Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Admission of students with learning disabilities to
 teacher training colleges in Israel

Dr. Varda Sharoni         Dr. Gila Vogel
Beit Berl College,  Israel
varda@beitberl.ac.il        gila@beitberl.ac.il

Countries throughout the world have reported an increase in the number of students with learning disabilities in higher education institutions. The catalyst in some countries has been legislative, while in other countries the change has been more voluntary in nature. The growing acceptance of these students reflects the changing views in society towards persons with disabilities.

In the United States, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, protect the rights of these students, guaranteeing them the right to reasonable accommodations both in the admissions process and once they have matriculated.   Henderson (2001) reported that 2.4% of freshmen attending four year colleges were students with learning disabilities. The most striking finding was that while in 1988 only 16% of those with disabilities were students with learning disabilities, in 2000 the comparable proportion was 40% of all students with disabilities. The NCES (1999) survey of both two and four year colleges in 1996-7 found that 3% of the students identified themselves   to their institutions as   having disabilities and about half of this group were students with learning disabilities.

Similarly, in England, the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act and the Dearing Report of 1997 have had an impact on eligibility requirements and led to a growth in the number of students with learning disabilities who attend institutions of higher learning (Stacey & Singleton, 2003). Data reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows that 2% of students in their first year of study in post-secondary institutions in 2002 had learning disabilities and comprised about 40% of all students with disabilities (HESA, 2003). In the Province of Ontario, Canada, the increase in the number of students with special needs obtaining higher education and being provided with support services has been a result of the voluntary nature of the system as a opposed to the legislation typical of the U. S. (Bat-Hayim & Wilchesky, 2003).

In Israel, the Special Education Law of 1988 protects children until age 21 and since youngsters go to the army after high school, higher education does not come under this law. Nonetheless, the various institutions of higher learning have begun to provide support services for students with learning disabilities and their number has increased. At the Open University during the 2001-2 academic year, 1,593 of the 32,000 students (4.9%) were students with learning disabilities (Heiman, 2003). In 2002, Him-Unis and Freidman surveyed 34 institutions of higher education in Israel and reported an average of 2.8% of students with learning disabilities. The survey included six of the teacher training colleges, and the average percent of students with learning disabilities in these institutions was 2.7%. This data was provided by support personnel and reflects the number of students receiving accommodations and support services.

Testing accommodations on college entrance exams

In the United States, the legislation referred to above also guarantees accommodations on the college entrance exams (SAT, ACT). Since the beginning of the 1980s there has been a dramatic increase in the number of students requesting accommodations on the SAT exam (Ragosta, 1987). In 1999, approximately 24,000 students took the SAT exam with accommodations (Ungerleider & Maslow, 2001) while in 2002 the number had reached 47,000 (Fuller & Wehman, 2003). Beginning in the fall of 2003, the decision was made to stop "flagging" the tests of those taking College Board exams with accommodations, so that the colleges could no longer identify these students (Steele, 2002).

        In Israel, applicants to institutions of higher learning take entrance exams as well. In addition to the psychometric exam (under the auspices of the Council for Higher Education) which is utilized by all institutions, there is a "Saf" (the Hebrew word means Threshold) Exam (under the auspices of the Ministry of Education) which is an alternative option for students applying to the 26 recognized teacher training colleges. Approximately 40% of those enrolled in these colleges elect to take the “Saf” exam. Students at these institutions receive a B.Ed degree and a teaching diploma. Both the psychometric exam and the “Saf” exam offer testing accommodations to students with learning disabilities.

      The National Center for Psychometric Evaluation and Testing has reported an increase in applications for testing accommodations between 1995 and 2003. The percentage of applicants for accommodations has risen from 1% to 3% of all those tested and the Center has granted testing accommodations to about half of all applicants. In 2003, 1159 students applied for accommodations, and they were granted to 603 of these applicants (Him-Unis, 2002; Margalit, 1997; National Center for Testing and Evaluation, 2004). The current study focuses on data relating to the “Saf” exam.   Information about the percentage of students taking the “Saf” exam with accommodations had not been disseminated prior to this study and was one of the goals of this project.  

