Accommodations Required Content for STC and TA Training

Big Picture Objectives Accommodations Big Picture Objectives Identify and understand the purpose of accommodations Administer accommodations appropriately

Definition Established by the Oregon Accommodations Panel Are practices and procedures in the areas of scheduling, setting, presentation and response that, when used in assessment, provide equitable access to all students. They do not compromise the learning expectations, construct, grade-level standard, and/or measured outcome of the assessment. Extended time and frequent breaks are now considered an allowable resource rather then an accommodation. Manual: http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/testing/admin/alt/ea/oregon-accommodations-manual-2009-2010.pdf.

Purpose and Eligibility Accommodations Purpose and Eligibility Provide a student equal access and equal opportunity to meet or exceed grade level achievement standards. All students are eligible as appropriate, including students with and without disabilities and students who have Limited English Proficiency. Accommodations are determined based on an individual student’s need and are not identified for groups of students.

Accommodations When to Indentify Necessary accommodations should be identified and implemented during classroom instruction prior to the student’s participation in the state assessment. Accommodations used in state assessment must have been previously approved by the Accommodations Panel and listed in the Accommodations Tables.

Accommodations When to Code For students with disabilities who take the general education assessment, accommodations must be coded. OAKS Online tests allow for test administrators to pre-set the flag in TIDE or to set the flag during approval for testing. In Tide, the required field is “Number of Accommodations”. More detailed codes are optional this year. This field is called “Accommodation Code”. Different naming convention in Student Centered Staging.

Accommodations Dos and Don’ts Do’s Refer to the accommodations tables and or manual as posted for accommodations implementation guidance. Refer to student’s IEP or classroom practices to determine which accommodations should be provided. Note that although writing prompts may now be translated locally, they must be completed in advance by a trained translator endorsed by the district and must be stored securely. Translator also needs to be trained in Test Security and sign an Assurance of Test Security form.

Dos and Don’ts (cont) Accommodations Do’s (cont) TAs may now read numerals and math symbols aloud on the math test if they follow the guidance and examples posted on the ODE website. In general, numbers and symbols can be read according to their common English usage. For example, > would be read as “is greater than.” Numbers 99 and less should be read using standard place value language. For example, 23 would be read as “twenty-three.” However, numbers greater than 99 should be read as individual numbers. For example, 579 would be read as “five seven nine.”

Dos and Don’ts (cont) Don’ts Accommodations Dos and Don’ts (cont) Don’ts TA may not instruct students to print reading passages. TAs may not provide instruction or give suggestions regarding process. TAs may not read Reading items or response choices aloud. Do not choose to administer an accommodation for all students in a class or a grade. TAs may not read ELPA items or response choices aloud. Items may not be translated. If you can’t find it in the TAM, don’t do it.

Accommodations Promising Practices TAs communicate with students about math read-aloud guidelines e.g. reading 89 as “eighty-nine” vs. reading 389 as “three eight nine” Encourage students to “do their best” Ask a student if he/she “needs a break” if they appear to lose focus

Accommodations In a Nutshell Accommodations are determined and administered for individual students Accommodations used during state assessments must be selected from the Accommodations Tables Administration of accommodations for one student must not interfere with the testing conditions of another student

Accommodations Acorns for Storage What are some common errors in the administration of accommodations and how can they be avoided? Why should an accommodation be provided to a student? May decisions regarding accommodations be made for: Individual students? Groups of students?