Wednesday, January 28, 2015

PARCC, NCSC etc...

PARCC and NCSC are just around the corner from us and it seems it will still be a while before we have the accommodations straightened out! This is stressing a lot of people  and I thought I would address it with the most current information we have received from the state department.

The following is part of an email that was received from Robin Stripling attempting to provide insight into the ELA text to speech accommodation which seems to be at root of most of the confusion:

"  Lisa Haley asked that I share my understanding of the text-to-speech accommodation on the PARCC assessment.  Jennifer Gonzales and I do trainings at co-ops on this topic, so I try to stay as up-to-date with PARCC as possible.  When I refer to text-to-speech, please know that the information also refers to screen reader, ASL video, or human reader/human signer.


Appendix D has been very helpful to me in understanding which students would qualify for this accommodation.  I know that

  *   The student must have a disability that severely limits or prevents him or her from decoding text.

  *   The student uses the accommodation in routine instruction.

  *   The student’s inability to decode printed text is documented using locally-administered diagnostic assessments.

  *   The student receives ongoing, intensive instruction and/or interventions in the foundational reading skills.


My understanding is that this accommodation is for students with a specific deficit in reading; one that severely limits or prevents him or her from decoding text.  This isn’t intended for students who can’t comprehend well; this is for students who can’t decode words.  The majority of the students I taught in resource could decode fairly well; they struggled with comprehension.  Those students would not qualify for this accommodation.  I have worked with a few students who could not decode words but had high listening comprehension skills.  Those students would benefit greatly from this accommodation.


IEP teams should, however, keep the other criteria in mind when considering this accommodation.  Is the student using text-to-speech or human reader in everyday classroom settings?  Is the child receiving intensive instruction in foundational reading skills?  This is a hard one for middle school or high school students because our secondary schools rarely offer foundational reading (decoding and fluency) instruction in secondary settings.  Few resource rooms that I have observed offer systematic decoding instruction. Also, are the secondary teachers using diagnostic assessments to measure students’ decoding abilities?  Again, few secondary schools use the same literacy assessments that elementary schools use to measure decoding.


When taking Benchmark assessments, no students were allowed to have the reading portion of the test read to them.  The math section could be read aloud as an accommodation so that only the student’s math skills were being assessed and not whether the student could read the math test.  The writing section could be read aloud as an accommodation so that only the student’s writing skills were being assessed and not whether the student could read the writing test.  The reading test could not be read aloud because the test measured how well the student could decode and comprehend.  On the PARCC assessment, the literacy (reading and writing combined) may be read aloud, but a notation will be reported to the school and to the parents stating that “No claims should be inferred regarding the student’s ability to demonstrate foundational reading skills (i.e., decoding and fluency).”  When the literacy portion is read aloud, the assessment then measures the student’s level of listening comprehension. Any student may have the text-to-speech accommodation on the math test so that only the student’s ability to complete math tasks will be assessed, not whether the student could read the math portion.


As for how many students could receive this accommodation, your IEP teams will need to make individual decisions based on student needs using Appendix D for guidance. The ADE Assessment Unit’s FAQ document states, “PARCC-state reading access specialists recommended limiting the accommodation to 1-1 1Ž2% of the student population being assessed in a given district. IEP teams and 504 coordinators determine who receives the accommodation based on students’ individual needs and documents it in the IEP/504.”

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dqyEHPmVZvabuARKvqEFMVsfaWjhWZEBvnZOeaT581w/edit  "


My advice to you is to review the current modifications section of your IEPs and make sure students who are receiving the text to speech modification qualify under Appendix D. As I stated in a previous email, I'd like to sit down with each of you to be sure you are comfortable with how your IEPs are worded, and I ask that you be sure that you can defend the use of each accommodation.

The above referenced document has a lot of really good information in the form of FAQs. Read over this and if we can't come to a conclusion we are comfortable with, we will call the state department and ask questions ourselves.

I know this new process is exhausting! Believe me I feel your pain.

Also, the NEA cooperative is having a PARCC and NCSC training on Feb. 17. The session id for this training is 240365. I have not seen a similar session offered at CRESC, but if you can't get in to the NEA session and are interested, you may want to call the teacher education department at CRESC and see if they will be offering something similar.

Have a great day! I can't believe it's almost February!!!