Johnstone, C., Thurlow, M., Altman, J., Timmons, J., & Kato, K. (2009). Assistive technology approaches for large-scale assessment: Perceptions of teachers of students with visual impairments . Exceptionality , 17 (2), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362830902805756

Journal Article

Johnstone, C., Thurlow, M., Altman, J., Timmons, J., & Kato, K. (2009). Assistive technology approaches for large-scale assessment: Perceptions of teachers of students with visual impairments. Exceptionality, 17(2), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362830902805756

Tags

Braille; Educator survey; Electronic administration; Electronic administration; Electronic administration; Enlarged print (on paper); K-12; Magnification device or software; Oral delivery; Oral delivery, live/in-person; Recorded delivery (audio or video); Screen display; Text-to-speech device/software; U.S. context

URL

https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/hexc20

Summary

Accommodation

Accommodations included those types of assistive technology tools used by students with visual impairments.

Participants

A national (U.S.) sample of 197 teachers of students with visual impairments responded to a survey. The teachers provided instruction and assessment for students with visual impairments in grades 7­­–10 in language arts.

Dependent Variable

The dependent variables in the study were the assistive technology approaches that the teachers practiced, as self-reported on a survey.

Findings

The results include descriptive statistics, as well as regression data about teacher demographics and their relationships with use of assistive technology. Commonly used accommodations for reading by students with visual impairments included audio recordings, large print or enlarged page, read-aloud by teacher, and handheld optical magnifiers, among others. Further analyses indicated that teachers at schools for the blind correlated positively with higher percentages of students using braille technologies and screen readers. Negative correlations included that teachers with high caseload sizes had lower percentages of students using braille, audio, CCTVs, and screen readers. Additional correlations are reported.