STAAR-Alt 2 This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. Changes for 2018 Chapter 2. Important Considerations in Accommodations Chapter 3. Tips for Students at Pre-Symbolic Level Chapter 4. Example Questions Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start [Music] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. [Music face out] Fade to black. Chapter 1. Changes for 2018 [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: STAAR-ALT 2 Content: February 21, 2018 3pm-4pm Facilitated by Valerie Bradshaw, TSBVI Testing Coordinator, Comprehensive Programs bradshawv@tsbvi.edu Lynne McAlister, VI Education Consultant, TSBVI Outreach mcalisterl@tsbvi.edu Description End: Lynne: Hi, everyone and welcome to our presentation today on STAAR ALT 2, tips for students with visual impairments. I'm Lynne McAlister. Valerie: And I'm Valerie Bradshaw. [ Slide end: ] Lynne: And we would like to kind of go over what we're going to be talking about today. So, first of all, welcome, again. We hope this will be helpful to you. I know Valerie is our District Coordinator, so she's an expert, but when I was working with her on this presentation, I was like, "What are you talking about!!??" [ Laughter ]. So, hopefully we can be a help to you, if you're like me, and don't know anything about the test. But... we're going to go through a brief review of changes in the STAAR ALT 2 and its new incarnation this year, is that correct? [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Today’s Agenda Content: • Welcome • Brief Review of Changes • Adaptations for VI Description End: Valerie: That's correct. Lynne: New this year again. And we're going to really focus on adaptations for kids have visual impairments, low vision and totally blind kids. [ Slide end: ] Valerie: Okay. So very briefly, the first things I wanted to talk about was some of the changes that are happening with ALT 2 this year. And our focus, we really want to focus, today, mostly on what we can do to help you guys figure out how to accommodate tests for students with visual impairments. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Changes Content: • Large Print Tests • Colored Images • Image Cards Description End: But they have done some really nice things, this year, to help out our VI kids. And one of those is that they're allowing us to order large print tests and student test booklets for students with visual impairments. And some of those have colored images, or there are some colored images in those tests now that sometimes help. And another thing is that... they are doing image cards. And these are a set of perforated cards... that come-- that are associated with a specific test item, and so you can tear them apart and do your accommodations right there on the carried rather than having to photocopy every test item and accommodate it outside the test booklet. That can be very helpful. Lynne: Very nice. [ Slide end: ] Chapter 2. Important Considerations in Accommodations Valerie: So, one of the most important things you have to think about, when you're accommodating test items for a student with a visual impairment, is really how does that student explore their environment. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Important Considerations Content: • Important Considerations • How does the student explore new information? • What is the student’s level of cognition? • How does the student respond to questions? • HOW DOES THE STUDENT RELATE TO THE STIMULUS ITEMS?? Description End: How do they get information from their environment? You know, it doesn't do a whole lot of good to use sounds for a student that doesn't associate sounds with objects, that kind of a thing. Lynne: Because the test is just purely pictures. Valerie: The test is just purely pictures, right. So, you want to think about their level of cognition, what are they able to understand. How much verbiage are they able to deal with, you know. You don't want to describe pictures who a student who, you know, needs short phrases, you know, to be able to understand. And how do they respond to questions? What is their responses? [ Slide end: ] Lynne: So that would be things like do they hand you an object, do they gesture, do they point? Valerie: Right. Exactly. Do they answer questions verbally. Are they able to expand on topics or are they at kind of a-- just a stimulus response level. Lynne: Okay. Valerie: So, we're going to look at some materials, we're going to jump right in, and look at some materials our teachers have made in previous years, that... they've used to accommodate test items for students. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Sample Food Web Content: Figure 1 Picture of objects glued on squares of cardboard that are connected by string Description End: Lynne: Okay. So this is a sample food web that one of the teachers here at TSBVI made. And you notice it's not really objects, and it's not really tactile symbols. It's kind of- it's kind of tactile and visual, all at the same time. The food web is connected by strings and tactile symbols that indicate eating. Valerie: Yeah, the spoon on the triangle that is the tactile symbol for eat. Lynne: Yes. And so, this is how this particular teacher adapted. She really wanted her student to use all of his learning channels to get this information. And also it's portable, so this child can pick it up, move it around, rearrange it, and get more of a sense of what it represents. Valerie: Right. And you will see that the teacher used not only shapes, but textures so, you know, the snake and the lizard are both kind of smooth, and... reptiles can be smooth. The little rat is furry. Lynne: Uh-huh. Valerie: But not just that, you have an object representation. So, the bird, it's not a bird shape, it's just a feather, because that's what that student associates-- Lynne: With a bird. Right. Valerie: When they find a feather, they think of a bird. So, they're using a combination of different kinds of... adaptations for this student, not just putting a tactile symbol after bird, and a tactile symbol of a lizard, and a tactile symbol of a snake. [ Slide end: ] Lynne: Right. Because this is what makes sense to this particular student. So the next image is also a very similar image, and this would represent the picture-- the stimulus answer. Valerie: Answer choices. Yes, the answer choices for that same question. Lynne: So, whatever the question