Accommodations and Test Accessibility
The easyCBM® assessments were designed using Universal Design for Assessment (UDA) principles. According to Rose (2006)2 , three guiding principles of UDL allow different ways for students to succeed that provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. Their purpose is to ensure fairness, accessibility, and validity for all students, including those with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELLs).
Furthermore, easyCBM® follows the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014). Experienced teachers wrote the test items, which University of Oregon researchers reviewed for content and bias. Items were field-tested nationwide, and Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses determined item difficulty, discrimination, and precision. These analyses guided the creation of equivalent alternate forms for reading and math measures, supporting consistent screening and progress monitoring, and reliability and validity studies confirmed the measures' strong psychometric properties. Technical reports are available through Behavioral Research & Teaching (BRT) and ERIC, with further findings summarized in Swanson & Tindal (2024).
Tindal (2025)3 emphasizes that standardization ensures fairness, but strict uniformity can limit access for students with disabilities or diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Equity requires flexible testing conditions that preserve validity while removing irrelevant barriers. easyCBM® incorporates measurement changes across three areas: (1) setting—changes in lighting, seating, or environment [S]; (2) administration—repeating directions or using visual cues [A]; and (3) response—alternative response methods for selection tasks [R]. These changes maintain fairness without altering what is measured. Distinguishing between informal "adaptations" and formal "accommodations" (listed in IEPs), easyCBM® achieves a balance between standardization and flexibility—ensuring all students can accurately demonstrate what they know. We have divided all test changes into three types, varying on a continuum of significance/impact: (a) adaptations considered as universally designated supports that are part of a student's instructional practices, (b) accommodations listed in most state policies and often requiring recommendations for use by an IEP team, and (c) modifications that represent changes to the validity of inferences made from the score.
The following test changes in easyCBM® testing can be used without reference to IEP teams but should be considered with due attention to state testing programs, which may or may not allow these practices. They are considered as extensions of UDA and have been curated from National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) with further changes presented in tables from the Smarter Balanced State Consortium and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), both digital and paper pencil administration. The comprehensive list is referenced in the technical report by Tindal (2025).
Test Changes as Adaptations or Extensions of UDA in Setting [S], Administration [A], or Response [R].
Test Changes Noted in the IEP as Allowed or Required in Setting [S], Administration [A], or Response [R].
Some test changes are neither adaptations (universally designed adjustments) nor accommodations but are modifications: They invalidate the score and any decisions that can be made from the student's performance. The reason for this invalidation is that the construct being measured is changed, along with the change in setting (S), administration (A), or response (R)
Test Changes Not Allowed in Setting [S], Administration, or Response [R].
Students may present a number of medical and physical conditions that are not a formal disability, such as stuttering, traumatic brain injury, seizure disorders, Tourette's syndrome, and many others. Teachers are still faced with addressing their unique needs with responsive educational programs, although these students have no Individual Educational Programs (IEPs) for protection of their legal rights to succeed in school, though they may receive the benefits of 504 Plans.
The net effect of such conditions may make administration of easyCBM® measures difficult and result in compromised student responses. In such circumstances, teachers should consider using easyCBM® only from a clinical perspective to learn more about how to interact with the student and consider their performance on the measures as not comparable to others due to a change in the construct.
Conclusion
The recommendations of these test adaptations with easyCBM® are based on a technical report4 written under a contract with the NAEP Validity Studies Panel and scheduled to be published in October 2024 through the American Institutes of Research (AIR). The research upon which the report is based represents a nearly exhaustive review of both published refereed publications and technical reports from various professional organizations over the past 40 years. Before the report was completed, the major conclusions and perspectives had been reviewed by the Panel with eventual agreement that NAEP may need to review and possibly revise its policies on accommodations based on the empirical and logical analysis presented in the report that included the following areas addressed:
• Research on test accommodations from NAEP as well as from meta-analyses conducted and published for students with disabilities and English language learners.
• Analyses and summaries of (in)consistencies among state practices.
• Impact of test adaptations on students with disabilities.
• Speculations on form versus function within a behavioral perspective.
More details on Accessibility and Accommodations can be found in the easyCBM User's Manual, Appendix B, Page 113.