About Us

Goals
Collaborators
Background Overview
Priority
Frequently Asked Questions

PARA

The Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment (PARA) is a consortium of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO), the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), and Westat, Inc. Under the direction of Martha Thurlow and Deborah Dillon, PARA is focusing on all disabilities that affect reading, especially learning disabilities, speech-language impairments, mental retardation and deafness/hard of hearing. The project investigates varied obstacles to accessible reading assessment and identifies possible solutions.

PARA's research program includes:

• Sampling studies to identify which students need which kinds of assistance to access the types of reading assessments that states need to administer?
• Applying universal design principles to seek
  forms of assessment that are accessible to
  students with disabilities that affect reading
• Analyzing large-scale test data for evidence of
  different responding patterns and discrepancies
  with professional judgment and individually
  administered assessments
• Using prototype assessments to show whether
  following identified accessibility principles
  produces more valid results for students with
  disabilities that affect reading

Detailed information is available on the PARA Web site.