Fair and Equal Testing for Students Who Are Deaf/HH

Submitted by the PEPNet Test Equity Workgroup

Taking any test is difficult. But for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, test taking is a major challenge. This is especially true for students taking standardized tests, achievement tests, and the many tests and quizzes given in the classroom.

The 2007 PEPNet Needs Assessment showed there are no clear guidelines for accommodations for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in academic testing. To fill this gap, last August PEPNet called the Test Equity Summit. It was the first PEPNet meeting of its kind devoted to testing equity and deafness.

The key findings of the Summit are stunning:

Many individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are failing critically important tests- even though they have the knowledge the tests are designed to measure. Failing a test can have life-long consequences.

Any individual who is deaf or hard of hearing is likely to have difficulties with tests. That's because individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing haven't had the same access to English as their hearing peers. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals haven't had a native language that is spoken and written. They've had little or no exposure to conversation, television, radio, and other day-to-day uses of English.

The way test questions are written often confuses students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Multiple-choice questions and those with complex grammar can be difficult. In effect, a test often measures ability to understand English itself, not the subject of the test.

Twelve experts in deaf education and academic testing, more than half of whom are deaf or hard of hearing, participated in the Summit: Serving as co-facilitators were Ruth Loew, Ph.D., assistant director of the Office of Disability Policy, Educational Testing Service (ETS), Princeton, NJ and Judith Mounty, Ed.D., M.S.W., research scientist with the Language Planning Institute and Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research, Gallaudet University. Other participants were Barbara Boyd, Ph.D., professor in English, Communication Studies, and Undergraduate Studies, California State University, Northridge; Lisa Coyner, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist in Arizona; Stephanie W. Cawthon, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin; Dan Farley, M.A., assessment and evaluation coordinator, New Mexico School for the Deaf; Carol Funckes, M.A., president of the Association on Higher Education and Disability and associate director of the University of Arizona's Disability Resources; Peter Hauser, Ph.D., deaf clinical neuropsychologist and director of the Deaf Studies Laboratory at Rochester Institute of Technology; Mary Huffnell, Psy.D., coordinator of training at the Mental Health Center, Gallaudet University; Rebecca Sills, M.S., director, Vocational Rehabilitation Deaf Services Program, Georgia's Department of Labor/Vocational Rehabilitation Services; Luisa Soboleski, M.Ed., assistant principal (elementary department), the American School for the Deaf, West Hartford, CT; and Robert Weinstock, M.A., special assistant to the provost, Gallaudet University.

PEPNet is currently compiling the Summit's recommendations for improving test equity. We'll have more information in the next Perspectives and on the PEPNet website.