Is Reading Tests Aloud an Accommodation for Youth With or at Risk for ADHD?

Abstract

Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at risk for severe and pervasive academic problems and often receive assistance as a result of difficulties in school (Loe & Feldman, 2007). Compared with students without ADHD, students with ADHD are at higher risk for poor grades, grade retention, and dropping out of school and often require additional services (Kent et al., 2011;Loe & Feldman, 2007). As a result of academic impairment, many youth with ADHD qualify for and receive interventions, accommodations, and modifications through special education or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (i.e., Section 504 Plans). One of the most common services provided for youth with ADHD is oral test administration (i.e., read aloud; Spiel, Evans, & Langberg, 2014) wherein students have tests or quizzes read to them rather than taking the test in a silent format.Federal law mandates that services provided through special education are to be based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable (34. C.F.R. § 300.320). Recent reviews of special education services for students with ADHD raise doubts about whether current practices adhere to this standard (Harrison, Bunford, Evans, & Owens, 2013;Spiel et al., 2014). In fact, no published studies were found examining the efficacy of read aloud as a possible accommodation for students with ADHD. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to determine if reading tests aloud for youth with ADHD provides any benefit. If it does not, then using this service for children with or at risk for ADHD may be incompatible with federal guidelines and could potentially obstruct or delay the provision of services with known effectiveness. As such, research determining the benefits of reading tests aloud is needed.

Accommodations in Digital Interactive STEM Assessment Tasks

“…These accommodations involve a teacher, for instance, reading directions to students, rereading subtask directions, restating questions with more appropriate vocabulary, and/or using simplified language in directions. Overall, the consensus in the limited literature suggests that these types of accommodations have improved performance on challenging math and science assessment scores for students with reading deficits and learning disabilities (Elliott, Kratochwill, McKevitt, & Malecki, 2009; Shelton, 2012; Spiel et al, 2016), without sacrificing measurement comparability when using strict methodological approaches to examine fairness and equity based on demographic group membership, including for SWD and EL (e.g., Huggins & Elbaum, 2013), or when compared to other accommodation types or standard test administration (see Kim, Schneider, & Siskind, 2009a, 2009b). However, inconsistent findings are found across some of the studies on this topic.…”

A Case Study of Effective Classroom Assessment Adjustments for a Student with Disability: The Role of Teacher Pedagogical Mobility in Assessment Adjustments

“…Most of the research on assessment adjustments and their impacts on learning outcomes for students with disability has been conducted by researchers in the US, predominantly in the context of standardized external tests and multiple-choice test forms. In such research, it has been argued that an adjustment is valid and enhances the valid interpretation of assessment outcomes when the adjustment provides a greater benefit for students with disability than students without disability, a differential boost hypothesis [15][16][17]. These studies have focused on the most common adjustments such as extended time, reading aloud (test questions), and the administration of the test in a quiet room.…”

Mapping study for the integration of accommodations for students with Special Education Needs (SEN) in PISA

“…Their findings show that reading tests aloud in small groups significantly improved the testing performance of youth with or at risk for ADHD and provided a differential boost relative to youth without ADHD. In a second experiment, Spiel, Evans and Harrison (2019 [33]) randomly assigned 45 grade 5 and 6 children (58% with ADHD) to take a standardised test in silence or with a recording of the test questions and answer choices read-aloud. Results similarly showed the read-aloud accommodation improved performance for ADHD students beyond any benefit seen in typically developing children.…”