ERIC Number: EJ985048
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Aug
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-482X
EISSN: N/A
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems Braille Reading Assessment: An Exploratory Study
Posey, Virginia K.; Henderson, Barbara W.
Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, v106 n8 p488-499 Aug 2012
Introduction: This exploratory study determined whether transcribing selected test items on an adult life and work skills reading test into braille could maintain the same approximate scale-score range and maintain fitness within the item response theory model as used by the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) for developing tests. Methods: In concert with a focus group of practitioners, CASAS and the American Printing House for the Blind selected 25 test items in a life and work context that were previously field-tested with approximately 30,000 sighted adult education students. These test items were adapted for a contracted braille format. Both qualitative data and statistical data were collected during and after the braille reading test was field-tested. Results: Sixty-five youths and adults, about 50% of whom were aged 18 or younger, participated in the field testing of the CASAS braille reading test between September 2005 and April 2007. The scale-score range for the braille test was slightly lower than for a similar version in the print format. No significant difference was found between the adults who were visually impaired (those who were blind or had low vision--braille readers) who took the braille test and the sighted adults who took a print version of the brailled test items. Discussion: Valuable suggestions for constructing and administering braille tests were made as a result of the study. New braille assessments will incorporate refreshable braille displays to allow test takers to gain better access to more information and the computing environment. Implications for practitioners: The results support the value of customizing a reading test in a braille format to ensure realistic tasks in the lives and work of adult students who are visually impaired. Hard-copy braille will remain important in future standardized assessments, as will options that offer computer delivery with universal design features. (Contains 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Adult Students, Visual Impairments, Braille, Reading Tests, Job Skills, Daily Living Skills, Test Items, Item Response Theory, Field Tests
American Foundation for the Blind. 11 Penn Plaza Suite 300, New York, NY 10001. Tel: 800-232-5463; Tel: 212-502-7600; e-mail: afbinfo@afb.net; Web site: http://www.afb.org/store
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A