Increase in accommodations among students impacts achievement levels - study
The researchers propose two steps to address the situation – transitioning to digital exams, which could make most accommodations accessible to all pupils, and eliminating time limits on tests.
Over the past decade, the percentage of Israeli youths receiving accommodations for learning disabilities during matriculation exams (bagrut), allowing them entrance into colleges and universities, has steadily grown. As the upcoming exam season approaches, the Taub Center for Social Studies Research in Jerusalem has issued a new, 43-page study examining how these accommodations – along with differences in their rating by school socioeconomic status – affect school achievement.Taub researchers Dr. Sarit Silverman, Prof. Alex Weinreb, and Nachum Blass highlighted the flaws in the current accommodation system and proposed two steps that they believe would make most accommodations unnecessary.The educational system allows a significantly higher percentage of pupils with lower demands than the international prevalence rate of learning disabilities, which is approximately 15%. Over the past decade, this share has risen from 35% in 2011 to 54% in 2021.This trend suggests that factors beyond the actual prevalence of learning disabilities are influencing the number of Israeli pupils granted accommodations for matriculation exams.
Accommodations given for the exams vary according to each student’s learning disability and the approving authority, and they are divided into three levels: Level 1 modifies only the test conditions, such as extended time; Level 2 modifies test conditions, presentation, and mode of response, such as dictation or transcription; and Level 3 modifies test conditions, presentation, mode of response, and content, such as a modified exam.
Unlike Level 2 and 3 accommodations, which require expensive evaluations and approval by district committees, most Level 1 accommodations no longer require evaluations.
New policies
In 2015, the Education Ministry changed its policy to allow school committees to grant Level 1 accommodations based solely on teacher recommendations. This change led to a sharp increase in Level 1 accommodations, rising from eight percent in 2016 to nearly 40% in 2021. As a result, most of the increase in exam accommodations over the past decade can be attributed to the rise in Level 1 accommodations.Between 2011 and 2021, Level 3 accommodation rates remained stable, while Level 2 accommodation rates decreased. Initially, there was a notable socioeconomic gap for Level 2 and Level 3 accommodations, but by the end of the decade, the gap had narrowed.In contrast, Level 1 accommodation rates, predominantly school-granted, increased across all socioeconomic levels, with the sharpest rise observed in high socioeconomic districts. Interestingly, this means that students in wealthier districts have higher rates of free accommodations – potentially giving them an advantage over their peers from less affluent areas.Similar trends were observed when comparing accommodation rates based on maternal education, with higher maternal education levels corresponding with increased rates of Level 1 school-granted accommodations.The researchers studied the relationship between accommodation rates and school achievements and discovered notable distinctions between school-granted (Level 1) and district-granted accommodations (Levels 2 and 3). They found that in schools with higher rates of Level 1 accommodations, the average scores for e-exams in math and English were also higher. Conversely, the situation was reversed for district-granted accommodations: schools with higher rates tended to have lower average grades.Further findings indicate that the increase in the rate of school-granted accommodations explains the rise in matriculation-qualification rates between 2016 and 2020. Moreover, nearly 40% of the increase in matriculation-with-honors qualification rates and the majority of improvements in schools’ scores in math and English could be attributed to the rise in school-granted accommodation rates.These findings can be explained by the fact that district-granted accommodations, which require evaluations, more reliably reflect the proportion of students with learning disabilities. As a result, they are consistent with lower school achievement.Conversely, the sharp increase in the rate of school-granted accommodations in schools that serve more affluent districts may indicate that they often use school accommodations to boost the school’s grade average rather than solely addressing the needs of students with learning disabilities.Silverman voiced her concerns: “The current approach to accommodations in matriculation exams, as adopted by the Education Ministry, fails to fulfill its intended purpose. Rather than leveling the playing field for students with learning disabilities, it exacerbates socioeconomic disparities by allowing schools in affluent areas to unfairly favor their pupils at the expense of others.”The researchers propose two practical steps to address the situation: transitioning to digital exams, which could make most accommodations accessible to all pupils, and eliminating time limits on the tests. Implementing these changes alone could significantly improve the current testing system, enable more pupils to reach their educational potential, and narrow education gaps, they concluded.
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