Here we present manuscripts published in peer refereed journals that were supported by the NCAASE.

2018

Changes in Status and Performance over Time for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities
With the shift from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), accountability models are being changed. Given the past 15 years of reporting on student subgroups and 10 years using various growth models, accountability systems can now be better informed. In this study, we analyze identification and services of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Tindal, G. & Anderson, D. Learning Disability Quarterly. 2018;42(1): 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948718806660 https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948718806660

Accessible Instruction and Testing Today (Book Chapter)
The introductory chapter of the Handbook of Accessible Instruction and Testing Practices focuses on accessibility issues along the journey from an individual content standard or set of standards to the inferences that can be drawn from an item or test score about the performance of a student, teacher, and school. Kettler, R. J., Elliott, S. N., Beddow, P. A. & Kurz, A. (eds) Handbook of Accessible Instruction and Testing Practices. (Eds.). (2018). 1–16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71126-3_1

2017

Estimating School Effects with a State Testing Program Using Transition Matrices
For the past decade, the accountability model associated with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emphasized proficiency on end of year tests; with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) the emphasis on proficiency within statewide testing programs, though now integrated with other measures of student learning, nevertheless remains a primary metric for reporting achievement. We examine transition over categories across two years for three cohorts of middle school students as one means for evaluating change. Tindal, G., Nese, J. F. T. & Stevens, J. J. Educational Assessment, 2017;22(3):189-204, DOI: 10.1080/10627197.2017.1344093

A Two-Step Sampling Weight Approach to Growth Mixture Modeling for Emergent and Developing Skills with Distributional Changes Over Time
The purposes of this paper are to (a) introduce a two-step sampling weight approach to growth mixture modeling that addresses distributions changing over time, and (b) apply the approach to a sample of 1911 kindergarten students universally screened on an emergent reading skill (letter sound fluency) across the year. Nese, J. F. T., Kamata, A. & Tindal, G. Journal of School Psychology. 2017;61:55-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.12.001

The Interaction of Learning Disability Status and Student Demographics Characteristics on Mathematics Growth
This study examined mathematics achievement growth of students without disabilities (SWoD) and students with learning disabilities (LD) and tested whether growth and LD status interacted with student demographic characteristics. Growth was estimated in a statewide sample of 79,554 students over Grades 3 to 7. Stevens, J. J. & Schulte. A. C. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2017;50(3):261-274. doi:10.1177/0022219415618496

2016

Influence of Opportunity to Learn Indices and Education Status on Students’ Mathematics Achievement Growth
We examined instructional processes in classrooms where students with and without disabilities received mathematics instruction to understand the relationship among key instructional process variables and achievement as measured by interim and end-of-year summative assessments. Elliott, S. N., Kurz, A., Tindal, G. & Yel, N. Remedial and Special Education. 2017;38(3):145–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932516663000

Achievement Gaps for Students with Disabilities: Stable, Widening, or Narrowing on a State-Wide Reading Comprehension Test?
Reading comprehension growth trajectories from 3rd to 7th grade were estimated for 99,919 students on a state reading comprehension assessment. We examined whether differences between students in general education (GE) and groups of students identified as exceptional learners were best characterized as stable, widening, or narrowing. Schulte. A. C., Stevens, J. J., Elliott, S. N., Tindal, G. & Nese, J. F. T. Journal of Educational Psychology. 2017;108(7):925–942. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000107

Documenting Reading Achievement and Growth for Students Taking Alternate Assessments
Students with disabilities have been included in state accountability systems for more than a decade; however, only in the past few years have alternate assessments of alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) become stable enough to allow examination of these students’ achievement growth. Using data from Oregon’s AA-AAS in Reading during the period 2008–2009 to 2010–2011, we examined the achievement growth for a sample of 1,061 elementary students using two growth models: a transition matrix and a multilevel linear growth model. Tindal, G., Nese, J. F. T., Farley, D., Saven, J. L., & Elliott, S. N. Exceptional Children. 2016;82(3):321–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402915585492

Growth on Oral Reading Fluency Measures as a Function of Special Education and Measurement Sufficiency
For 30 years, researchers have investigated oral reading fluency as a measure of growth in reading proficiency. Yet, little research has been done with these measures in the context of progress monitoring in Tier 2 systems. First, we document teachers’ progress-monitoring decisions on type of passage (on-grade or off-grade) and how often to administer them. Then, we use a two-level hierarchical linear model to document the effects on both intercept and slope as a function of student special education status and measurement sufficiency. Tindal, Nese, J. F. T., Stevens, J. J. & Alonzo, J. Remedial and Special Education. 2016;37(1):28–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932515590234

Documenting Reading Achievement and Growth for Students Taking Alternate Assessments
Students with disabilities have been included in state accountability systems for more than a decade; however, only in the past few years have alternate assessments of alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) become stable enough to allow examination of these students’ achievement growth. Using data from Oregon’s AA-AAS in Reading during the period 2008–2009 to 2010–2011, we examined the achievement growth for a sample of 1,061 elementary students using two growth models: a transition matrix and a multilevel linear growth model. Tindal, G., Nese, J. F. T., Farley, D., Saven, J. L. & Elliott, S. N. Exceptional Children. 2016;82(3):321-336. doi:10.1177/0014402915585492

