North Carolina News-Observer
 4/9/99

   Blind students will take test by computer

   Rather than having to use Braille, the four students may take the test
   the same way they study.

   By TIM SIMMONS, Staff Writer
        Facing angry criticism from advocates for the blind, state
   educators say they will not deny diplomas to four blind students
   simply because the teenagers are unable to pass a reading test in
   Braille.
        Instead, the recently blinded children will
   be allowed to use computers that can read the test to them -- the same
   way they study and take exams in the classroom.
        "In the end, it is a question of fairness,"
   said Phil Kirk, chairman of the State Board of Education. "I think at
   times the board just has to find a way to show some compassion."
        The four students, blinded by accident and
   disease in the past two years, are able to master the high school
   courses required of them, said Charles Bernardo, superintendent of the
   Governor Morehead School for the Blind.
        But state educators initially told Bernardo
   that the students could not pass the reading test unless they could
   read the text themselves. In this case, that meant using Braille.
        Mastering Braille, the system of printing and
   writing in which characters are formed by patterns of raised dots that
   are felt with the fingers, takes four years, Bernardo said.
        Younger children tend to learn Braille faster
   than older children. Some who lose their sight as adolescents or
   adults never master it.
        The four students, whom officials would not
   identify, range in age from 16 to 17 years old. They are freshmen and
   sophomores who lost classroom time because of disabilities. They can
   remain at the school only until age 21.
        To Bernardo and many advocates for blind
   children, the answer to the state test was obvious -- let them use the
   same technology they rely on in school.
        "We are teaching them Braille, but the tests
   also need to reflect the technological realities of today," Bernardo
   said. "A text the size of the state reading exam is not something
   these children will read in Braille. I am delighted to hear that the
   state testing officials will work with us."
        A variety of questions remain about how to
   translate the test from a reading exam to a spoken document that
   measures comprehension and understanding, said Lou Fabrizio, director
   of testing for the state school system of 1.2 million students. It
   isn't likely, for example, that a computer-generated voice can read
   graphs or any form of text that isn't presented in a traditional
   format.
        Also lost in the debate is the fact that
   children process test questions differently when they hear questions
   as opposed to reading them. But given the circumstances of the four
   children, Kirk said such points are moot.
        "What's more important is that they be tested
   in a way that is fair," Kirk said. "This does not guarantee them a
   diploma. They must still earn it. They must still understand their
   lessons."
        When testing officials first suggested the
   students could have an alternative test read to them if they met a
   higher standard of comprehension, many parents and teachers questioned
   the legality of the approach.
        But Kirk said the board's primary legal
   concern was not about setting standards that were too high. Instead,
   the board was worried that its decision involving the blind will "open
   the floodgates" for others who want to have the test read to their
   children.
        "Almost every week I get a request from
   someone who believes the reading test should be read to their child or
   their student," Kirk said. "That's really the thing we are more
   worried about."
        An estimated 50,000 children or more in North
   Carolina's classrooms have specific reading disabilities, according to
   the Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina. Most of those
   children could be taught to read adequately with the right
   instruction, said association president Mary Ellis.
        But thousands of those students never get the
   instruction they need, leaving them years behind their peers in
   reading ability. When those students reach high school, parents
   naturally want to know if their children will be exempted from reading
   tests, Ellis said.
        That question -- coupled with a new plan to
   stop promoting children who can't read at grade level -- prompted
   state Sen. Allen Wellons to introduce a bill last week that would
   exempt many children from taking the reading test.
        Wellons, a Democrat from Johnston County,
   said he has no intention of lowering state standards or exempting
   thousands of children from testing.
        "I just happen to think it is the adults'
   responsibility to find a way for all students to demonstrate whether
   they understand and comprehend the material being taught," Wellons
   said. "The case is obvious with children who are blind, but it is no
   less frustrating for children with other disabilities who fail even
   when they understand their lessons."
       

             Tim Simmons can be reached at 829-4535 or [log in to unmask]


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