asked, these would be two-- the two answers the student would have to choose from to answer the question. And he could choose from it by-- in his usual response mode or several response modes. He could pick it up, put his hand on the correct one. He could pick it up and hand to the teacher. Point to it, or he could just say, it's the one on the right, you know, whatever level the student was at. Valerie: All right. So, we wanted to stop for one second. We talked about levels of complexity. So, we wanted to stop for one second and talk about what do we mean about these increasing levels of complexity for anybody who might be new to this new ALT 2 that we're dealing with for the last couple of years. Lynne: Right. [Screen start:] described by speaker So, if you want to show my computer screen, so this is a sample test question. It starts at a very-- a very-- what would you call this level? This type of question? Valerie: This would be-- well, this would be the first item in those cluster of four questions. And the first item is always a basic ID. So, it will show a picture and then ask-- and you present that to the student, meaning that you can... guide the student's hand to it so they can explore it, you can tell them where to find it, that kind of thing. So you're presenting it to the student. And then you say where is it? And so the student, then, just has to identify it. Lynne: Right. So, it's one trip costs four dollars, two trips costs eight dollars. The cost of three trips is missing for the table. Three trips- bus trips- cost $12, here is where the $12 goes in the table. Find where the $12 goes in the table, and that's what the student has to do. Like Valerie said, just identify. Valerie: So, that's the level one... question. That's the first question, almost always, is basic identification. Lynne: The second question, and correct me if I'm wrong, seems to always be more of a... choose from a two answer choices. Choose the correct answer from two answer choices? Valerie: Yes, it's either a matching or it's a... choose which one-- out of two, yes. [Screen start:] described by speaker Lynne: Okay. The next stimulus question. They get-- and these are increasing complexity as you go through the test. Valerie: Cognitive complexity, yes. Lynne: The next one has... three answer choices. Find the number pairs that are missing in the table. Valerie: So, typically that third question requires a little bit more reasoning skills and it requires the student to answer some sort of WH question. You know, a how, a where, a how much, a when, you know, some sort of WH question. So, it goes beyond yes, no, or choice making. [Screen start:] described by speaker Lynne: All right. And then for the last one? Valerie: So, the last question in a cluster is the highest level of reasoning, and typically it will require some amount of analysis, or basic reasoning skills. You know, kind of the why... level of... question asking. Lynne: Right. So in this, you know, the information is presented in one kind of graph, and the student has to choose what the other kind of graph has the same information. [Screen end:] Valerie: Right. The higher level reasoning. All right. That's the four levels of complexity in a nutshell. Lynne: Right. So now we're going to move on to some more examples... of adaptations that teachers, here at TSBVI, have come up with with our students. So, the next image is... a graph. And it's-- the stimulus item-- it's a stimulus item with two possible answer choices. Now, the print version of this question used numbers, but the student... that this teacher was accommodating for didn't use Braille numbers, he couldn't see print numbers, and he didn't use number tactile symbols, yet. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 3 Pictures of graphs made with puffy paint Description End: So, she used just raised line shapes, with one one-to-one correspondence, that the student-- he can't recognize a number like a 2, but he can recognize two dots that are discrete. And this is how she accommodated for his needs. Valerie: They look like bananas and apples. Lynne: Yes. [ Laughter ] The next slide-- did you want to tell us anymore? [ Slide end: ] Valerie: That's fine. I was going to say on that last slide, just real quickly, if a student has any vision at all, you notice that there's a lot of high contrast in that, as well, that she used. Lynne: And color. Valerie: And color, yeah. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 4 A picture of math equations made with puffy paint and objects glued to cardboard squares Description End: Okay. So on this slide, this is a a very similar test item, except that this student uses tactile symbols for numbers, as well as, for number operations. So, this is how you would set up a question and answer choices for that type of student. [ Slide end: ] And all of those... can you put on velcro, and so you can have kind of a sequence-- what do you call that, like a sentence-- almost like a sentence. Lynne: A strip. Valerie: Yeah, a sequence strip, that has the velcro on it, so that you can use it for multiple questions, and just switch out number choices and answer choices, and not have to reinvent the wheel every time. Lynne: Because there is a lot of repetition. Valerie: There's a lot of repetition. Lynne: In the test, for the kinds of questions that they ask. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: The next- the next image is of a student that... does read print, and it asks about one particular word. I'm not really sure what-- [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 5 Picture of a test page with words highlighted and circled with puffy paint Description End: Valerie: Additionally. Lynne: Right. So, this is either... a reading or writing? Valerie: It's probably a reading. Lynne: Reading. And so the word 'additionally' and 'therefore' are the target words for this question. So, the teacher not only highlighted them in color, she highlighted them... in puffy paint. Valerie: Yes, this would be a low vision student... that is actually reading the text-- but wanted to highlight those particular words because they're the target. Lynne: Right. Valerie: So, in the next slide. On this particular question they're asking what helps the birds swim? And in the print you see, you know, the two birds, and it's labeled strong beak, large wings, and webbed feet. Well, this is-- again a low vision student. And so, instead of doing something with the entire bird, they used some... very neon puffy paint, to highlight just those particular answer choices; the wings, the feet and the beak, so that the student can focus just on those particular parts of the bird. