[blindkid] ACT/(PLAN = Pre-ACT) & SAT/PSAT Questions

[DrV]

Thanks Pat. Which braille practice test are you referring to: ACT? SAT?
PSAT? or PLAN?

V takes the PSAT Wednesday (since all kids who take the PLAN in Braille
format have to take it on Wednesday instead of Saturday like everyone
else, he will pretty much miss all his classes that day -> who's
insightful decision was that?) We still haven't received the pretest that
is supposed to accompany the Braille PSAT - the school is hoping it will
come tomorrow…

For all you with younger kids - exposure to (& mastery of) graphics of all
sorts is important: on the PLAN (Pre-ACT) my son says that virtually the
whole science section was based on graphics: charts, tables, graphs, etc.
For this they are on their own & can't ask for clarification.

V states that a number of the graphics in the PLAN were not labeled
properly, making them hard or impossible to understand. He says there was
one bar graph in which all the bars were short & the all the same size.

Also there was a portion of the language arts section that was confusing.
The directions referred to underlined words or phrases. V kept searching
for the braille underline symbol, then after a while realized that for the
PLAN test they decided to note underlining by embossing a LINE embossed
ABOVE the words or phrases. This would not seem to conform to my
understanding of accepted transcription standards.

The combination of the above 2 irregularities is what makes me question if
they actually used a certified transcriber for the PLAN test. (I learned
to stop assuming long ago :-(

We'll see how Wednesday goes…
Eric


On 10/15/12 6:58 PM, "Pat Renfranz" <dblair2525 at msn.com> wrote:

>Eric,
>Not sure about proofing, but C has been using the 2010 Braille test for
>practice, and she says the graphics are excellent. They are prepared on a
>very high end type of swell paper, so lines are lines, and dots are dots.
>There is also a description of the figure, so that she knows what to look
>for (example: this is circle with an equilateral triangle drawn within
>it).
>She has not noticed any problems with the Braille. The line numbering
>system
>used on the verbal section is a little difficult, but useable.
>C's test will be proctored by the TVI. Her TVI considers this to be part
>of
>the school "experience," not as extracurricular.
>Pat
>
>
>On 10/14/12 11:52 AM, "Eric Vasiliauskas" <icdx at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>> My son took the PLAN (pre-ACT) on Saturday & will be taking the PSAT
>> Wednesday. This is the first time our district is administering these
>>to a
>> braille-using student (at least in this century).
>> On behalf of my son, I¹d appreciate any insights/thoughts you have on
>>the
>> following:
>> 1.     Based on what my son shared about the graphics & formatting, do
>>any
>> of you know if the Braille version of these National Standardized Tests
>>are
>> produced & proofed by certified transcribers?
>> 
>> 2.    Who in your experience typically proctors these tests? How often
>>is
>> the TVI?
>> 
>> 3.    How much clarification is the proctor allowed to give? My son had
>>been
>> specifically instructed that he could not ask for any clarifications,
>>but it
>> seemed like for some of the graphics, not all the information was there
>>or
>> presented properly in the braille version.
>> 
>> 4.    What do you perceive the role of the TVI to be leading up to these
>> tests, preparing for these tests, & potentially in their administration
>>(is
>> this considered in the TVI world to be an "extracurricular" activity or
>>part
>> of a student's educational experience)?
>> 
>> Thank you,
>> Respectfully,
>> EricV
>> 
>> 
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