Reaching students in the gaps: A study of assessment gaps, students, and alternatives
- Reaching students in the gaps research summary
- Executive summary
- Teacher views of students in the gaps
- "They come to the test, and there is nothing to fold": Teacher views of large-scale assessments and classroom context
- Finding the real assessment gaps: A process for states to identify gaps in their assessment systems
- Who are the students in the gaps, what are their attributes, and how do they perform?
- Examining the utility of a prototype assessment for assessing students in the gaps
- Providing students with choice: An exploratory study on the application of universal design principles to large-scale assessment of students with learning disabilities and English language learners
- Mathematics instruction and assessment for middle school students in the margins: Students with learning disabilities, students with mild mental retardation, and students who are English language learners
- Full text (8 papers) (PDF )
- Lessons Learned
Reaching students in the gaps research summary
Provides a brief summary of each of the project’s research studies, formatted for distribution.
Executive Summary
In February 2005, four New England states ( Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine) received a U.S. Department of Education grant to explore gaps in large-scale assessment systems that prevent some students from demonstrating their proficiency. The results of this work, Reaching Students In the Gaps, addresses the following questions:
- Who are the students in the gaps?
- Of all the students who are not proficient, how can states identify those who are in the assessment gaps?
- What are the attributes of students in the gaps, and how do these students perform?
- What issues in the assessments themselves contribute to the gaps?
- Are there specific aspects of multiple-choice items used in state assessments that contribute to the assessment gaps?
The studies used multiple methods to explore these research questions, each providing a particular angle from which to consider the issues of assessment gaps, students in those gaps, and assessment alternatives to lessen the gaps.
Teacher views of students in the gaps by Caroline Parker and Susan Saxon
The exploratory study of teacher views addressed the question: Who are the students in the gaps? The interviews were the first step in learning more about the students who are affected by gaps in the assessment system.
"They come to the test, and there is nothing to fold": Teacher views of large-scale assessments and classroom context by Caroline Parker and Susan Saxon
This exploratory study of teacher views posed the question: What issues in the assessments themselves contribute to the gaps? Teachers described differences between the classroom context and the assessment context in three ways.
Finding the real assessment gaps: A process for states to identify gaps in their assessment systems by Sue Bechard and Ken Godin
This paper addressed the question: Of all the students who are not proficient, how can states identify those who are in the assessment gap? This study explored achievement results from two state assessment systems to develop a process for identifying students in a state assessment system for whom neither the general nor alternate assessments provide valid and/or meaningful information on their true abilities.
Who are the students in the gaps, what are their attributes, and how do they perform? by Sue Bechard and Ken Godin
Using the gap criteria to identify students in the gaps, this study examined the characteristics, achievement, and use of accommodations of students in two assessment gaps to answer the question: What are the attributes of students in the gaps, and how do these students perform? Students with disabilities, English language learners, and English language learners with disabilities were studied.
Examining the utility of a prototype assessment for assessing students in the gaps, by Lisa Famularo and Michael Russell
This study addressed the question: Are there specific aspects of multiple-choice items used in state assessments that contribute to the assessment gaps? The study examined whether an assessment prototype with modifications of mathematics items would decrease the disparity in performance between students identified as gap 1 or gap 2 and students with proficient scores on the state assessment.
Providing students with choice: An exploratory study on the application of universal design principles to large-scale assessment of students with learning disabilities and English language learners, by Robert P. Dolan, Elizabeth Murray, and Kelly Burling
The study explored the effects of two key principles of universal design on testing of students with learning disabilities and English language learners: (1) modifying representations of test questions so as to reduce potential construct-irrelevant factors and (2) providing students choice of representation to allow them control.
Mathematics instruction and assessment for middle school students in the margins: Students with learning disabilities, students with mild mental retardation, and students who are English language learners, by Robert P. Dolan, Elizabeth Murray, and Nicole Strangman
The purpose of this literature review is to support states in understanding how to best serve students with learning disabilities (LD), students with mild mental retardation (MMR), and students who are English language learners (ELL) during testing.
Lessons Learned, by Susan Saxon
The project’s external evaluator, The Education Alliance at Brown, traced the unique collaborative process of the four member states: Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.