Research relating to testing accommodations on college entrance exams

Ragosta (1987) reported that the scores of students with learning disabilities were lower on both the verbal and mathematical sections of the SAT exam then the scores of students without disabilities. In contrast, Zurcher & Bryant (2001) surveyed five previous studies and concluded that there is evidence that testing accommodations allow students with disabilities to reach the same level of scores as students without disabilities. Camara et al (1998) concluded that SAT test scores of students with learning disabilities who received extended time improved and that the improvement increased as the amount of additional time was increased. That research showed that students with learning disabilities who were tested under standard conditions and then retested with extended time showed gains three times as large as gains in testing/retesting situations for students without learning disabilities who did both the test and retest under standard conditions and for students with learning disabilities who took both the test and retest with extended time. Test scores for students with learning disabilities, were however, generally found to be about half a standard deviation below scores of test takers without learning disabilities.   Elliot & Marquart (2004) too, found that those with learning disabilities who receive extended time on college entrance exams increase their scores significantly, whereas extended time does not improve the scores of those without learning disabilities. There have been a number of studies that have shown that the predictive validity of college entrance exams is less for students tested with accommodations than for those tested under standard procedures. These studies indicated that there is an over-prediction of grade scores obtained during college years for students who utilized testing accommodations (Benderson, 1988; Camara et al, 1998; Zurcher & Bryant, 2001).   Ragosta & Kaplan (1986) in a study of a small number of applicants who took the SAT exam with accommodations found a high level of satisfaction with the accommodations given.  

Research Questions

This article will focus on three main topics:

• Prevalence of testing accommodations:   What percentage of those taking the “Saf” exam receive testing accommodations? Which accommodations are granted and what is the distribution of these accommodations? What percentage of students who actually enroll and study in teacher training colleges received accommodations on the entrance exam?  
• Perceived usefulness of testing accommodations: To what extent do testees report having utilized the accommodations and to what extent do they feel that the accommodations were helpful?
• Test score comparison: How do the scores of testees and of students who actually enroll who took the exam with accommodations compare to parallel groups who took the exam under standard conditions?   

Information about enrollment patterns in various college departments, profiles of learning difficulties and the assessment history of applicants was collected as well and will be presented elsewhere.

Methodology

Participants

The population in this study consisted of applicants for the "Saf" exam for enrollment in the 2003-2004 academic year. This group can be divided into several subgroups as described in Table 1.   All the applicants in this study took the Hebrew version of the "Saf" exam (there is an Arabic version as well).

Table 1: The Populations comprising this study

Sources of information:

The following sources of information were utilized in this study.

• The data base of the "Saf" Testing Unit.   This included data on the number of applicants with and without learning disabilities, aggregate and sub-test scores, and background variables such as gender
• A questionnaire regarding level of satisfaction with the accommodation process that was designed by the researchers and administered to all those who took the "Saf" exam with testing accommodations. The questionnaire included open-ended questions as well as rating scales.
• The data base of the Ministry of Education which provided information on students who had taken the "Saf" and were enrolled in the colleges during the 2003-2004 school year. This included scores on matriculation exams, and the department and college in which they were enrolled

All the data received from the above listed sources was anonymous in the sense that it was not possible to identify individual students by name.

Data collection

Data collection followed the timetable of the "Saf" Testing Unit. Persons with learning disabilities apply for testing accommodations by filling out applications and submitting current or updated assessments. The unit then approves the accommodations according to the findings of these reports. Those requiring testing accommodations are assigned special dates.   The questionnaire was designed and was administered at the end of each of these testing sessions. Permission to utilize the data bases of the Department of Teacher Training of the Ministry of Education and the "Saf" Testing Unit was obtained.

Findings

Percentage of testees with testing accommodations

The “Saf” entrance exam was administered to 4851 persons in 2003.   This group included 410 applicants who were granted testing accommodations (8.5%) on the exam. The enrollment figures showed a similar proportion of persons who received testing accommodations. A total of 1736 of all testees attended the colleges during the 2003-4 academic year, including 152 students with learning disabilities (8.8%).

Gender distributions of testees with and without accommodations

Data collected showed that 1020 of the testees without accommodations (23%) were male while 3411 (77%) were females. The group of testees receiving accommodations was composed of 42 (10%) males and 368 (90%) females. The distribution of enrolled students by gender was similar: 26% of those who did not receive testing accommodations were male as compared to   11% of those enrolled who had received testing accommodations.

