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National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects October 17, 2005
OverviewThe second meeting of the General Advisory Committee (GAC) of the National Accessible Reading Assessment Projects (NARAP) was held October 17, 2005 in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to update GAC members of NARAP’s progress since its first meeting on December 10, 2004 in Alexandria, Virginia. GAC members received a NARAP update, including some details on focus group work and the preparation of disability reports. GAC members also discussed a Principles and Issues paper and next steps for NARAP. Welcome and GreetingsMartha Thurlow, Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment Martha Thurlow welcomed and thanked all the GAC members for their attendance. She highlighted the day’s agenda. Greetings and BackgroundDave Malouf, National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education Ed Kame'enui, National Center for Special Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education Dave Malouf highlighted changes in the Department of Education during the past year, and noted that NARAP is now located within the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). Ed Kame'enui, commissioner of NCSER, welcomed GAC members, and reinforced the notion that the research surrounding the issue of accessible reading assessment must be collaborative and consultative. He also noted the importance of maintaining the highest scientific standard. NARAP updateCara Cahalan-Laitusis, Designing Accessible Reading Assessments Cara Cahalan-Laitusis provided an update on the activities of NARAP. She noted that the Reading First definition from NCLB was provided to the projects as the foundation for project activities as part of Goal 1. During Goal 2, the research goal, several different efforts will be undertaken by the two projects. Focus Group ReportChristopher Johnstone, Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment Chris Johnstone provided information on the focus groups that were held to discuss the definition of the construct of reading and reading proficiency. Results generally were consistent among participants from both large conferences and smaller web-based teleconferences. Most people preferred having the main emphasis in the definition be placed on understanding. Participants believed that decoding is important, did not feel that it was appropriate to have decoding appear equal to understanding in importance. "Translating text to speech" generally was considered to be problematic. In addition, participants thought that auditorization is problematic as a construct of reading. GAC members brought up concerns about ELL students in terms of racially and culturally diverse groups. They asked how these groups were going to be accounted for in the study. Chris responded that NARAP is willing to take any advice the GAC members have in dealing with this issue. Disability ReportsMartha Thurlow, Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment Martha Thurlow introduced the disability papers, which were designed to address disabilities that affect reading (visual impairments, deaf or hard of hearing, autism, learning disabilities, mental retardation, speech or language impairments, emotional or behavioral disabilities). Although not all these disabilities will be the focus of the NARAP project, most of these will be. Martha concluded with a brief overview of some of the reading characteristics of students with reading difficulties for each disability and opened it up for discussion from GAC members. The papers produced considerable discussion, bringing GAC members to a discussion of many of the issues surrounding access (e.g., physical access versus cognitive access). Principles and Issues PaperDeborah Dillon, Partnership for Accessible Reading Assessment Deborah Dillon presented a draft Principles and Issues paper, which was discussed and commented on during the meeting. This paper is the basis for continued discussion between the two projects and other committees and boards. It will be revised and posted on the NARAP Web site. Next StepsCara Cahalan-Laitusis, Designing Accessible Reading Assessments Cara Cahalan-Laitusis concluded the meeting by highlighting NARAP accomplishments and future directions. GAC members were informed that the Disability Reports would be edited and provided on the PARA Website.
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