24 Testing Room and Materials Adaptations During Assessment

Overview of changes to standardized procedures

The first step in making adaptations is to consult with the student’s Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI). When considering changes to standardized testing procedures, strive to neither increase nor decrease the demands relative to what would be expected of a sighted individual. Ask yourself – does the adaptation I am offering the student change what is being measured? Does it make the task easier? Does it make the task harder?

Document any changes to standardized procedures carefully in your report. If adaptations alter the task demands, this would be considered a modification. For a modification, it is appropriate to interpret the results qualitatively and not report scores.

Room set-up and special materials

Lighting

Pay attention to glare and the impact of shadows falling on the work surface.

Bringing material closer

A bookstand (or book holder) can help bring visual materials closer to the student’s eyes and decrease glare. It may be helpful to raise the bookstand off the table by placing it on books or a box to bring the material close to eye level. Be careful not to hit the student in the face when flipping pages! Consider whether presenting material in this near-vertical format (rather than flat on the table) could impact the student’s performance. For example, the WISC Block Design stimuli were intended to lay flat, and placing the material vertically could make this task more challenging. The image below shows a stimulus book placed on a book stand and raised from the table by textbooks to bring it closer to eye level.

A slant board is a wood, plastic, or plexiglass surface used for reading or writing. The slant board may need to be adjusted between reading and writing activities. While a higher angle may be more comfortable for reading, a slant board positioned between a 20- to 45-degree angle may be more comfortable for writing. It should not have a lip or ridge at the bottom, which may make writing uncomfortable (see the photo below for an example). A three-inch binder turned sideways can be used if you do not have a slant board.

Increasing contrast and spacing

• Some students will benefit from using a pen or fine felt tip marker rather than a pencil to increase the visibility of their writing. Be cautious about using a thick pen or marker on tasks where accuracy is important (e.g., on the VMI Motor Coordination subtest) or tasks where the ink will bleed through to the other side of the respond book page (e.g., WIAT Numerical Operations).

• Large-spaced, thick-lined paper can also be helpful for some students when writing. You can download and print this type of paper for free from various websites.
• On visually complex tasks (e.g., WRAML3 Picture Memory Recognition subtest), covering up unnecessary information (i.e., items they are not currently working on) can help the student focus.
• Using a black contrast mat (i.e., desk mat or desk pad) can help some students to visually focus on the area in front of them. It can also be helpful for working with white blocks on a white tabletop.

Enlargement and magnification

General Considerations

Some students may need visual information that is presented larger than what is provided by the test publishers. There are various options to support a student’s ability to see materials during your assessment. You need to use the tools and methods the student is already familiar with rather than attempt to introduce new methods. Depending on the task, one student may require different types of enlargement or magnification.

Making things larger can be a fair and appropriate adaptation. However, be aware that enlargement can make the task easier OR harder depending on the task. Enlarging a page can make seeing the entire scene in one glance harder. If the student must scan across the enlarged field, the load on the student’s working memory increases. The need to scan across a large field can also impact speed, so enlarging timed tests can be problematic. Enlarging can also make a task easier. For example, enlarging would make the task much easier if a student is asked to trace carefully within the lines (e.g., VMI Motor Coordination subtest).

Copyright considerations

Magnification during the assessment

Another option for visual tasks is to use technology to enlarge visuals during the assessment. If you use one of the following options, ensure that the ENTIRE PAGE can be seen on one screen without moving the page around to see the whole thing.

• Some students have magnification technology that they may be able to bring to the assessment (e.g., closed circuit television or video magnifier). This might include a camera mounted on a stand, pointed at the test material and connected to a screen on the table. The benefit of using these sorts of technology is that students can vary the magnification level, lighting, color, and contrast modes. The image below shows a closed circuit television (CCTV) which can be used for magnification.

• Another option is to use a document camera that connects to a computer monitor. An iPad camera can be used as a document camera by connecting it via an Apple adaptor and HDMI cable to your computer monitor. This option does not require any separate software or programs. The degree of magnification will depend on the size and quality of your computer monitor.
• Finally, if you are using Pearson’s Q-interactive to administer tests on an iPad, you can connect the student’s iPad to a computer monitor using an Apple adapter and HDMI cable. This option is similar to the method above, but instead of using the camera on the iPad, you are mirroring the iPad screen on the monitor. This method has the benefit of providing a perfectly clear and centered image on the computer monitor. For more information on how to do this, see “How to connect your iPad to your TV in two ways” (Johnson, 2022).

Braille transcription

In the United States, copyright laws prohibit the reproduction of standardized tests.  A TVI or transcriber within your local educational organization cannot transcribe a standardized test into braille. The test publishers and publishing companies adapting the tests into accessible formats extensively review the test content. Item changes, omissions, or substitutions may occur to maintain the validity of the test when transcribed to braille or tactile graphics.