Accommodations approved for the “Saf” exam

The range of accommodations available to testees is quite limited, and the breakdown of the accommodations granted reflects this. Ninety-eight percent of the testees were granted extended time (30% extra time) on the entire exam. Fifty percent were permitted to use a calculator on the math subtest. The breakdown of additional accommodations was as follows: 7% received an enlargement of the English subtest, 4% received an enlargement of the entire exam and 1% was granted extended time on the English subtest alone.

Level of satisfaction of testees with accommodations

Testees with accommodations were asked to fill out a questionnaire after completing the exam. Sixty percent (N= 247) agreed to do so. One of the items asked whether or not they had indeed utilized the accommodations granted. Ninety-two percent of those who responded to this item indicated that they had indeed made use of the accommodations. The table that follows shows the distribution of the responses as to the perceived efficacy of the accommodations.

Table 2: Distribution of responses about perceived efficacy of accommodations

Thus, nearly three quarters of those who responded felt the accommodations were extremely or quite helpful, while only eleven percent indicated that the accommodations were minimally helpful or not helpful at all. In general, those who responded voiced satisfaction with the accommodation process they had gone through.

The questionnaire included an open-ended item asking for comments and suggestions. Content analysis of this item indicated six categories of responses. The majority of the comments (N=24) indicated that the testees would have liked additional accommodations that had not been granted. One third of this group specifically asked for even more extended time then they had been granted. Eleven persons recommended that the services of the office of the “Saf” exam be improved. Twelve responses dealt with testing conditions such as noise levels, changing the order of the subtests, beginning the test on time. A group of seven persons asked for a preparatory course or preparatory materials designed specifically for persons with learning disabilities. Finally, a small number of persons (5) raised more general issues such as the appropriateness of a standardized exam for determining admission in the first place.

Comparison of scores on the "Saf" exam

A comparison of the scores for testees and enrolled students with and without testing accommodations is presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Scores of testees on the “Saf” exam

* p < 0.001

**p < 0.05

The aggregate scores of testees with testing accommodations were statistically significantly lower than scores of testees without accommodations. This was true both for all who took the exam and for those who eventually enrolled in the colleges.

Differences were also found between the groups on most of the subtests. There were no significant differences found on the scientific thinking subtest. It is noteworthy that the standard deviations were always greater for testees without accommodations than for testees with accommodations, indicating greater variation in the formers test scores

Comparison of matriculation grades of enrolled students with and without testing accommodations

The “Saf” exam is not the only standardized exam taken by Israeli students. Matriculation exams are also standardized and are a requirement for entering teacher training colleges.

The data base of the Ministry of Education provided information allowing us to compare the scores of the two groups of enrolled students. The data available included the number of test units completed in each subject, the grade on the exam itself and the final grade in the particular subject. (The final grade is a combination of a grade given by the school based on work and school exams, and the matriculation exam score.) The information was available for the required courses in the Israeli curriculum (Hebrew grammar, writing, Hebrew literature, history, Bible, English as a second language and mathematics).  

In looking at the number of units studied in each subject, statistically significant differences were found in Bible, English and mathematics. In all cases, the students with testing accommodations took fewer units of each subject, indicating a lower level of achievement. In most of the other subjects, the number of units required is uniform.

Statistically significant lower grade scores were found in most of the comparisons made. The only subject where the grades were not significantly lower was literature. The grades in English were also not significantly different, but in this case the number of units studied was significantly lower for the group of students with learning disabilities.

Discussion:

Percentage of students with learning disabilities enrolled in teacher training colleges

Our findings indicate that 8.8% of those who took the "Saf" exam and enrolled in the colleges had learning disabilities. A survey by Him-Unis & Friedman (2002) which included 6 teacher training colleges, found an average of   2.7% of students with learning disabilities in these institutions. Those figures were based on reports by persons responsible for support services and thus reflect only information about students who self-identified as having learning disabilities. (In Israel, test scores are not flagged and thus students with learning disabilities can remain anonymous). Thus it is possible that students avail themselves of the opportunity to enter the system by receiving testing accommodations, but opt not to request services once they are admitted to the colleges. This, despite the fact that in our study 95% of those who filled out the level of satisfaction questionnaire indicated that they expected to receive accommodations while attending college as well. Fuller & Wehman (2003) raised this issue as well in discussing enrollment rates of students with learning disabilities in colleges in the United States. The failure to self-identify once they reach the campuses leads to a series of questions about whether or not students with learning disabilities are able to cope successfully with academic demands without receiving accommodations or support services. Do they complete their degree programs or are they over-represented among those who drop out? Do they do as well as they might have done had they received accommodations and support services? The fact that a smaller percentage actually identify themselves and request these accommodations points to the need to better publicize and make students aware of the support services available on the campuses as well as the need to create an atmosphere on campus that is accepting of those with learning disabilities.