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 6 Picture of a test page with two different birds. The birds’ beaks and feet are highlighted Description End: Lynne: Right. So, you don't need a representation for this question. You know, someone might be tempted to just get two kinds of, say, a plastic bird, and just call the student's attention to those- those three body areas. But really might be too confusing to that. Valerie: Right, you don't need the whole bird. Lynne: All you need are those three-- Valerie: Right. Lynne: Highlighted. Valerie: Exactly. And that would be the case, too, if you had a student that didn't have vision. You could do the same thing. You wouldn't necessarily have to have a representation of the entire bird. That's not the... important part of the question. What they're asking about is those three parts of the bird. So, you want to highlight those three things. Lynne: Okay. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 7 Picture of test page and pages with objects glued to them. Description End: The following-- the next picture is an image of... tactile representations of lines of symmetry. Which is a really, really difficult concept for our kids. But this teacher did it with foam board. And this is also a low vision student, so it was very colorful. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: But just for lines of symmetry she has, you know-- I don't know what the question was. I can't-- I can't read it up there. Valerie: It was kind of a... which one matches. Lynne: Which one matches this. And so the student actually has a 3D representation that he could just put on top of the testing stimulus, the original question, to find the answer. Valerie: Right, to see if that answer choice actually matches up with that center line of symmetry. I really like this one. It's really pretty cool. [ Slide end: ] Lynne: Uh‑huh. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 8 Picture of test page and a page showing shapes bisected by lines of puffy paint Description End: Following we have a similar... tactile graphic with-- this is a little bit higher level, so... the same pictures that is here have been enlarged and outlined in puffy paint, but the teacher also has 3D, foam board representations. And the intersecting lines, here, are in puff paint, as well. Valerie: All right. So, you can see the student could either use the enlarged... picture, that's outlined, to determine the sign of symmetry. Or if they needed some additional support, they could take those... foam pieces and... if they've been taught this they could fold them over and see if they match, if it's a line of symmetry. Lynne: Mm-hmm. [ Slide end: ] Do y'all have any questions, so far? If you do, feel free to chime. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 9 Picture of test page and graph made with puffy paint Description End: Next we want to show you a tactile graphic. Valerie: Yeah, so this is a tactile graphic that has been... done for a graph. And this is a student who uses braille, and so the graph has been done in-- I think that was actually done on a thermaform. Lynne: With wiki sticks? Valerie: No, it wasn't done with wiki sticks. [ Laughter ] We do use a lot of wiki sticks around here. No, I think it was-- either we had, probably, some graph paper, or they did some-- they put it through the machine-- a thermoform machine. But they have the raised lines, and then, you know, those dots, you want to make sure those are... really easily felt... by a student. Usually I try to run my fingers over. And if I can feel it, then I know my students can because they have more sensitivity than I do. Lynne: Right. Valerie: But it's labeled, then, as well, in braille. So this is base-- kind of a basic braille graph. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 10 Picture of two graphs made of objects glued to paper Description End: Lynne: This is a different kind of graph. These are two different kinds of graphs... that have been made to represent data. But this teacher used velcro, here. And as Valerie was saying earlier, you want to-- when you make this stuff, you want to make it so you can use it over and over, and you can use it with different kids. So, this particular student used braille on the graph to the left. But with the student that didn't use braille, you could use real objects in this graph. Valerie: Right. So right now it's tactile symbols. Yeah, so, we have... little Velcro dots in each of those squares, empty squares. And so, you could use that graph for just about anything. In this particular case it looks like they had-- what is the wavy board, you kind of use on bulletin boards, the wavy paper? Lynne: Uh‑huh. Valerie: With pipe cleaners over the top of it to create a very distinct textural difference. It doesn't have to be a same, or different chart, whatever chart you might need for a test question. Like you said, you might use braille, or objects, or whatever you need. Lynne: Right. And the graph at the right I really like that. So if you-- and this is just totally outside of this-- this scope. [ Laughter ] But I've seen teachers use a graph like this when they go around the schools and they take a survey. Valerie: Mm-hmm. Lynne: Like, we had a student and her big interest was a certain... group-- this musical group. And so, she went around the school and made a survey of who liked this group, and who liked two other groups, that they decided upon. And for the indicators they used this symbol for a person. Valerie: Mm-hmm. Lynne: So it was very, very meaningful to her. So, she learned this kind of graph, the bar graph in-- just an everyday activity that she was very, very motivated by. [ Slide end: ] So that's just an aside, an idea if you wanted to start teaching these graphs. Valerie: Exactly. And that's a good point, because... you may-- if you've been using these graphs instructionally, which hopefully we are, if you've been using them instructionally, then you already have that kind of a graph made... when it comes time to accommodate for your student. So, you can use what you already have instructionally, then. And the student is familiar with it. So you kind of have a win‑win situation. They're already familiar with I've seen this type of survey bar graph before, and it's-- now I'm using it on a test. It may be different things, but it's still the same bar graph you've been using instructionally. That's a good point. