Test Accessibility: Item Reviews and Lessons Learned from Four State Assessments
Table 2
Accessibility ratings by grade, content area, and item type for state A.
Content area/grade
# (% of sample)
Item analysis rubric ratings
Overall analysis rubric ratings
Passage/item stimulus
Item stem
Visuals
Answer choices
Page/item layout
M (SD)
M (SD)
M (SD)
M (SD)
M (SD)
M (SD)
Across
159 (100%)
3.1 (0.7)
3.3 (0.7)
2.8 (0.9)
3.4 (0.8)
3.3 (0.8)
2.8 (0.7)
Elementary
88 (%)
3.2 (0.7)
3.3 (0.7)
2.8 (0.8)
3.4 (0.7)
3.3 (0.8)
2.9 (0.7)
Middle
71 (%)
3.0 (0.6)
3.2 (0.7)
2.9 (0.9)
3.3 (0.9)
3.4 (0.8)
2.8 (0.7)
Language Arts
67 (42%)
3.0 (0.7)
3.2 (0.7)
2.4 (0.6)
3.5 (0.7)
3.1 (0.8)
2.8 (0.6)
Elementary
44 (66%)
3.0 (0.7)
3.2 (0.7)
2.3 (0.6)
3.4 (0.7)
3.1 (0.8)
2.8 (0.7)
Middle
23 (34%)
3.1 (0.8)
3.3 (0.8)
2.6 (0.7)
3.7 (0.6)
3.1 (0.8)
2.9 (0.5)
Mathematics
50 (31%)
3.2 (0.6)
3.4 (0.7)
3.4 (0.8)
3.2 (0.9)
3.4 (0.7)
2.8 (0.7)
Elementary
19 (38%)
3.6 (0.5)
3.6 (0.6)
3.6 (0.7)
3.4 (0.6)
3.4 (0.7)
3.1 (0.3)
Middle
31 (62%)
3.0 (0.5)
3.3 (0.7)
3.2 (0.9)
3.0 (1.0)
3.4 (0.8)
2.6 (0.8)
Science
21 (13%)
2.9 (0.8)
3.0 (0.8)
3.7 (0.5)
3.1 (0.8)
3.6 (0.7)
2.8 (0.6)
Elementary
11 (52%)
3.0 (0.9)
2.9 (1.0)
3.7 (0.5)
3.2 (0.8)
3.5 (0.7)
2.7 (0.6)
Middle
10 (48%)
2.9 (0.7)
3.0 (0.7)
—
3.0 (0.7)
3.7 (0.7)
2.9 (0.6)
Social studies
21 (13%)
3.4 (0.7)
3.2 (0.6)
2.5 (0.0)
3.8 (0.6)
3.6 (0.5)
2.9 (0.8)
Elementary
14 (67%)
3.6 (0.5)
3.4 (0.5)
4.0 (0.0)
3.8 (0.6)
3.6 (0.5)
2.9 (0.8)
Middle
7 (33%)
2.0 (0.0)
3.0 (0.8)
1.0 (0.0)
3.8 (0.4)
3.6 (0.5)
2.7 (0.8)
Item type
Constructed response
39 (25%)
2.9 (0.7)
3.0 (0.7)
2.5 (0.9)
—
3.1 (0.7)
2.7 (0.6)
Multiple choice
120 (75%)
3.2 (0.7)
3.3 (0.7)
3.0 (0.9)
3.4 (0.8)
3.4 (0.8)
2.9 (0.7)
Accessibility ratings should be interpreted as follows: 4 = maximally accessible for nearly all test takers; 3 = maximally accessible for most test takers; 2 = maximally accessible for some test takers; 1 = inaccessible for many test takers.
