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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Certification in Unified English Braille: Validation Report<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By Edward C. Bell, Ph.D.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Preferred Citation<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Bell. E. C. (2016). National Certification in Unified English Braille: Validation Report. Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, 6(1). Retrieved<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>from <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir16/jbir060105.html.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>doi: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>http://dx.doi.org/10.5241/6-103<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Abstract<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Unified English Braille (UEB) became the standard for literary braille in the United States in January 2016. In the process of this transition, myriad<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>stakeholders have been and continue to be engaged in all aspects of producing, procuring, preparing professionals, and teaching children and adults the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>UEB code. The National Blindness Professional Certification Board is one such organization whose mission it is to develop certification standards to measure<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>proficiency in UEB for teachers of the code. The National Certification in Unified English Braille (NCUEB) was created for that purpose. This manuscript<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>(a) describes the steps that have been taken to test the efficacy of the NCUEB exam, (b) presents data which was generated by 83 individuals who took the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>exam between January and July 2015 across eleven different testing venues, and (c) provides a statistical report on the internal consistency, generalizability,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>content validity, and criterion-referencing for this examination. Results suggest that the NCUEB is valid and appropriate for its stated purpose.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Keywords<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Unified English Braille, UEB, Proficiency, Certification Standards, National Certification, NCUEB<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Full Text:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>HTML<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>BRF<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>DOI: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>http://dx.doi.org/10.5241/6-103<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research is copyright (c) 2016 to the <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Director, Professional Development and Research<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Institute on Blindness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Louisiana Tech University<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>210 Woodard Hall <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>PO Box 3158<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Ruston LA 71272<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax) Skype: edwardbell2010<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:dotted windowtext 3.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><span style='color:black'><a href="mailto:ebell@latech.edu"><span style='color:blue'>ebell@latech.edu</span></a> <a href="http://www.pdrib.com"><span style='color:#0563C1'>www.pdrib.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>**************************************************************<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>-- Stephen Jay Gould<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>