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 11 A picture of a map marked with different textures and a graph with textures and quarters on it Description End: All right. So, on the next slide-- so this would be a test item from social studies or U.S. history. Looks like it's probably eighth grade social studies, I'm guessing, Texas history. So, what they've done is, they've taken each of those different areas, and created the different tactile... background for them-- that are very distinct. There's the stripes for Texas. There's glitter, puff paint in waves for the center state of Chihuahua, and then down in Mexico City it's a dot. So, you want to make sure if you're going to do this type of graphing that your different textures are- are easily distinguished one from the other. Lynne: Right. And in... a question like this, Valerie, if you were to create a graphic of a map, it wouldn't necessarily have to be so perfectly, geographically correct. [ Slide end: ] Is that correct? If the question-- if you go back to the question, I'm sorry. The question looks to be like... revenue of the country, right? So, the question isn't really aiming at the map itself, or the shape of the map, or what's the bigger country. Valerie: Right. Lynne: And so-- Valerie: That depends-- it does depend on the question. And in this particular question you're absolutely right. You want to make sure that you're focusing on what is the question asking? So if they are asking about, you know, which particular area is larger you want to be sure you are being very geographically correct. In this case, the numbers for the gross national product-- it was a gross national product question-- the numbers weren't as important as which area had the highest gross, or the lowest gross national product. So, those coins that were in the key, didn't represent the exact number that was in the test. It was clear that-- Lynne: The concept was there. Valerie: Yeah, the concept was there, or there was more, and then there was a middle, and then there was one that had the fewest. So, make sure that you are representing the concept that is being assessed-- essentially the TEKS that's being assessed-- that you're clear on that, but then you have a little bit of wiggle room when you accommodate. Lynne: And we have some examples, at least one example coming. Valerie: We do. Lynne: Another kind of tactile graphic or another kind of test question, I should say, is in biology. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 12 A figure of a test page showing a model of the human body with brain, heart, and muscle labeled Description End: Here is a test question picture-- I didn't have the question along with this, talking about different body organs. And so, how would you accommodate this without a full length anatomically correct drawing you have lying around. [ Laughter ] Valerie: I think the question was, which- which organ... controls the human circulatory system. Lynne: Okay. Valerie: And so, you might, you know, you could use... some sort of anatomical doll of some sort, but in this case they... just highlighted those specific areas. You know, something in the leg, in the center of the chest, and in the middle of the head to represent those different areas. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 13 A picture of three models of the human body with objects glued to them to indicate different organs Description End: Lynne: So this is a graphic that's... for a similar question. This has-- this question is about different body systems. And... they're represented tactually. So, this teacher-- for the digestive system-- she used-- I don't know if you can tell-- a straw for the... throat and esophagus, a balloon for the stomach, and a then some pipe cleaner, and another little piece of the straw for the bowel, and then different materials for the other two bodily systems. Valerie: Mm-hmm. So, for the lungs she used... sponges, and then again, a straw for the trachea. So, very clever, but also very clearly representative of the actual human body systems. And- and easy for a student to... understand which one is which. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 14 A picture of a page with three words on it and corresponding objects Description End: Okay. So the next slide, this is always one that-- can be very difficult to accommodate. This is a set of homonyms. These are homonyms for 'sent.' So, you have the three different scent, cent and sent. So, for the S-C-E-N-T, they have a flower, and then the have C-E-N-T, the penny, and then S-E-N-T, they have a little card that... would be sent. So, this is a way of using real objects, and then they did include the braille, as well, but they used real objects to represent those three different homonyms. [ Slide end: ] Lynne: And so, Valerie, for a question like this if a student didn't have a concept of those, could-- you would do an activity of like, maybe you could write a card and then send it to somebody. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: Then you could use pennies, or cents, to buy something. Valerie: Uh‑huh. Lynne: And then have some experience with flowers that have scent. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: Something like that. So that you do have the opportunity to build the concepts. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: Prior to just-- Valerie: Prior to actually taking the test. Lynne: To making these test accommodations. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: All right. So, now we're going to do a little bit of brainstorming. Let's do this together. