NCEO Brief Number 35 - Avoiding Unintended Consequences of Improved Accessibility of State Tests

Oct 15, 2026

NCEO Brief Number 35 examines how assessment accommodations and broader accessibility features affect state testing for students with disabilities. It explains the shift from an accommodations-only approach to a multi-level accessibility paradigm, noting that accommodations can move into designated or universal features over time. Using state-reported data, the brief highlights wide variation across states and years, discusses trend changes, and identifies potential unintended consequences such as inaccurate state data and IEP mismatches with students’ access needs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

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Avoiding Unintended Consequences of Improved Accessibility of State Tests

Assessment accommodations and legal reporting

Accessibility paradigm shift and its implications

Accommodations data variation across states

Trends over time and possible unintended consequences

NCEO Brief Number 35 • May 2024 Avoiding Unintended Consequences of Improved Accessibility of State Tests Assessment accommodations are used to meet the individualized needs of students with disabilities so that they can show what they know and can do on assessments, including state content tests (e.g., reading/language arts, math) used for accountability.1 Assessment accommodations are changes in the presentation, response, timing, and scheduling of tests that do not change what the test is measuring (AERA, APA, NCME, 2014). 1 In many states, English learners can also use accommodations on these tests. In the past, only accommodations were recognized as a way to increase the accessibility of tests for students with disabilities, including English learners with disabilities. Because of the importance of accommodationsin meeting the accessibility needs of students with disabilities, the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required that states annually report the numbers of students with disabilities who were assigned assessment accommodations by their Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams. These numbers are reported for reading/language arts and mathematics general state assessments used for accountability to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) (Rudick et al., 2023) . In the 2010s, as many states moved to technology-based assessments, states expanded their approach to providing accessibility through a paradigm shift in which they recognized that students other than those with disabilities also had accessibility needs (Larson et al., 2020) . The paradigm shift involved the identification of levels of accessibility (e.g., universal features, designated features, and accommodations) (see Figure 1) . Although the terms and the number of levels differed among states, the levels were similar: universal features were features available to all students; designated features were changes available to students for whom an adult or decision-making team had indicated a need; and accommodations were those changes that were available only to students with disabilities. Some states included a fourth level called administrative considerations. Most levels could include features either embedded in the test platform or external to it (e.g., provided by a human) . With this paradigm shift, many states revised and refined their accommodations policies. One consequence of the paradigm shift was that states’ accommodation policies often were broadened to become “accessibility policies.”Over time, many accommodations were moved to be either designated features or universal features. A consequence of the paradigm shift was that many accessibility features that once were accommodations now were available to students without disabilities; and those with disabilities who previously had been assigned them as accommodations now accessed many of them as universal or designated features. In many states, this shift reduced the number of allowed accommodations. With this reduction in the number of allowed accommodations in state policies, there was the potential for decreased numbers of students assigned accommodations. The purpose of this Brief is to examine data on assigned accommodations that states report to the U.S. Department of Education. It also explores the implications of the paradigm shift for states and students with disabilities. We Figure 1. Levels of Accessibility in the Paradigm Shift Universal Features for all students Designated Features for students who need them as identified by an educator in advance Accommodations for students with disabilities highlight what states and IEP teams can do to avoid possible unintended consequences of the paradigm shift (e.g.,“inaccurate” state data, IEPs that do not reflect all of a student’s accessibility needs) . Accommodations Data Data on the number of students with disabilities assigned accommodations ha

FAQs

What are assessment accommodations and how do they relate to what tests measure?

Assessment accommodations are changes in presentation, response, timing, and scheduling that do not change what the test is measuring, allowing students to show what they know and can do.

How did the accessibility paradigm shift affect how states classify accessibility supports?

States expanded from accommodations for students with disabilities to multi-level accessibility features, where some former accommodations may become designated features or universal features, reducing the number of allowed accommodations in some states.

What unintended consequences does the brief discuss regarding changes in accommodation policies?

The brief highlights risks such as inaccurate state data and IEPs that do not fully reflect a student’s accessibility needs after features are reclassified over time.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jordan Avery