Comparability of Student Performance Between Regular and Oral Administrations for a High-Stakes Mathematics Test

This study examined the effect of oral administration accommodations on test structure and student performance on the mathematics portion of the South Carolina High School Exit Examination (HSEE). The examination was given at Grade 10 and was untimed. Three groups of students were studied. Two groups took the regular form. One group had recorded disabilities in the data file whereas the other group did not. The 3rd group was given the special oral administration form. Student background variables were race, gender, and Grade 8 mathematics and reading scores. It was found that the test structure remained rather stable across the 3 groups. Controlling for student background variables, disabled students under oral administration performed better than disabled students on the regular form. Also, other things being the same, students with disabilities did worse than students without disabilities on the regular form. It was concluded that, along with special instructional and learning activities like those in Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) and 504 Plans, oral administration of the HSEE mathematics test served to "level the play field" for students with disabilities.