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Examples: Increasing Levels of Complexity Content: Figure 15 A picture of a test page with text, a picture of a poster, a boy tying his shoes, and a boy reading the poster Description End: This is a test question about Mike sitting in front of his locker, before every practice, and every game Mike has read the words on the poster, and there's a picture of the poster that he's read. [ Slide end: ] Valerie: So, just before we even get into brainstorming, I wanted to make a point about the text in... like in English 2, or a writing test, or something like that. When you are administering the test of course you can read the test to the student. The student does not have to read it themselves. But, at the same time, you can have the student following along, even if they're not a braille reader. So you can have-- I don't know how many of you are familiar with experience stories. We've done a lot in experience stories, here. But in an experience story you use... a series of either tactile symbols or objects to represent the most important things within a sentence, or an idea. So, you know, you could set it up as a little book, where the student in that particular test might have a name symbol for Mike, and, you know, a symbol for gym, because he goes to the gym. And as you're reading along the student can flip through and read through the story with you. Or, it can be set up in a calendar box, even. And the student can sequence along in their calendar box. So, keep that in mind as you're accommodating for the different... passages that you might encounter in the ALT 2 test. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide All right. Now that I've got on my podium about that. Lynne: So, do y'all have any ideas on how you would adapt this test question-- the stimulus question? This is... the second in the cluster, so it is a choice of two. And it's asking, what did Mike do after-- before every game? And so, the student would have to choose between those two things. Does anyone have any ideas about how they would... modify this for one of their students? Valerie: At any level. Lynne: Right. So we're-- for an object student, tactile symbol, low vision, or braille. [silence] Valerie: Don't be shy. It looks like Miranda might be sending us an idea. Lynne: Okay, great. [silence] Valerie: All right. So, Miranda says, I would give them two objects, a shoe and a poster. Very good. That's exactly what-- that's exactly what Lynne had said she would do. [ Slide end: ] Lynne: Right, yes. That is-- that's exactly what I said I would do. But that is at an object level. So, it's for a student at an object level. How about tactile symbols? You could probably do the same, tactile symbol of... shoes. Valerie: Yeah, the tactile symbol for a shoe, or an-- Lynne: On an action back background. So, it would be putting on your shoes. And I don't know if there's a tactile symbol for a poster. It would be more of a book. Valerie: Yeah, I would use a book, instead of a poster, to represent that concept, if you're using a tactile symbol. Lynne: So, for low vision, Valerie, are you allowed to... de-clutter these pictures? Valerie: Sure. Yes, you can de-clutter the picture. Lynne: So, you could enlarge the picture to just have the image of the boy, or just the image you want on there? Valerie: Uh‑huh. And Sandra says, for a braille student she could use a picture description. Yeah, you do have to be careful with picture descriptions. And you're absolutely right. You could use a picture description. But if you're saying the question is-- well, no, this would work in this one, because, what does he do before every practice? He puts on his shoes or he reads the poster. Yeah. Lynne: That's pretty straight forward. Valerie: You could do it, absolutely. A picture description would work well in this one. Be careful. Just as an aside, it works great in this one. But be careful that you're not giving away the answer, if you're describing a picture. But in this case you're not, because you would have had to have listened to the text to get that answer. Chapter 3. Tips for Students at Pre-Symbolic Level Lynne: So a lot of the-- we're going to go through some more examples, and a lot of the-- if a student is a braille student, or a student is a tactile symbol user, it tends to be much easier to think about accommodating these test questions. When a student is at an object level-- an object level learner-- it does tend to be harder to kind of wrap your mind around this picture of the thing, and how would you represent it. So, Valerie has some tips for students at a pre-symbolic level, or just starting a symbolic level, and those who use object symbols-- or not-- yeah, object symbols. Valerie: Well, yeah, object symbols or representations of objects. And I think that's one of the big things that we really have to think about, is that you don't always have to use the entire thing that's in the stimulus picture. If you're talking about, you know, a cat. If the student, when they think about a cat, they think about, you know, petting a furry cat, you might just be able to put a swatch of fur to represent the cat; rather than cutting out the shape of a cat in fur. So, you can use representations, as well as, real objects, and I think I think that's a really important thing. So some of the things that people don't always think about are... you can use sounds. Right. So someone's experience of a cat just might be the meow of a cat that they've heard on TV. Valerie: Exactly. Lynne: So, you could use just a switch button. Valerie: Um-hmm. Yeah. You could absolutely use a switch, or use your computer with-- you were actually presenting the sounds, you know, off of your computer. You can do it that way as well. And if the student is able to identify verbally, that's the cat. It just depends on how they respond. Again, you're having to think about how does the student respond, as well as, how do they understand information. So, if the student is going to respond best by picking a switch, use that. If the student can say, "Oh, that was the cat!" Lynne: Right, because as we're looking through the-- some of the test questions, there were several in science that had which animal, and it was animals like elephants and tigers and things, you know, that the... student would have absolutely no- no concept of. Valerie: Or may not. Lynne: Yeah, right. So, just personally, from when I was in the classroom, my students loved those sounds, you know. So, you know, it would make it more enjoyable for them. Valerie: Sounds are always a choice. But scents. Sometimes... I know we had a teacher once that found a Glade scent. It was lavender or something, and the student actually knew about lavender, because that was their favorite lotion. And, you know, so, there are different things that you can use, not just... textures and shapes and objects, you know. Think about all of your