Differences in schoolwork performance between typically developing students and students with mild disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine whether students with mild disabilities differed from typically developing students in their ability to perform schoolwork tasks. The participants, selected from the School Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) database, comprised 175 students in each group. Their data were subjected to many-faceted Rasch analyses and then analyzed for statistically significant differences in mean school motor and school process abilities between groups. The relative and actual item difficulty calibration values were then compared to identify meaningful differences between groups. The results revealed a statistically significant mean difference in school motor and school process ability between groups (large effect sizes), essentially stable relative skill item hierarchies between groups, and actual hierarchies that differed such that some school motor and almost all school process skill items (occupational performance skills) were more difficult to perform for the mild disabilities group. The results of this study also provided evidence of validity for the use of the School AMPS measures to assist in identifying lower than expected schoolwork performance of students with mild disabilities.