Overview: Given the nature of Let’s Go Learn assessments, test accommodations will tend to have more flexibility based on the discretion of the resource teacher or the district policy. DORA, ADAM, and DOMA are diagnostic assessments, meaning that their data is generally not used for high-stakes accountability. As a result, if the student’s accommodation calls for the allowance of a calculator during a math assessment, Let’s Go Learn permits this accommodation to be made and does not have any strict policy against a teacher or administrator making this decision. Scores are not rolled up into a normalizing algorithm, which in the case of a high-stakes assessment might restrict scores with accommodations from being used.
Because these are computer adaptive assessments, the hardware upon which a student will be tested will provide additional accommodations for students with particular needs. Let’s Go Learn does not have a policy against teachers using any specialized computer, audio, or visual equipment as long as it is in fulfillment of the student’s accommodations.
Built into Let’s Go Learn assessments are the following features:
Repeat audio buttons: Allow students to have audio played again at their discretion.
Non-timed silent reading: By design, passages in the DORA assessments are non-timed except for the High Frequency section. This means students who require more time to read are automatically given as much time as needed to read any passage.
Scaling of questions on the screen: All test questions and responses scale to the monitor resolution. Thus, for students whose accommodation may be visual and who are using special computer equipment, our test questions and answers will scale in size to the monitor and/or browser window.
Reading of math word problems: The ADAM assessment reads all sentences or paragraphs aloud to the student. This not only controls for a reading bias but also provides audio support for students with reading issues, such as some forms of dyslexia. This is built into the assessment and does not need to be turned on.
Conclusion: Because Let’s Go Learn assessments are diagnostic, the practice is for teachers to use the sub-test data to come up with a prescriptive path for each student in the areas of reading and mathematics. Therefore, it is generally not necessary to make adjustments to the assessments. For some students, certain sub-tests may not be as informative. Therefore, the practice is for teachers to be taught the nature of each sub-test, which the Let’s Go Learn staff does in its “Data Interpretation” trainings. Then teachers can use the information as they see fit for their individual students.