sentences-- sentences? All of your sentences-- all of your SENSES, [ Laughter ] and what the student uses... most often. Lynne: Right. And you could, also, use just real objects. So, if the question is about-- I think we have one actually coming up-- a household- a common household compliance, you could use that common household appliance. Valerie: Yeah. You could actually bring in a full size blender. You know, that-- if the student has used a blender, and is familiar with it, and that's what's going to work for this-- we're thinking about, kind of right now, the lowest level students, which are always the most difficult. These are the kids that... don't... you know, don't necessarily qualify as NAAR, or No Authentic Academic Response, but they're just above that level. I think we had a question. So, it says we're-- DTex 2 says, we're teaching the TEKS throughout the year. Hopefully we have some objects, tactile symbols, et cetera, that apply to the concepts being tested. Lynne: Right. Valerie: That's a very good point. That is a very good point. So, if you have, as you should be, been teaching these concepts already, then you should have kind of a supply, or a store of things you've been using with the student so they are familiar with them. That's a very good point. Lynne: And Miranda says, never thought of using sounds and smells. Excellent idea. Valerie: Thank you. Lynne: That is an excellent idea. [ Laughter ] Chapter 4. Example Questions All right. So, now, we want to go through some... release test questions and kind of brainstorm with you. You're welcome-- please, you know, write in the chat... any suggestions you have for these test items. We came up with some. You may come up with things that are... even better. We'd like this to be very interactive. Valerie: And we like ideas... just as much as you guys do, because we're about to be accommodating for a whole lot of students. Lynne: Yes. Valerie: And we would love to hear your ideas, as well. Lynne: All right. [Screen start:] described by speaker So on my computer-- All right, so, the first question-- this is very small-- but what it is, is a picture of a flock of geese. And it says, "In winter many birds migrate to a warmer place. These birds are migrating in a group. Find the birds that are migrating." And so, this is just a-- the first question in a cluster, so it is a simple identification question. And we thought for this bird sounds would be really... useful. Valerie: For those low-- uh‑huh. Lynne: For the kids that would probably stop at the first question in the cluster, because rarely do students touch birds. So, I know a lot of people use feathers to represent birds. [control room instructions] Valerie: Ah... A magnifying glass. No? That's the search, right? Lynne: Sorry, guys. We're trying to make it a little bit bigger. No, that's not it. No, I'll try that. There we go. Valerie: Nice. Lynne: Thank you, Andy. Valerie: Thank you. That makes it a little bit bigger. S,o one of the problems with that particular picture is there's absolutely no contrast... in the picture. So, even low-vision kids probably would not... get a lot out of that picture. So, in this particular case since it's a simple identification, it would have to be a sound on a... button of some sort. Lynne: Could they accommodate the picture to have a black background? Valerie: Absolutely. Lynne: With white birds? Valerie: Sure. Any other ideas? Lynne: Before we move on? Nope. So we'll go to the next one is very similar. This one is getting to... cultural-- cultures. [ Laughter ]. So, it's talking about the Mariachi band is part of the Mexican‑American culture, and then who is part of the Mexican‑American culture? Valerie: Find the entertainers who are a part of the Mexican‑American culture. [multiple voices'] Right. Valerie: We're talking at the same time. Lynne: Originally, I had suggested you could use like a little guitar, violin for the Mariachi band, and maybe like a hula skirt, or a lei for the Hawaiian, but I was not getting to the heart of the question. Valerie: Right. And actually, we put puff paints on the birds to identify where the birds are on there, on the previous one. Tracy had suggested. That's a good idea as well, you're highlighting where those birds are. Yes, you're right. The idea is Mexican‑American culture versus a Hawaiian culture. So, you know, the leis-- the instrument kind of is a giveaway, if you're using an instrument. So, then Lynne came up with the idea of playing Mariachi music versus Hawaiian music. Lynne: Right. Valerie: Which was a really great idea, I thought, a particularly good idea. Or you could represent the Mexican culture in another way. It may be the student is familiar with... the types of hats or vests that a Mariachi band would wear. And so you could have like, you know, a part of a Mariachi costume, and then parts of the Hawaiian costume. So, it's equal. So, if you're going to do, kind of, how they dress, make sure... you're doing how they dress on both of them. Lynne: Right. Valerie: If you're gonna do music, make sure you're doing music for both of them, because the idea is, which one is the Mexican‑American culture. Lynne: Right. Valerie: Make sense? Lynne: Which one is the, yeah, Hawaiian music, and which is the Mexican‑American music? Valerie: Uh‑huh. [Screen start:] described by speaker Lynne: So that is- that's a good point. Here's one, and the question is about... Valerie: The question says-- Lynne: Fur color-- Valerie: This is a mother dog and her young puppy. The puppy inherited characteristics from its parent. Find out what the puppy inherited from its parents. Lynne: Right. And it's fur color, or being able to shake a hand-- knowing how to shake. And so, we thought our idea-- and please let us know if you have any other ideas-- we thought you could use different textures of fur to represent the different fur colors. Valerie: So, in that case the stimulus item you would have, you know, both the parent and the puppy having the same texture. And then in the-- You know, I'm not sure about that! Lynne: But then we were talking about the shaking. Valerie: Yeah, because if you did say the same texture for the correct answer choice, and a different texture for the non‑answer choice; it's- it's not-- I'm not sure that's representative. Lynne: But they're a different color. Valerie: They are different colors. That's true. Lynne: So, this is one that you would have to