Researchers at the University of Vanderbilt have recently released a new checklist, the “Test Accessibility and Modification Inventory,” to assist test creators in creating “accessible” tests that can measure content area knowledge for students with disabilities and those that are mastering English.

The challenge is in creating tests that eliminate unneeded obstacles in measuring content knowledge for students with disabilities and students mastering English while not making the tests so simple that general education students can complete them without having to demonstrate their competence. Therefore, the Vanderbilt researchers hope that by following their field-tested questions, test creators can ask themselves the necessary questions in order to eliminate common problems that make tests less accessible.

Examples of items the checklist suggests include:
• using three multiple-choice answers instead of four
• more frequent, but shorter prose sections in reading comprehension evaluation
• using illustrations only when directly related to the answer.

The researchers state that these steps eliminate unneeded “distractors” while still adequately evaluating students’ actual knowledge of the material.

The need for creating accessible tests is largely driven by the testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. The law’s regulations allow a proportion of students with disabilities to take different types of tests than general education students. Two percent of all students, or about twenty percent of students with disabilities, can be counted as proficient when they take alternate tests based on modified, but grade-level, academic standards. Those tests can have fewer questions, fewer multiple-choice options and require a lower level of reading skill.

The Improve Group has done multiple evaluations with organizations and government agencies evaluating populations with disabilities or that are mastering English. There are complicated cultural and pedagogical issues involved in evaluating these types of populations. With the growing need to evaluate and address the issues concerning these populations, especially in education, tools such as the “Test Accessibility and Modification Inventory” need to continually evolve. Hopefully, such tools can be used to create better tests for all students.

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The College Board recently released a report that stated that cost of college continued to rise as the economy has faltered, putting an increasing strain on families to keep up.

For the current academic year, the average list price of tuition and fees at four-year public universities rose $394, or 6.4 percent, to $6,585 for in-state students. However, many students don’t pay the full list price. At four-year public universities, in-state students receive grants and tax breaks that lower that average to about $2,885.

At private colleges, prices rose $1,398, or 5.9 percent, to $25,143, according to the annual report. At private colleges, grants and tax breaks lower the average net price to about $14,900.

While some private colleges now exceed $50,000 when room and board are figured in, they are the exception. Overall, 56% of four-year college students attend institutions where the list price for tuition and fees is less than $9,000. But they’ve done so largely by tapping rapidly growing endowments. Now, like family savings, college endowments have suffered great losses on Wall Street, just as demand for financial aid rises.

Some colleges may try to hold down prices, but experts say that in most cases the pressure to charge more will be greater as endowments and alumni giving decrease. The College Board report emphasized that, accounting for overall inflation, prices rose less than 1 percent this year, and actually declined at public two-year colleges. But that’s only because overall inflation was unusually high, about 5.6 percent.

It is not clear if college access will be a greater challenge for the foreseeable future, especially for students in low-income, immigrant and minority groups. At the Improve Group, we have done extensive work in higher education access. What has become clear through our project work is that finding new solutions to help students access college will become imperative considering the current economic environment. The need for work in this area is particularly urgent since most evaluations are out of context relating to our changing economic environment.

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The Improve Group is currently in a reporting stage on our evaluation of the Performing Arts Workshop’s AEMDD grant work in the schools of San Francisco. Their emphasis for this grant is arts integration with special education classrooms and students. Teaching artists from “the Workshop” have been involved with General Education Classes with Inclusion (Special Education) Students and Special Day Classes (SDC). It has been very gratifying to observe the artists and students engaged in inclusive and beneficial learning activities. My pick for this week would like to celebrate those who are making inroads for inclusion of young people with disabilities.

This week’s pick: The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) is honoring those who are embracing inclusion and offering the same opportunities to youth with or without disabilities. The MEAF Inclusion Champion Award is for those who are “helping to create a culture of inclusion within an organization or community or developing innovative strategies for inclusive programming in: school activities, after-school programs, community service, and leadership development.” Deadline to nominate individuals is December 1, 2008 and the maximum award amount is $1,000 for the charity of your choosing and a trophy for the nominated individual.. For more information on the nomination process please click here.

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