Effects of Using Modified Items to Test Students with Persistent Academic Difficulties

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of using modified items in achievement tests to enhance accessibility. An experiment determined whether tests composed of modified items would reduce the performance gap between students eligible for an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS) and students not eligible, and the impact on student proficiency levels. Three groups of eighth-grade students ( N = 755) from four states took original and modified versions of reading and mathematics tests. Findings indicate modified item conditions were significantly easier for all students and modifications would result in more AA-MAS eligible students meeting proficiency status. Study limitations and follow-up research on item modifications and the performance of students with disabilities are discussed.

Considering the Use of General and Modified Assessment Items in Computerized Adaptive Testing

“…Studies have found that modified items used in AA-MAS exhibit what is referred to as differential boost (Elliott et al, 2013;Kettler et al, 2011), where the items may become easier for all students when modifications are made, but more so for students that are the target population for the Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 19:53 11 April 2015 assessment compared with those who are not (Fuchs et al, 2000;Sireci, Scarpati, & Li, 2005). Other studies have found that some items, when modified, become easier for all students, but they do not consistently exhibit differential boost for the target population (Cohen et al, 2013;Elliott et al, 2010;Nhouyvanisvong et al, 2010).…”

“…Numerous studies have investigated the impact of item modifications for AA-MAS students (Cohen, Danielson, Stoica, Wothke, & Zhang, 2013;Elliott et al, 2010Elliott et al, , 2013Kettler et al, 2009Kettler et al, , 2011Nhouyvanisvong, Zhu, Yoo, Bishop, & Terada, 2010;Roach et al, 2010). Studies have found that modified items used in AA-MAS exhibit what is referred to as differential boost (Elliott et al, 2013;Kettler et al, 2011), where the items may become easier for all students when modifications are made, but more so for students that are the target population for the Downloaded by [University of Nebraska, Lincoln] at 19:53 11 April 2015 assessment compared with those who are not (Fuchs et al, 2000;Sireci, Scarpati, & Li, 2005).…”

Modified Multiple-Choice Items for Alternate Assessments: Reliability, Difficulty, and Differential Boost

“…This issue was examined by using a linking procedure within the Rasch model, which allowed for difficulty levels in the original condition to be equated across groups, controlling for differences in student ability. (For a comparison of mean group performances across conditions, the reader is directed to Elliott et al, 2010.) The mean and variance of items under the modified and modified with reading support conditions showed how the difficulty estimates on average changed for each group.…”

Distractor Functioning in Modified Items for Test Accessibility

“…When considering modifications of items for students with disabilities facing persistent academic difficulties, the use of standard item-writing guidelines can improve the quality of resulting responses and improve measurement overall-but also for all students (Elliott et al, 2010). From these examples, it is clear that the options are an important part of the item and the functioning of the distractors is essential.…”