Parent Letter and Consent for Student Participation

Study: Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners

APPENDIX B

PARENT LETTER and CONSENT FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION

Dear Parent or Guardian,

Your child is invited to participate in an important research study about test accommodations. Accommodations are changes that we make to tests to make them more fair for certain groups of students. The U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring the study, and it will be carried out by WestEd researchers. Your child's principal and math teacher gave us permission to provide you with more information to help you decide whether your child will participate.

For this study, researchers have developed two different versions of a short math test—one with questions that have been changed so that the language is simpler (accommodated) and one with questions that have not been changed (not accommodated). As part of the study, your child will be asked to take one of the math tests (either accommodated or not accommodated). At that time, your child also will be asked to answer 12 questions about his/her language background.

Approximately 3,600 students from California schools will participate in this study, which begins in Spring 2008. Participants will include both general education students and English language learners. The testing will take place in your child's math classroom during school hours. We estimate the maximum time for your child to complete all tasks will be approximately one hour.

Your child's responses will be used for research purposes only. All information about your child will be kept confidential. We will not report information that identifies your child's name or school. Only trained WestEd researchers will see information about your child, except as required by law. There are no known risks of harm to your child.

Your child is not required to participate in this study, and participation will not affect his/her grade in math class. There will be no actions or penalties against your child for not participating in the study. He/she may ask questions during testing and/or refuse to answer any question on the test. After testing, each student will receive a T-shirt to thank him or her for participating.

After reading this information, please sign the consent form on the next page so your child may participate in this study. If you have any questions, please contact Carole Gallagher, at cgallag@wested.org or 415.615.3211. If you have questions or concerns you cannot resolve, you may contact Independent Review Consulting staff at 800.472.3241, P.O. Box 170, San Anselmo, CA 94979. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Dr. Stanley Rabinowitz,

Study Director

Please sign and return this form to your student’s math teacher.

Student’s Name: ______________________________

School: ___

Math Teacher: ___

_______ I do allow my child to participate in the Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners study.

_______ I do not allow my child to participate in the Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners study.

Parent’s Signature: ___ Date:

Parent’s Name: ___

(Please Print)

Thank you!

The collection of information in this study is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Sec. 183.

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