A RESEARCH CONTEXT FOR STUDYING ADMISSIONS TESTS AND HANDICAPPED POPULATIONS

This report is the first in a series of publications emanating from a four year research effort designed to further knowledge of admissions testing and handicapped people. The report is divided into three major sections describing (1) the development of the research program, (2) a context for conducting that research, and (3) major research issues and activities for addressing those issues. The history of the research program is linked to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which contains several mandates affecting college and graduate admissions testing. Because of conflicts between these mandates and current measurement technology, the regulations have not yet been fully enforced. To resolve the conflicts preventing full implementation of Section 504, the U. S. Office of Civil Rights in 1979 commissioned a study by the National Research Council (NRC). The resulting NRC report recommended a substantial research program including studies of test validity, research on the types of test modifications most appropriate for people with various handicapping conditions, and investigations into the role of test scores in decision making. The present program is a response to that recommendation. The context for research on admissions testing presented in the paper concerns the definition of handicapping conditions and the characteristics of handicapped people. A precise description of the characteristics of those with handicapping conditions should suggest research questions, particular methods of study, and sensible interpretations of results. Unfortunately, some handicapping conditions (e.g., learning disability) cannot be precisely described. Problems in describing handicapping conditions stem from difficulties in current legal and conceptual definitions, the structure and implementation of diagnostic assessment, and the conduct of special education research. Despite the problems that hinder precise description of the characteristics of handicapped people, information relevant to research on admissions testing is available. For example, those most commonly taking college and graduate admissions tests include students with learning disabilities, hearing problems, visual impairments, and physical handicaps. These groups tend to differ significantly from the general population on dimensions important to admissions testing (e.g., language proficiency for deaf students and sensory capabilities for those with visual impairment). In addition, the groups differ appreciably among themselves on these dimensions. That the characteristics of handicapped people differ in significant ways from those of the general population raises important issues for admissions testing. Among these issues are the extent to which disabled individuals currently have access to the admissions testing process; the fairness of test content to handicapped examinees? the extent to which admissions tests equivalently predict academic success for handicapped and nondisabled populations; and whether the preadmission identification, or flagging of scores emanating from modified tests, can be avoided. Each of these testing issues is addressed in the current research program. Among the program's activities will be a survey of handicapped candidates taking special administrations; item and factor analysis studies to evaluate the fairness of test content; intra- and cross-institutional investigations of predictive validity; and an analysis of a scaling technique purported to obviate the need for flagging scores from modified test administrations.