Clarification on determining if a student meets the criteria to receive a read aloud accommodation in one of the following formats: Human Reader Text-to-Speech ASL Video Human Signer PARCC: Read Aloud Accommodation for ELA February 3, 2015

Read Aloud Accommodation for PARCC ELA/L Assessment Read Aloud is a broad term which includes: Text-to-speech Screen reader ASL video Human reader Human signer Strict guidelines are provided to determine appropriateness of accommodation.

Students with Disabilities and ELLs Any student receiving a read aloud accommodation must be a student with a disability and have an IEP or 504 plan. An English Language Learner may be eligible only if they are also a student with a disability with an IEP or 504 plan.

Criteria for Receiving a Read Aloud Does the student meet one of the following conditions? 1. Has blindness or a visual impairment. This means that the student: 1. has not learned or cannot access text through Braille and 2. cannot access text through large print/enlarged text. 2. Deafness or hearing impairment that severely limits or prevents him/her from decoding text due to a documented history of early and prolonged language deprivation. 3. A disability that severely limits or prevents him/her from accessing printed text even after varied and repeated attempts to teach the student to do so (e.g., student is unable to decode printed text or read fluently); This means that the student is at the basal/foundational reading level, which is defined as being at the beginning stages of sound/symbol relationship and able to decode consonant-vowel-consonant words, as well as some high- frequency words.

Additionally, IEP or 504 plan teams should also ensure that: the student has access to printed text during routine instruction through a reader or other spoken-text audio format, or interpreter. the student’s inability to decode printed text or read Braille is documented in evaluation summaries from locally-administered diagnostic assessments. the student receives ongoing, intensive instruction and/or interventions in the foundational reading skills to continue to attain the important skill of independent reading. This means that the student must receive printed instructional materials for all subjects in an audio format the majority of instructional time.

Rhode Island Summary Guidance and Clarification: Summary of guidance/clarification:  Students must meet one of the three criteria  For criteria 3, what does “severely limits” mean for students? Students should be at the basal/foundational reading level.  For criteria 3, what does “access to printed text during routine instruction” mean for students? Students should be receiving printed instructional materials in an audio format for the majority of instructional time for all subjects. Basal/foundational readers are:  at the beginning stages of sound/symbol relationship,  able to decode consonant-vowel-consonant words, as well as some high-frequency words.

Scoring of assessments completed with read aloud accommodation: If all guidelines are met, and the student is given a Read Aloud accommodation for the PARCC ELA assessment, he/she will receive a valid score on the assessment. If all guidelines are not met, and the student is given a Read Aloud accommodation on a PARCC ELA assessment, the student’s score may be invalidated. This means that the score would not be included in the overall assessment results.

Score Reports and Accountability: Notation will be provided on all confidential school and parent reports stating that the student was given a reading access accommodation on the PARCC ELA/Literacy assessment and therefore no claims should be inferred regarding the student’s ability to demonstrate foundational reading skills (i.e., decoding and fluency). However, the student’s score will not be calculated any differently nor will schools’ or districts’ accountability determinations be affected assuming that the student meets all criteria for receiving this accommodation.

PARCC Accommodations Planning Tool: Below is an excerpt from the PARCC Accommodations Planning Tool that can help schools and districts track all accommodations and assessment features for students. Can be downloaded from

Questions Please direct questions on accommodations to: Phyllis Lynch, Heather Heineke,