)

Martha L Thurlow, Cara Cahalan Laitusis, Deborah R Dillon, Linda L Cook, Ross Moen PhD, Jamal Abedi, David O'Brien

PDF

Cost:

Free

Description

A report presenting evidence-based principles for making large scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading, while maintaining a high level of validity for all students taking the assessments. The National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects (NARAP), of which the Institute's Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment is a member, have been conducting research to identify ways to increase the accessibility of reading assessments. This document is the culmination of one of NARAP's goals: to develop evidence-based principles for making large scale assessments of reading proficiency more accessible for students who have disabilities that affect reading, while maintaining a high level of validity for all students taking the assessments. Some of the principles clarify and underscore the importance of well-accepted and widely used practices in designing reading assessments. Other principles have been developed from theory to respond to the needs of specific groups of students. The principles are to be viewed as a whole, representing a coherent and integrated approach to accessibility. They provide a vision of accessible reading assessments. This document was written primarily for personnel in state assessment offices and for test developers of regular large scale reading assessments used for accountability purposes. Other audiences also may find the document to be of interest and useful for other types of assessments.

Details

Date

September 2009 

Type

Report 

Publisher

National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)