brainstorm quite a lot about to make sure that you're getting to the heart of the question. Do y'all have any ideas of how you would modify for this? [Screen end:] Don't see anyone typing. This is a hard one. Valerie: It is. Lynne: All right. So we'll go to the next one. This is a level-- this is number 3 or 4 in the cluster, Valerie? [Screen start:] described by speaker Valerie: Yes. Lynne: Three? Valerie: [counting quietly] This is number four-- I have to go through-- that's terrible! This would be the fourth item in a cluster, question 12. So, in this particular question it is, "A student surveys classmates about traits inherited from their parents. Find the question about inherited traits that should be added to the chart." So, in this case... we could use one of those charts, those kind of pre-made charts that we showed you earlier, that you could fill in this information in the chart. You don't necessarily have to use Anna, Bob and Cindy. If it makes your student more comfortable to use classmates' names. You could use classmates' names. Anna, Bob and Cindy aren't important to the actual question. The other thing we thought about is, you know, most students with visual impairment have a concept of eye color, everybody has different colored eyes. I know, I've had students ask me what color my eyes are. And... you know, the curly hair-- the correct answer choice-- is also something a student with visual impairments would be familiar with, but I'm not so sure about dimples. So, you don't necessarily have to use dimples. You know, that's-- the important part is that you have something in that column that's an inherited trait. So, we were trying to think of what would a student with visual impairment be familiar with that might be an inherited trait. And so, we thought possibly, you know, skin color, possibly, might be one option. I know most of our students are very aware of skin color and ask, you know, about that, as well. But you could also have height, or-- we're having a hard time [ Laughter ] thinking of other possible inherited traits,f you don't think your student is familiar necessarily with dimples. I don't know. Lynne: Right. But so, you know, you would have to think about it, but you can use something else other than the test question given if it's the same concept as the test question given. Right. As long as it's an inherited trait. Lynne: Okay. Valerie: And visual impairment might be-- you know, it could be an inherited trait. You know, do you have a visual impairment? Yes or no? That could be an inherited trait... depending on the type of visual impairment that it is. Lynne: That's true. Valerie: That's kind of an 'iffy' one, just because not all of them are inherited. [Screen end:] Webbed feet! [ Laughter ]. Yeah, actually, that's inherited. Or webbed fingers, yeah, that would actually work. It is an inherited trait. So... yeah, absolutely. As long as you maintain the intent of the question, that's the important thing, to maintain the intent of the question. If you're going to change up that information. [Screen start:] described by speaker Lynne: The next question is also the fourth in a cluster. And it's talking about tails. How the tails of the spider monkey and kangaroo help the animals in the same way. And so, in this one, you could actually use a representation of... the animal, like a figure of the animal, because the question isn't about-- it's really only about the animal's tail. Valerie: Yeah. I was actually thinking about, you know, we really discourage people from using plastic models of animals, because in general they're-- you know, you can't really tell a dog from a cow... tactually. But in this case, I was thinking about the monkeys that you get-- you know, Barrel of Monkeys-- that have the curly tail-- Lynne: That you can hang on things. Valerie: That you can hang on things. And, you know, a good plastic figure of a kangaroo that has that very solid tail, you know, you can't balance that kangaroo unless that tail is sitting on top of the table. So, if you present this to them with a string, or something that you can hang the spider monkey from to highlight, you know, the fact that that's what the tail is used for... [Screen end:] This could be a... a situation where a plastic figure... might be okay to use. [Screen start:] described by speaker Lynne: All right. So the next one-- sorry it about that. So, this one I- I thought I was all clever and said, well, this is easy because the question gets at... "find the girl who is sweating." "The boys are sweating, because they're hot. The sweating helps cool their bodies. Find the girl who is sweating." And I said, "Oh, well, you know, you could"-- the initial stimulus, so the picture of the two boys-- you could, you know, have some kind of symbol for the boys, and spray it with water to indicate sweat. And then for the answer choices, you could have... like a piece of a scarf or something to indicate the girl on the left. And then another mist the girl on the right with the water to indicate she was sweating. Well, Valerie pointed out to me that it's not really 'sweat' that's the point. It's the boys are sweating, because they're 'hot.' You know, so, sweating is part of the point, but you can't just do part of the concept of the questions. Valerie: Right. Lynne: You have to figure out the whole thing. So it's-- it is... two sets of eyes... do help. Valerie: It does help. A little collaboration helps. Yeah, in this particular case you want to make sure-- the idea is that the sun is making them sweat. It's hot outside, which makes them sweat, which cools their body. And, you know, so you want to make sure that that representation of the sun, and the stimulus is very present. And then in your items that one represents a 'cold' environment, where the other represents a 'hot' environment; in whatever way makes sense to your student. Lynne: Right. So you could, potentially, still do the misty water, which... I think is a good representation. [ Laughter ]. But you could instead of-- the representation of the people could be like a hot and cold pad, something like that. Valerie: Yeah. You know, something that-- or... whatever your student would associate-- a lot of times with our kids we do-- like daily weather. Right? And so think about what do you use to represent a hot day, in your daily weather calendar? What do you use to represent a cold day, in your weather calendar? [Screen