Accessible Test

Test and Assessment Needs

(Continued)
Purpose

To determine the needs of the field with regard to testing and assessing students who are blind or visually impaired

Project Staff

Barbara W. Henderson, Project Leader

Debbie Willis, Accessible Tests Director, Project Advisor
Background

Meeting the needs of TVIs and others who are called upon to assess visually impaired students is the focus of this home project. For instance, the project to make Harcourt’s Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II (WIAT-II) available in braille/tactile format was proposed and implemented as a result of being expressed as a high priority need by the field. This test can now be ordered from APH (who has the braille/tactile plates already made) as long as permission is requested by the individual or organization and is granted by Harcourt Assessment. The individual or organization in need of this test may then contact APH to order a copy of the WIAT-II in braille/tactile format. Custom Contract staff is willing and able to assist with this procedure.

In order to provide information about which tests are currently available in accessible formats, the project leader worked with the Directors of Accessible Tests and Communications in FY 2007 to develop the new Assessment Catalog and with Research Department staff to review current assessment products for obsolescence or modernization. The project leader also worked with Malcolm Turner to update the Accessible Tests web page. Comments received on how the field has come to view the Accessible Tests web page included “the best information source out there.”
Commercially available products for development of Daily Living Skills, Job Skills Assessment, and Career Interest Inventories were reviewed by project staff because of their particular importance to experts in transition for VI students. As a result, a product on how to use transition assessments and screens was planned.
A brief intelligence test was selected for consideration as a new product. See information on the Intelligence Testing Position Paper and the IQ Testing Workgroup in the Accessible Tests Department section of this report.
Over 200 customer service calls and emails in FY 2008 were forwarded to the project leader by Customer Relations and other APH staff for more detailed information than they could supply on the topic of tests and assessments. Kerry Isham, a new test editor, took over responsibility for web content and updates as of the first quarter of FY 2008.
Work during FY 2009

The project leader planned a new assessment needs survey for FY 2010. Research on the topic of alternate assessments was done, creating a bibliography on the subject as relates to visually impaired students. Recent publications on visually impaired English Language Learners (ELLs) were gathered. The PL and director attended a webinar on “Academic Vocabulary for pre-K through Grade 2 ELLs.”

Work planned for FY 2010

The new assessment needs survey will be posted on the web site and circulated to listserves in FY 2010. Results of the survey will be used to inform decisions on new projects, as well as to determine trends in assessment under the new presidential administration.

Test Ready® Test Preparation Series

(Continued)
Purpose

To make generic test preparation/practice materials available in accessible formats (braille, large print, and audio) for the purpose of preparing K-12 students who are visually impaired and blind to take achievement tests. Adult students preparing for the General Education Diploma (GED) or for college entrance exams may also utilize the advanced levels of these materials.

Project Staff

Barbara W. Henderson, Project Leader

Michael Sell, Consultant, Project Editor

Dena Garrett, Accessible Media Editor, Project Editor

Kristopher Scott, Accessible Tests Editor, Project Editor

BISIG Impact Group, Graphic Art/Layout

Background

The PL did a review of commercially available test preparation and practice test materials prior to proposal of a new product. In response to a recommendation from the EPAC and ESAC committees, the PL selected and brought forward the Test Ready® Series from Curriculum Associates. The project was approved in FY 2004. Subject areas chosen were: Math, Reading, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.

Plus Mathematics and Plus Reading, each comprised of seven levels and seven teacher guides, were the first subjects produced because of their high priority for visually impaired students (refer also to NCLB regulations). Visually impaired students have traditionally done poorly on math compared to their sighted counterparts due to lack of accessible test materials. Math practice is therefore essential for braille readers especially. The project leaders reviewed the math series and determined that most items were adaptable for VI students. Literacy is another high priority skills area for students who are braille or large print readers.
In early FY 2005, Kristopher Scott joined Barbara Henderson as co-project leader. The project leaders and the project assistant organized a database for documenting editing of the media. The project editors began editing, each taking a different subject area for consistent presentation. The project leaders received electronic files from the publisher and arranged with BISIG staff to convert those files. Several meetings were held to discuss how to present and package the materials for marketing and catalog listings.
A trial run on the project was delayed until an .HTML file and an audio version could be prepared. It was agreed that Alternative text (Alt-text) and a clean MsWord file were needed for generation of the .HTML file. The co-project leader was unable to devote time to the project due to a large volume of state tests in need of editing. Michael Sell, a new Accessible Tests editor, became the co-Project Leader in FY 2007 and Level 7 Plus Math (two out of 128 total products) moved forward.
Audio scripts were developed by the project leaders during the first and second quarters. Alt-text descriptions were finalized in the third quarter and BISIG began their work on the .HTML components.
Revised MsWord files for Level 7 Plus Math were completed by the PLs and sent to BISIG for use in formatting the .HTML files. BISIG developed a process and format for coding .HTML files for subsequent titles in the series. The PLs began working on scripting for the next titles according to this template. They also worked with braille transcription to develop a process in that department. Finally, in preparation for a Product Development Committee (PDC) meeting, the project leaders created a flowchart and a consistent workflow description so that subsequent titles in the series can travel through various processes smoothly and quickly.
At the Spring 2008 meeting at APH, members of APH’s two advisory committees, EPAC and ESAC, recommended that the Test Ready materials be made available as soon as possible, putting them on a “fast-track.” As a result of this recommendation, an analysis of the various steps, time, staff and equipment needed to complete each is underway in order to determine how to effectively and efficiently develop and produce these 128 high quality products in a timely manner. Since that time, efforts have produced Plus Math Level 7, Plus Math Level 3, and Plus Math Level 4, expected to be published and available to customers in early 2010. Production was streamlined so that two levels can be processed simultaneously. Preliminary editing and file conversion work has already been done on the Plus Reading series, the next subject in the lineup.
Work planned for FY 2010

Processes will continue until all levels of the Plus Math series are completed and available for sale. Transcription and large print formatting work will begin on the Plus Reading books. Work on the third subject area, Language Arts, will begin.