The Effect of a Read Aloud Accommodation on Test Scores of Students With and Without a Learning Disability in Reading

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a read aloud testing accommodation on students with and without a learning disability in reading. A sample of 260 midwestern middle school students (24% with a learning disability in reading, and 76% without such a disability) were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions for testing with four tests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. The test conditions were standard administration and reading the tests aloud to the students. Based on a two-way (2 x 2) analysis of variance, with test administration and student status as the two fixed factors, the students with learning disabilities in reading, as well as those without, exhibited statistically significant gains with the read aloud test administration. Interaction effects were not significant. Implications of these results for the read aloud accommodation are presented.

Examining the Impact of Audio Presentation on Tests of Reading Comprehension

“…In a second study, Meloy, Deville, and Frisbie (2002) examined the performance of middle-school students without disabilities (NLD) and middle-school students with Reading-based learning disabilities (RLD). The sample size (n = 260) was larger than the Kosciolek and Ysseldyke study, but most students (76%) did not have a disability and students did not participate in both conditions (standard and audio).…”

Universal Design for Learning: meeting the challenge of individual learning differences through a neurocognitive perspective

“…Not only may such tests reduce barriers to recognition, they may also make assessment more relevant and insightful [7]. To take a very simple example, a computer-based mathematics test offering customizable font size and text-to-speech could greatly improve test accessibility and accuracy [23,45]. In a recent study, two equivalent forms of a National Assessment of Educational Progress United States history and civics test were delivered to ten high school students with learning disabilities.…”

Effects of linguistic complexity and accommodations on estimates of ability for students with learning disabilities

“…However, student factors and test factors, features of the assessment situation beyond the read aloud accommodation itself, may be relevant in predicting its effects (Cawthon et al, 2009). For example, the read aloud accommodation appears to improve student scores when used in mathematics assessments, particularly for students who have low levels of reading proficiency and for test items that have high levels of linguistic demand (e.g., Bolt & Ysseldyke, 2006;Elbaum, 2007;Johnson, 2000;Meloy, Deville, & Frisbie, 2002). For reading assessments, there appears to be a benefit to all students, thus calling into question whether the read aloud accommodation increases access to test content by reducing a barrier that is faced by students with disabilities or by making the test easier for all students because decoding the text is part of the content area being assessed.…”