Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat other research was conducted leading up to the creation of the ABC-Link Assessment Tool?The Center for Literacy and Disability Studies has been engaged in a series of research studies since the late 1990's focused on building the ABC-Link Assessment Tool. We have worked to establish the reliability and validity of the comprehension and automatic word identification subtests you'll find in the current tool. We've presented the findings from these studies at the biennial meeting of the International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Natal, Brazil in the fall of 2004 and the National Reading Conference in San Antonio, TX in December of 2004. Papers for submission to peer reviewed journals are currently under preparation. We have also tested original concepts for mediated word identification (decoding) and found a measure that proved more reliable than traditional nonsense word decoding tests (Cunningham et al., 1999). We're continuing to work to create a universally accessible version of these highly reliable tasks. Our development process also led us to engage in a long-term investigation of book leveling systems. We had hoped to use established book levels below the second grade level in order to break down early reading into the maximum number of discernable levels of progress. Since there are several existing systems that have successfully divided reading below the second grade level into as many as 20 levels, we had hoped to use them. Through our systematic analysis of existing leveling systems, we found that the levels are not absolute. In fact, we found that the best predictor of level was the total number of words in the text. We won't be using the existing levels in our assessment tool, but we learned a great deal to inform what we eventually will create. These results have been presented at the 2003 National Reading Conference and will be published in 2005 in Reading Research Quarterly. Cunningham, J. W., Erickson, K. A., Spadorcia, S. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., Cunningham, P. M.,
Cunningham, J. W., Koppenhaver, D. A., Erickson, K. A., & Spadorcia, S. A. (2004). Word
Cunningham, J. W., Spadorcia, S. A., Erickson, K. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., Sturm, J., & Yoder, D. E.
Erickson, K. A., Clendon, S. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., & Spadorcia, S. A. (2004, October). Automatic word
Erickson, K. A., Clendon, S. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., & Spadorcia, S. A. (2004, October). The reliability of
Erickson, K. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., & Cunningham, J. W. (in press). Balanced reading intervention in
Erickson, K. A., Spadorcia, S., Koppenhaver, D., Cunningham, J., & Clendon, S. (2004, December).
When required to choose from four items, your student can indicate responses by pointing to the response on the computer screen or by using his/her eyes to look at the response on the computer screen. If the student is using his/her eyes, you will need to make room behind the computer so that you can position yourself to clearly see which choice the student is making. When required to respond "yes" or "no", your child can respond as above or can use any other consistent yes-no response (e.g., hand movement for "yes", foot movement for "no"). The person who administers ABC-Link must be a certified teacher or licensed speech-language pathologist. Developing an assessment of automatic word identification that did not require a spoken response, but that did retain the important features of a word flashed for less than a quarter of a second was not an easy task. We knew we had to have some sort of selection task in order to create something that was universally accessible. Our early attempts included flashing a word and asking the reader to find the matching picture, but it was difficult to find pictures to represent concepts other than nouns. Next we tried flashing the word and asking the reader to find the same word from a choice of four. We quickly learned that readers were holding a visual image of the word in their mind and matching it with the correct word. The xxxxx presentation was the solution to this final problem. In the psychology literature, there is an entire body of research investigating visual interference. Several studies have demonstrated that the visual presentation of pictures, colors, and words can all interfere with a visual image held in memory. The problem with each of these options is that they invoke a vocal or subvocal response that interferes with the phonological representation we're trying to preserve in word identification. In other words, we want to erase the visual image from memory, but we don't want to interfere with the sub-vocal auditory response the reader created when the word was originally read. Since the xxxxx presentation does not invoke a vocal or subvocal response, it successfully erases the visual image without interfering with the sub-vocal auditory response. Toms, M., Norris, N., & Foley, P. (1994). Characteristics of visual interference with
Tresch, M.C., Sinnamon, H.M., & Seamon, J.G. (1993). Double dissociation of spatial and object
Vogel, E.K., Woodman, G.F., & Luck, S.J. (2001). Storage of features, conjunctions, and objects
We recognize the threats imposed by a yes/no response and we have weighed them carefully against the benefits of having an assessment of comprehension at all levels that required only a yes or no response. The benefits outweighed the threats. Furthermore, there are acceptable means of scoring that will control for guessing in a yes/no response mode. Finally, one of our research questions looks specifically at this question of reliability. Before the final version of the ABC-Link Assessment Tool is available for use, we will have confidence in the use of this response mode. It is okay to stop and start the assessment in order to maximize the student's optimal performance. However, in between the breaks in the testing, please do not talk about items or strategies for answering. When you return to the website, you will be able to click on the link to resume the test, which will appear next to the student's name (shown in figure 1). This will take you to the exact spot where you quit and saved. If you experience problems using the website, you should contact Sally Clendon at the Center for Literacy Disability Studies. Sally's telephone number is: 919-966-8566. Sally's email address is:
Check out the information under the "links", "resources", and "events" buttons on the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies website: http://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds Gives great information about tips, tricks, and ideas for augmentative communication devices and literacy. Get on their tip of the month list! Has programming tips for augmentative communication devices, as well as ideas for make it-take it projects that you can print out. Has information on the products available from Creative Communicating. Also has free literacy activities that can be downloaded, as well as workshop schedules, newsletters, and make it-take it directions. Information on an annual conference in special education and technology. Has links to vendors. |
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