|
Universal Design Applied to Large Scale Assessments
Application of Universal Design to Instruction
No matter how well a test is designed, or what media are used for administration, students who have not had an opportunity to learn the material tested will perform poorly. According to the National Research Council (1999), "High standards cannot be established and maintained merely by imposing them on students" (p. 5). Students need access to the information tested in order to have a fair chance at performing well. Abedi, Hofstetter, Baker, and Lord (2001) found large significant differences in both reading and math performance of students at different schools and of students taught by different teachers. According to Heubert (2002), "Many teachers are not yet teaching students the full range of knowledge and skills that state tests measure, and the gap is probably greatest for students with disabilities, minority students, and English-language learners" (p. 16).
Universally designed instruction provides a way to establish optimal conditions for learning for all students. The goal is not to standardize instruction, but to provide opportunities for maximum access and high expectations for learning for each student, in light of his or her unique characteristics (Meyer & O'Neill, 2000). According to Heubert (2002), "Students with disabilities and minority students are often the victims of low expectations and weak instruction, and stand to benefit from efforts to provide high-quality instruction for all students" (p. 1). This is consistent with the standards movement in American public education, in which the goal is "to enable all students to attain high levels of academic achievement" (Heubert, p. 2).
A first attempt to clarify the meaning of universally designed instruction occurred in 1997 when a stakeholder meeting was convened on the topic. A report on the meeting provided a definition of universal design in learning, and suggested implications for universally designed instruction:
In terms of learning, universal design means the design of instructional materials and activities that makes the learning goals achievable by individuals with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, understand English, attend, organize, engage, and remember. Universal design for learning is achieved by means of flexible curricular materials and activities that provide alternatives for students with differing abilities. These alternatives are built into the instructional design and operating systems of educational materials – they are not added on after-the-fact (ERIC/OSEP, 1998, ¶ 3).
The importance of these concepts is reflected in the establishment of the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum by the Office of Special Education Programs. This center is working toward universally designed instruction through the electronic use of digital text, one avenue to providing a variety of accommodations without external changes in materials or procedures (see Center for Applied Research – CAST, 2001).
Application of Universal Design to Assessment
Universal design applied to instruction is likely to advance the need for universally designed assessments. Yet, other factors are also heightening this need. A major impetus is the difficulty that states and districts are having in attempting to retrofit existing tests to be more inclusive. It seems clear that this difficulty will be eliminated or reduced if tests are developed from the beginning to be inclusive of all students.
"Universally designed assessments" are designed and developed from the beginning to allow participation of the widest possible range of students, and to result in valid inferences about performance for all students who participate in the assessment. Universally designed assessments add a dimension of fairness to the testing process. According to the National Research Council (1999), "fairness, like validity, cannot be properly addressed as an afterthought once the test has been developed, administered, and used. It must be confronted throughout the interconnected phases of the testing process, from test design and development to administration, scoring, interpretation, and use" (p. 81). The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, NCME, 1999) also address this need by requiring that "all examinees be given a comparable opportunity to demonstrate their standing on the construct(s) the test is intended to measure. Just treatment also includes such factors as appropriate testing conditions and equal opportunity to become familiar with the test format, practice materials, and so forth... Fairness also requires that all examinees be afforded appropriate testing conditions" (p. 74).
Universally designed assessments are based on the premise that each child in school is a part of the population to be tested, and that testing results should not be affected by disability, gender, race, or English language ability. Universally designed assessments are not intended to eliminate individualization, but they may reduce the need for accommodations and various alternative assessments by eliminating access barriers associated with the tests themselves.
 Previous | Next 
|
Information About PDF