end:] You know-- and maybe that's what you want to use for your stimulus items, whatever you're using in your daily calendar to represent hot and cold days. Because that's- that is the idea. That's what they're really trying to get at, a hot day you sweat, and then the sweat cools you off. Lynne: Okay. Valerie: So keep that in mind. Lynne: So we would like to pause and make sure that we answer any questions that you have, because our hour is almost over. So, please, please feel free to write any questions in the chat, and we'll get to those before we have to go. While we the wait, we have a few more of these to go through. Valerie: Sure. And yeah, start asking your questions. We have a couple more, but... we want to leave a little bit of time for those answers. [Screen start:] described by speaker So, the next one, this is a text on how to be earth-friendly, and one of the sentences doesn't belong in the text. And find the sentence that doesn't belong in the paragraph. So, in this particular case, you see the three answer choices. You've read the paragraph to the student. Possibly, you've... done some representation for them. So... to have them be able to look back on the text. So, you have some key words that you've represented, so they can look back and see what has been read. And then this is a case you don't necessarily have to accommodate every answer choices. This is one that you might just read to the student. Turn off the lights, you know, make the bed, shut down the computers. Which one doesn't make sense. Lynne: Mm-hmm. Valerie: Don't over accommodate. Don't create too much work for yourself. Lynne: This is a third question in a cluster. Valerie: This is the third question in a cluster, yes. [Screen start:] described by speaker Lynne: Okay. So this next... is also a third question in a cluster. This is about conservation. "It's important to use water only when it is needed. Find the person who is conserving water." Valerie: All right. So, your stimulus item is a rainstorm, you know, over the mountains... that, you know, looks like there's-- creating a little lake. Lynne: And you could conceivably use sound for this one, as well. Valerie: Uh‑huh. Lynne: You could have the stimulus could be a thunderstorm. And then someone watering-- Valerie: The street. Lynne: The street! [ Laughter ] Valerie: Yeah, that's the wasting water, is watering the street. Lynne: Could be the sound of running water. You know, you can look up all these sounds on YouTube. Valerie: True. Lynne: Washing a dog. And then brushing their teeth-- there's no water, so it would just be the sound of brushing teeth. Right. And I think, again, this one I struggled with, honestly. I struggled with this one, and maybe you guys have some ideas. Because, the concept is wasting versus conserving water. So, in the first answer choice he's wasting it by watering the street. And in the second answer choice he's wasting it by leaving the water running in the tub, while he's watch washing the dog. And in the third choice he's brushing his teeth, but there's no water running. Lynne: Uh‑huh. [Screen end:] Valerie: So, I thought, okay, how do you represent those three concepts, where two of them are running water, and one of them is not-- brushing teeth is not running water and wasting water? So, if we're just describing, I think that's fairly easy. If we're describing the pictures, I think that's fairly easy. You can just make sure that-- Lynne: Uh‑huh. Valerie: You include the idea that the water is running in the first two, and the water is turned off, when he's brushing his teeth; fairly simple. But not all kids are going to be able to deal with that much... language. Lynne: Verbiage. Valerie: Yeah. Lynne: You could also-- I mean, you can use two different kinds of- of accommodations at the same time, correct? Valerie: Absolutely, you can accommodate as many-- in different ways as you want. The same test question, but, you know, you could use objects for one and sounds for another. Lynne: But you could objects and sounds. Valerie: Yes. Lynne: So, say we went with my-- using the sounds of this. Valerie: Ooo! Lynne: So, if you had a switch with... the sound of a rainstorm, plus covered in something slick, like, I think of Dycem, maybe-- that's wet. You could just wet it down. And then, your first answer choice, with the hose, could be a piece of hose on a switch, with the water-- the sound of water-- someone watering the street. [giggles] And the second answer choice you could have some fur-- Valerie: Or a faucet in a bathtub. Lynne: Or a faucet. And also the water running. And the third could just be a toothbrush, because there's no water running, and it would be sound of-- Valerie: A toothbrush, yeah. A faucet and no sound-- Lynne: Multi-sensory. Valerie: Yeah, D Tex 2 said, how about something that represents the volume of water each uses? And I think that's a great idea, too. I think that's a really good idea, because, you know, you're talking about kind of a high, middle and no volume, you know, for each of those answer choices. So that's a good idea. I like that. Lynne: Right. Valerie: So, yeah, these aren't always easy. And it does help to kind of think about it with a group of people sometimes. Lynne: Right. Okay. I think we have time for one more quick one. Valerie: Want to do this one? Lynne: Yeah, this wis gonna be quick. This is a poem. And... the point is to find the picture that belongs to the poem. Cause in the poem her hat falls down-- her hat falls off and her hair falls down. [Screen start:] described by speaker And so, we talked about the two choices could be, a hat and then the other one could be part of a wig for hair. And in the poem, as you're reading it, the symbol, really, what you want them to concentrate on, is "her hair came down." So, you could have a piece cut from a wig, and take her hair down, as you're reading the poem, and then your two choices would be a hat and the hair down. [Screen end:] Valerie: Yeah, she starts out in a bun. Her hair is in a bun, and she let's it down. That would be fun. I know kids would like that. All right, thank you, everyone. We really enjoyed doing this. Hopefully it was helpful to you. We'll see about doing it next year, coming back next year. Valerie: Absolutely. Lynne: The next time they change STAAR ALT. Valerie: Which will be next year. Lynne: And good luck. [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black.