National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects General Advisory Committee December 8, 2006 Overview of TARA project Cara Cahalan-Laitusis

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Technology Assisted Reading Assessment Focus on improving state reading assessments for students with visual impairments Jointly directed by Cara Cahalan-Laitusis (ETS) and Martha Thurlow (NCEO) Subcontract to Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects TARA Technical Advisory Committee Dr. Karen Barton, Research Scientist, CTB/McGraw Hill Ms. Paula Bress, Teacher, Boston Public Schools Dr. David Edyburn, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin Dr. Kay Ferrell, Executive Director, National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities Dr. Richard Jackson, Professor, Boston College Dr. Dorothy Strickland, Professor of Education, Rutgers University Dr. Brian Touchette, Delaware Department of Education Dr. Scott Trimble (USED/OSEP)

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Project Tasks Examining the performance of operational ELA tests for students with visual impairments (Goal 2) Development of prototype Technology Assisted Reading Assessment (Goals 2 and 4) Contribute research findings to NARAP Principles and Guidelines (Goal 3) NARAP/TARA Field Test with VI students (Goal 4)

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Timeline Year 1 Goal 2 (Research) –Psychometric Research –Survey of AT Users Year 2 Test Development –Contribute research findings to Goal 3 –Develop test blueprint for TARA –Item development for TARA

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Timeline Continued Year 3 –Pre-testing of TARA –Revision of TARA Year 4 –Test Development for Goal 4 –Goal 4 Field Testing Year 5 –Analysis of Field Test data –Dissemination

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Examining the performance of operational ELA tests Differential Item Functioning: comparison of item difficulty across ability matched students with and without VI Descriptive and trend statistics for students with visual impairments on state ELA assessment Develop recommendations based on research findings

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Technology Assisted Reading Assessment Overview of Frequently Asked Questions Timeline for 2007

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects What is the Technology Assisted Reading Assessment? A prototype assessment of a students ability to independently access text using technology Modified assessment of reading for NCLB accountability purposes

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Who will take the TARA? 8 th grade students with visual impairments who use technology to access text May expand to surrounding grades (6-10) to achieve adequate sample sizes

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects What state standards will the TARA measure? Word Recognition Reading Fluency Basic Comprehension

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects How will higher level comprehension be measured? Standard reading comprehension measure with accommodations: –Braille –Large Print –Assistive Technology Screen Reader Refreshable Braille Text Reader Screen Magnification –Audio CD or Audiocassette Human Reader

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Why are reading comprehension and text access skills separated? Isolation of skills can provide teachers with information on each skill. Isolation of skills will allow students who are struggling on one standard to demonstrate their skill on another standard (e.g., read aloud of comprehension if decoding is not part of comprehension). Allows the TARA to serve alternate purposes (in addition to modified NCLB assessment): –Accountability measure for AT instruction –Screening test before recommending AT (for reading) as an accommodation on other assessments.

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects What types of questions and format will be on the TARA? Specific questions will be informed by research but test format will most likely be an on-demand performance assessment which may include the following types of tasks: –Open an electronic textbook –Navigate to particular section –Scan paper document and open resulting file

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects How will the TARA be scored? No decision has been made but the following scoring formulas are under consideration –Scoring rubric –Degree of success –Degree of success within specific number of attempts –Degree of success within specific period of time

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects What scores will be provided? We are considering providing two sets of scores –Access: score based on the extent to which the tasks are accomplished –Fluency: score based on whether the tasks are accomplished in a reasonable period of time and whether the basic comprehension questions are answered correctly

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects Development Tasks for 2007 –Survey of students and teachers –Observational interviews –Develop test specification (i.e., test blueprint) based on survey and interview data –Develop test items for pilot testing

National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects More information