Some of the gap in estimates of students with learning disabilities is explained by the fact, that   approximately 40% of the applicants to the teacher training colleges take the "Saf" exam.   The other 60% are admitted on the basis of the psychometric exam that is also used for admission to the various universities in Israel. This exam also offers testing accommodations to applicants with learning disabilities. However, the percentage of those receiving accommodations has ranged from 1.5% to 2% and thus is dramatically lower than the percentage of testees with accommodations on the "Saf" exam. The reasons for this gap remain unclear.

The estimates of the percentage of children with learning disabilities in Israel are similar to those throughout the world, and range from 10% to 15% of the population (Margalit, Breznitz & Aharoni, 1998). Thus we see that the proportion of those with learning disabilities entering institutions of higher education indicates that Israeli society has not yet reached its goal of integrating these students and enabling them to reach their potential. This study suggests that the teacher training colleges are closer to this goal than are other institutions of higher learning. Although those entering teacher training colleges are predominantly women, this study shows that within the group of males who do enroll, men with learning disabilities are underrepresented.

Accommodations

This study found that the most commonly granted accommodation was extended time and that the amount of extra time was set at 30% across the board.   Although deficits in speeded performance are one of the most common ways that   learning disabilities can impact an individual, researchers (Fuchs et al, 2000; Ofiesh, Hughes, & Scott, 2004) have indicated the need to scrutinize the match between accommodations granted and their usefulness and fairness for students with learning disabilities. Thompson, Blount, & Thurlow (2002) recommended that researchers investigate the desirability and perceived usefulness of testing accommodations by the testees themselves. In this study, satisfaction with the accommodation process, reported use of accommodations and perceived efficacy of the accommodations were high.   Certainly, there is an on-going need to make sure that those with learning disabilities feel that the application process is fair, responsive and non-threatening.

Comparison of scores of testees with and without testing accommodations

Testing accommodations on standardized exams are provided in order to “level the playing field” and ensure equal access to institutions of higher education.   It is therefore essential to compare the scores of those tested with and without accommodation.   As opposed to findings summarized by Zurcher & Bryant (2001) and in line with findings reported by Camara, Copeland & Rothschild, (1998),   in this study we found statistically significant differences in the aggregate scores of the two groups as well as in two subtests (English, math). The subscores in language and in scientific thinking were also lower although the difference was not statistically significant.   Furthermore, because we were able to compare the groups on matriculation exams that were taken years earlier, we saw that a pattern of lower test scores for students with learning disabilities was maintained.   In the present study, the difference in the aggregate scores on the “Saf” entrance exam was 2.2 points. In addition, the smaller standard deviations in the scores of testees with learning disabilities indicate less variability in their scores. These differences will become even more important as standards for admission to teacher training colleges are raised. Admission policies that are based on raising the cutoff score (a policy already being implemented by the Ministry of Education) will result in the admittance of fewer students with learning disabilities.

Recommendations

Applicants to institutions of higher education in Israel have been granted testing accommodations for several years. This study, however, is the first time that data relating to test score results and enrollment figures has been examined. In order to achieve a full picture of the inclusion of students with learning disabilities in teacher training colleges, it is necessary to repeat this type of research over the course of time. Because many students enter the colleges by taking the psychometric exam, we recommend that comparison scores be looked at for that exam. (In fact, as this article is being written, a decision by the Ministry of Education to require the psychometric exam and to do away with the “Saf” exam entirely has been announced). Results of this study, which indicate that testing accommodations do not erase gaps in test scores, emphasize care/concern in setting uniform cutoff scores for acceptance into institutions of higher learning. We recommend that feedback from those with learning disabilities about the application process and testing conditions be included as a matter of course. Finally, because learning disabilities do not disappear as one enrolls in higher education, it is important to follow-up on students both during their course of studies and as they enter the professional world as educators.

Bibliography

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