If your national copyright laws permit the reproduction of standardized tests, it is essential to know about the student’s braille ability when recreating text in braille. Are they using contracted or uncontracted braille? Do they need extra space between lines? Double-check the transcription to ensure absolute 100% accuracy. In addition, check with a TVI to determine if the difficulty of the content has increased or decreased due to being in braille. Students who are at an early literacy stage and in the process of learning braille may appear to misspell words that they may have confused with braille contractions. Careful error analysis should be done with a TVI.

Alternative presentation and response methods

Abacus

Blind students may use an abacus to solve math problems. Using an abacus is equivalent to a sighted student using paper and pencil for calculations. It is not the same as using a calculator. Therefore, an abacus should be allowed if it is part of the student’s typical calculation method when others are doing paper-and-pencil math work. Braille learners may use a brailler to work out math calculations. Again, this is equivalent to allowing the sighted student to use paper and pencil. It would be appropriate to allow a student to use a brailler or abacus on WIAT Numerical Operations but not on WISC Arithmetic (which is intended to measure mental math).

Braille

Some blind and low vision students do all of their writing via keyboard, brailler, or assistive technology devices with braille input options such as notetaker devices (e.g., BrailleNote Touch or BrailleSense Polaris). A brailler is a braille typewriter with a key corresponding to each of the six dots of the braille code. If you are completing an evaluation of a student who is a braille learner, it is crucial to include a professional proficient in braille. An evaluator not skilled in braille should only administer tests adapted to braille when appropriate help is available. Administration and interpretation of tests in braille should be done with an evaluator proficient in the given standardized test and an ancillary evaluator with braille proficiency. Below is a photo of a Perkins brailler.

Keyboard

Students who only write via keyboarding may need to use their keyboard and associated programs for written response tests. If a student who uses a keyboard can see the text on the screen accurately, it is best practice to turn off audio feedback and spelling and grammar check software. Students who rely on audio feedback will need to keep that on during the testing so they can review what they have written.

Oral presentation

For reading tests, if you read aloud a passage, the task has changed and is now measuring oral comprehension. In that case, it is better to switch to a test designed for oral comprehension (e.g., OPUS or CELF-5). If you need to measure reading comprehension in an advanced braille reader, the text should be transcribed into braille if allowable by applicable copyright laws, or use a test that has been adapted into braille, such as adapted tests produced by the American Printing House for the Blind.

If the student prefers audio screen readers (where the student can hear the text read aloud), you can have the print text transcribed into digital text. The student would need to use their regular screen reader software without extra support (e.g., access to a dictionary). For students whose primary learning media is auditory, it is not possible to measure reading accuracy or fluency, only listening comprehension of academic materials.

Dictation

Blind and low vision students who are learning early literacy skills may be able to spell words orally but not be able to write. In that case, allow the student to dictate spelling words for you to write. If they can see the writing, ensure they can watch you write so they can self-correct if they notice an error.

Advanced writing students who are blind or have significantly low vision and have not yet developed proficient brailling or keyboarding skills (or who have a motor impairment affecting their writing) may use dictation software for writing. While dictation significantly modifies a writing task, it may be the most appropriate way to evaluate a student’s ability to produce written output functionally. Note whether the student’s dictation includes grammar and punctuation (e.g., states when commas should be inserted).

Manipulatives

To assess early vocabulary and concept development in children, you can provide a variety of familiar, real objects for them to identify by touch (e.g., pencil, cup, fork, or brush). You can also use unfamiliar (new objects) to assess learning (by teaching a new word and later assessing memory). Recognize the vast difference between something real (a cat) and a plastic representation (cat figurine). Consider carefully any use of representative objects. Use real objects whenever possible. To assess the counting of objects, consider having bins to separate “to do” from “done.”

Visual checks

You may want to start off by telling children that you are not trying to test their eyesight. If they have difficulty seeing ANYTHING during the assessment, it is important that they let you know. However, some children cannot or will not tell you if they are having difficulty seeing. If you have concerns about the child’s ability to see details correctly, it is essential to check with the child. When the discontinue is met, return to an item where they made an error and ask the child to describe precisely what they see. Ask the child to describe what they see rather than ask, “Can you see this?” Pay attention to possible problems, such as misinterpretation of visuals due to color, mislabeling, or missing details. When tests are challenging for the child to see (when they can see but it is effortful), consider whether these tests are necessary to administer. Realize that they may not be measuring what the test was designed to measure.

References

Copyright Act, R.S.C., c. C-42, s. 32. (1958). https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/page-10.html#h-103789

Johnson, D. (2022, November 3). How to connect an iPad to your tv in two different ways. Business Insider Reviews. https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-connect-ipad-to-tv 

United States Copyright Office. (2022). Copyright law of the United States and related laws contained in Title 17 of the United States Code. https://www.copyright.gov/title17/title17.pdf