Research Reports

Below is a list of reports, both published and in progress, for DARA. Abstracts for each report are available. For draft copies of the reports, please contact us.

  • Sample Cognitive Interview Protocol
    by T. C. King and C. C. Laitusis (2008)
  • Examining Test Items for Differential Distractor Functioning Among Students With Learning Disabilities
     by K. Middleton and C. Cahalan Laitusis (2007)
    ETS Research Report No. RR-07-43
  • Investigating the Dimensionality of an English Language Arts Assessment Administered to English Language Learners With and Without Accommodations
    by L. Cook, D. Eignor, Y. Sawaki, J. Steinberg, and F. Cline (2007)
  • Using Factor Analysis to Investigate the Impact of Accommodations on the Scores of Students With Disabilities on English Language Arts Assessments
    by L. Cook, D. Eignor, Y. Sawaki, J. Steinberg, and F. Cline (2006)
  • Examining the Impact of Audio Presentation on Tests of Reading Comprehension
    by C. Cahalan-Laitusis, L. Cook, F. Cline, T. King, and J. Sabatini (2006)

 Abstracts

  •  Investigating the Dimensionality of an English Language Arts Assessment Administered to English Language Learners With and Without Accommodations
    by L. Cook, D. Eignor, Y. Sawaki, J. Steinberg, and F. Cline (2007)

    The purpose of this study was to examine the scores on a large state standards-based English language Arts assessment that were obtained by native speakers of English and English language learners (ELLs) who took the test with and without accommodations. The assessment was given at the 4th grade level and students were permitted the time they needed to finish. The accommodated group received a mixture of accommodations that are typically offered to English language learners on state standards-based ELA assessments. A series of item-level exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out to investigate whether or not the ELA assessment measured the same number of factors for the three groups of students studied. The results of the analyses indicate that the ELA assessment is unidimensional; i.e., measures a single factor for all three groups investigated. These results are important because they lend support to the state’s policy of aggregating scores for AYP purposes that are obtained by English language learners who have taken the assessment with and without accommodations. In addition, the results provide evidence that the tests have some degree of validity for ELLs who take the test with and without the particular set of accommodations that were used in this study.

  •  Using Factor Analysis to Investigate the Impact of Accommodations on the Scores of Students With Disabilities on English Language Arts Assessments
    by L. Cook, D. Eignor, Y. Sawaki, J. Steinberg, and F. Cline (2006)

    The purpose of this study was to examine the scores on a large state standards-based English language arts assessment that were obtained by students without disabilities and students with learning disabilities who took the test with and without accommodations. The assessment was given at the 4th grade level and students were permitted the time they needed to finish the test. The accommodated group received a mixture of accommodations that were specified in their 504 or IEP plans. A series of item-level exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out to investigate whether or not the ELA assessment measured the same number of factors for the three groups of students studied, and this was found to be the case. The results of this study are important for a number of reasons. One very important reason is that the results lend support to the state’s policy of aggregating scores for AYP purposes that are obtained by students with and without disabilities and by students with disabilities who have taken the assessment with accommodations required by their 504 plans or IEPs. In addition, the results provide evidence that the test has some degree of validity for students with disabilities who take the test with and without the particular set of accommodations that were used in this study.

  •  Examining the Impact of Audio Presentation on Tests of Reading Comprehension
    By C. Cahalan-Laitusis, L. Cook, F. Cline, T. King, and J. Sabatini (2006)

    This study examined the impact of a read-aloud accommodation on a standardized test of reading comprehension at grades 4 and 8. The combination of a large sample size, within subject experimental design, and supplemental measure of reading fluency allow for additional analyses (by subgroup and controlling for reading ability) to be conducted. Results show that the mean score on the audio version is higher for students with and without a reading-based learning disability at both grades 4 and 8. In addition, students with reading-based learning disabilities benefit differential more than students without any disability at both grades 4 and 8. This finding continues to hold after controlling for reading fluency at both grades. Teachers’ predictions of student performance were also examined in relation to actual student performance on both measures. Finally, results examined the relationship between test scores and teacher ratings of reading comprehension and listening comprehension to determine which measure (standard or audio) is the best predictor of teachers ratings.