Reporting Test Results for Students with Disabilities and English-Language Learners. Summary of a Workshop (Washington, DC, November 28, 2001)

At the request of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Research Council's (NRC) Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA) convened a workshop on reporting test results for individuals who receive accommodations during large-scale assessments. The workshop brought together representatives from state assessment offices, individuals familiar with testing students with disabilities and English-language learners, and measurement experts to discuss the policy, measurement, and score use considerations associated with testing students with special needs. Officials with the National Center for Education Statistics asked the National Research Center's Board on Testing and Assessment to convene a workshop to assist them with their decisions about reporting results for accommodating test takers. The day-long workshop brought together four panels of representatives from state assessment offices, individuals familiar with testing students with disabilities and Englishlanguage learners, and measurement experts to discuss considerations associated with testing students with special needs. Chapter 1 of this report discusses the convening of the workshop. Chapter 2 provides background information on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)'s policies for including and accommodating students with special needs. Chapter 3 summarizes information on federal requirements for including and accommodating students with disabilities and English-language learners in large-scale assessment. Chapter 4 presents the findings from surveys of states' policies for including, accommodating, and reporting results for students with special needs. First-hand accounts of policies and experiences with reporting results for accommodated test takers in Texas and Kentucky appear in chapter 5. Chapter 6 highlights findings from research on the effects of accommodations on NAEP and on other tests. Chapter 7 concludes the report with a summary of discussants' remarks. (Contains 53 references.) (CR) Background And Problem Statement -- Legal And Political Contexts For Including Students With Special Needs In Assessment Programs -- State Policies On Including, Accomodating, And Reporting Results For Students With Special Needs -- Policies And Experiences In Two States -- Effects Of Accommodations On Test Performance -- Summing Up : Synthesis Of Issues And Directions For Future Study. Judith Anderson Koenig, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References.