Acadience assessments were designed to support students of varied backgrounds, including English Language Learners, students with visual impairments, and students with learning differences. As such, Acadience provides options for educators to support students who may need additional assistance to be able to perform tasks through the use of assessment accommodations. Assessment accommodations are used for those students for whom the standard administration conditions may not produce accurate results.
Approved Accommodations
Approved accommodations are those accommodations which are unlikely to change how the assessment functions, (e.g., use of a marker or ruler for tracking across rows or lines, large print materials). When approved accommodations are used, the scores may be reported and interpreted as official Acadience assessment scores. For more information, please see the Acadience Reading K–6 and Acadience Math K-6 Assessment Manuals.
Unapproved Accommodations
Unapproved accommodations are accommodations that are likely to change how the assessment functions, (e.g., giving the assessment untimed, giving directions in a student’s primary language when she/he has limited English proficiency). Scores from measures administered with unapproved accommodations should not be treated as official Acadience assessment scores, and cannot be compared to other Acadience assessment scores or benchmarks. For more information, please see the Acadience Reading K–6 and Acadience Math K-6 Assessment Manuals.
Acadience Assessments in Braille
A special type of accommodation for students with visual impairments is to administer Acadience assessments in braille. Scores for a student being tested in braille may be used to measure individual growth for that student, and may only be compared to other students who are also being tested with braille materials, but should not be reported as scores that are directly comparable to the print version of Acadience assessments. For information about Acadience assessments in braille, email info@acadiencelearning.org.
Why Accommodations Reporting Is Integrated into ALO
Historically, assessors have been instructed to only input data into Acadience data management systems for students who used approved accommodations or who did not require the use of accommodations at all. This meant that the data for students whose assessment was administered using unapproved accommodations could not be stored with the rest of the data for their class, school, or district.
This new accommodation reporting feature for ALO will allow assessors to select from a list of approved and unapproved accommodations and mark which ones were used to complete the assessment. Since assessors will now be able to include specific accommodation information for each student when collecting data, all student data can be stored together, regardless of the approved or unapproved nature of the accommodations used.
The new accommodations reporting feature aims to support more accurate data interpretation. Previously, students who were administered the assessment using unapproved accommodations were excluded from reporting in Acadience data management systems. Now, by obtaining information on the accommodations used with a student during measure administration, educators will be able to see results for all students in ALO. They will be able to appropriately exercise caution when interpreting results obtained through unapproved accommodations given these accommodations are likely to change how the assessment functions.
By adding this new accommodations reporting feature, the Research Team at Acadience Learning will be able to more closely analyze data obtained with approved, unapproved, and no accommodations. These data will help inform the use of accommodations in the future including modifications to the approved and unapproved accommodations lists.
Reporting in ALO
Upon completion of an assessment measure scored digitally in ALO, the assessor is provided with the opportunity to mark observed response patterns and make any notes that would be relevant to that measure administration. This response page has been updated to include the new accommodations reporting information. See image below.
The assessor will be prompted to mark “yes” or “no” on whether an accommodation was used. The assessor will not be able to leave this page until a response to this question has been provided. When responding “yes” to the use of accommodations, the assessor must note which accommodation was used. It is important to respond with accurate information.The assessor will still have the option to mark response patterns or provide additional notes, but it is not required.
Commitment to Examining Data
Clearly marking accommodations will allow the Acadience Learning Research Team to more thoroughly examine the data collected. Future analyses conducted will contribute to a better understanding of the use of accommodation for students who may need them, for interpreting those results and for supporting all students to meet important learning outcomes.
For questions regarding reporting accommodations in ALO, please contact us at info@acadiencelearning.org.