Item and Test Design Considerations For Students with Special Needs (Book Chapter)
The achievement of students with disabilities (SWDs) is a longstanding concern in education (McDonnell, McLaughlin & Morison, 1997; Wagner et al., 2006). Recent results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests indicate SWDs score more than 1 standard deviation below their peers without disabilities in Grades 4, 8 and 12 in reading, and three quarters of a standard deviation below their peers without disabilities in mathematics in Grade 4, with the gap widening to over 1 standard deviation in Grades 8 and 12. S. Lane, T. Haladyna, M. Raymond (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of Test Development. 374-391. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8q3z8/item-and-test-design-considerations-for-students-with-special-needs

Modeling Reading Growth in Grades 3 to 5 With an Alternate Assessment.
Our study represents a unique context in which a reading assessment, calibrated to a common scale, was administered statewide to students in consecutive years across Grades 3 to 5. Farley, D., Anderson, D., Irvin, P. S. & Tindal, G. Remedial and Special Education. 2017;38(4):195-206. doi:10.1177/0741932516678661

Modeling the Time-Varying Nature of Student Exceptionality Classification on Achievement Growth
Our purpose was to examine different approaches to modeling the time-varying nature of exceptionality classification, using longitudinal data from one state’s mathematics achievement test for 28,829 students in Grades 3 to 8. Nese, J. F. T., Stevens, J. J., Schulte. A. C., Tindal, G. & Elliott, S. N. The Journal of Special Education. 2017;51(1):38-49. doi:10.1177/0022466916668164

Patterns of Statewide Test Participation for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
Participation guidelines are generally quite vague, leading to students “switching” test participation between years. In this study, we tracked test participation for two cohorts of students with a documented disability over 3 years. Saven, J. L., Anderson, D., Nese, J. F. T., Farley, D. & Tindal, G. The Journal of Special Education. 2016;49(4):209-220. doi:10.1177/0022466915582213

2015

Documenting Reading Achievement and Growth for Students Taking Alternate Assessments
Using data from Oregon’s AA-AAS in Reading during the period 2008–2009 to 2010–2011, we examined the achievement growth for a sample of 1,061 elementary students using two growth models: a transition matrix and a multilevel linear growth model. Tindal, G., Nese, J. F. T., Farley, D., Saven, J. L. & Elliott, S. N. Exceptional Children. 2016;82(3):321-336. doi:10.1177/0014402915585492

Gauging Item Alignment Through Online Systems While Controlling for Rater Effects
This article illustrates the use of an online methodology for gauging item alignment that does not require that raters convene in person, reduces the overall cost of the study, Anderson, D., Irvin, P. S., Alonzo, J. & Tindal, G. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 2015;34:22-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12038

Growth and Gaps In Mathematics Achievement of Students With And Without Disabilities On A Statewide Achievement Test
This study estimated mathematics achievement growth trajectories in a statewide sample of 92,045 students with and without disabilities over Grades 3 to 7. Stevens, J. J., Schulte. A. C., Elliott, S. N., Nese, J. F. T. & Tindal, G. Journal of School Psychology. 2015;53(1):45-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2014.11.001

Measuring Opportunity to Learn and Achievement Growth: Key Research Issues With Implications for the Effective Education of All Students
In this article, I examine both the measurement of OTL and achievement growth, share recent research on them, and outline an agenda for future research on these two important aspects of standards-based accountability systems for all. Elliott, S. N. Remedial and Special Education. 2015;36(1):58-64. doi:10.1177/0741932514551282

Once, Sometimes, or Always in Special Education: Mathematics Growth and Achievement Gaps
This study used a statewide longitudinal sample to examine mathematics achievement gaps and growth in students with and without disabilities and to examine the impact of different methods of determining disability group membership on achievement gaps and growth. Schulte. A. C. & Stevens, J. J. Exceptional Children. 2015;81(3):370-387. doi:10.1177/0014402914563695

2014

Assessing Students Opportunity to Learn the Intended Curriculum Using an Online Teacher Log: Initial Validity Evidence.
This study provides initial evidence supporting intended score interpretations for the purpose of assessing opportunity to learn (OTL) via an online teacher log. MyiLOGS yields 5 scores related to instructional time, content, and quality. Elliott, S. N., Kettler, R. J. & Yel, N. Educational Assessment. 2914:19(3):159-184. DOI: 10.1080/10627197.2014.934606

2013

In Search of Average Growth: Describing Within-year Oral Reading Fluency Growth for Grades 1-8
The purpose of this study was to model within-year ORF growth using up to eight testing occasions for 1448 students in Grades 1 to 8 to assess (a) the average growth trajectory for within-year ORF growth, (b) whether students vary significantly in within-year ORF growth, and (c) the extent to which findings are consistent across grades. Nese, J. F. T., Biancarosa, G., Cummings, K., Kennedy, P., Alonzo, J. & Tindal, G. Journal of School Psychology. 2013;51(5):625-642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2013.05.006

Modeling Nonlinear Growth with Three Data Points: Illustration with Benchmarking Data
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate ways to model nonlinear growth using three testing occasions. We demonstrate our growth models in the context of curriculum-based measurement using the fall, winter, and spring passage reading fluency benchmark assessments. Kamata, A., Nese, J. F. T., Patarapichayatham, C. & Lai, C. F. Assessment for Effective Intervention. 2013;38(2):105-116. doi:10.1177/1534508412457872

2012

Within-Year Oral Reading Fluency with CBM: A Comparison of Models
This study examined the type of growth model that best fit within-year growth in oral reading fluency and between-student differences in growth. Nese, J. F. T., Biancarosa, G., Anderson, D., Lai, C. F., Alonzo, J. & Tindal, G. Reading and Writing. 2012;25:887–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9304-0