Universal Design Makes Assessments Fairer and More Accurate

By Brian Doore

Right now there is a revolution happening at test development centers around the nation and around the world. Principles of Universal design are being applied to one of the most influential aspects of education – assessment. This revolution began in architecture, and is now spreading to all aspects of education, including assessment. The specific concerns of assessment are slightly different than those found in the general literature on Universal Design.

The principles of Universal Design allow our assessments to become much more inclusive than they ever were before. These assessments will allow students to respond in a variety of ways, and on a schedule that best meets their needs, all without jeopardizing the accuracy and fairness of the test. In addition, “smart” tests (adaptive tests) will adjust the difficulty level of the questions based on students’ responses. This practice is already being used on certain versions of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE.) Use of computers to give tests also gives any test-taker the chance to see and/or hear the questions, and allows them to answer via keyboard, touchpad, pointer or speech. In this way, we can give many more students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge. Currently these options for students only exist through the use of accommodations – Universally Designed tests allow all these options without making “accommodations.”

Martha Thurlow, of the National Center for Educational Outcomes recently co-authored an important publication: Universally Designed Assessments, Better Tests for Everyone! In this article, the authors summarized the major concerns for making a Universally Designed test. They specified the following six areas to consider when reviewing or designing a test for Universal Design principles:

Inclusive Assessment Population

Tests that will become state assessments of competency (such as the MEA) must include a representative sample of all children who will someday take that test. In Maine, all children in the state would be represented except for those children who will complete a PAAP.

Precisely Defined Concepts

There must be exact agreement on what it is the test is designed to measure. For example, will a reading test be solely a measure of comprehension, or will it be also a measure of decoding (being able to read the words from a page.)

Accessible, Non-Biased Items

Items should be designed so they do not become confusing if they are read aloud, put into Braille etc. Also, each item should be carefully reviewed for bias in favor of a particular group (e.g. males) or against a particular group (e.g. rural students)

Amenable to Accommodations

The test design allows the use of needed accommodations without losing the meaning of the item. (e.g., all items can be read aloud).

Simple, Clear, and Intuitive Instructions and Procedures

All instructions and procedures are simple, clear, and presented in understandable language.

Maximum Readability and Comprehensibility

A variety of readability and plain language guidelines are followed (e.g., sentence length and number of difficult words are kept to a minimum) to produce readable and comprehensible text.

Maximum Legibility

The font and format of items is easily read, plain text is used and all parts of the test eliminate un-needed graphics and text to clarify the instructions and response required.

Based on Thurlow (2002).

Many of the components of Maine’s Personalized Alternate Assessment Portfolio are reflective of these principles, and this process continues to be refined to make it better. What will result are more fair, accessible and accurate assessments for all of Maine’s students.

Additional Web-based Resources

For more information about the MEA please visit:

http://www.maine.gov/education/mea/meahome.htm  

For more information about the PAAP please visit Maine Department of Education Alternate Assessment Homepage:

http://www.maine.gov/education/lsalt/altassess.htm  

Frequently Asked Questions About Universal Design in Assessment:

http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/TopicAreas/UnivDesign/UnivDesign_FAQ.htm

National Center for Educational Outcomes Universal Design page:

http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/TopicAreas/UnivDesign/UnivDesign_topic.htm

Universal Design Applied to Large Scale Assessment – NCEO Synthesis Report 44:

http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Synthesis44.html

Access to Computer-Based Testing for Students with Disabilities - NCEO Synthesis Report 45:

http://education.umn.edu/NCEO/OnlinePubs/Synthesis45.html

This is an official publication of The University of Maine
A member of the University of Maine System

Updated: 01/11/2007