KANSAS GUIDELINES FOR USE OF A SCRIBE
Scribes are defined as individuals who write down student responses during classroom assignments or tests or on state assessments when information is communicated by the student through speech, sign language, pointing, or by using an assistive communication device. The use of a scribe as an accommodation is open to any student taking the Kansas State Assessments. However, students with an individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan should have this accommodation specified within the plan, for use both on the Kansas State Assessments and for classroom instruction, assignments and tests.
A student using this accommodation should work in a quiet room apart from other students to avoid interfering with other students’ performance and to avoid being interrupted while completing assignments or tests. Remember that extra time may be needed to complete the process.
It is very important that scribes be neutral in responding to the student during test administration. The student’s responses must accurately represent the student’s own choices. During development of writing passages during the Kansas Writing Assessment, the scribe must write exactly what the student dictates. Scribes should act like a secretary taking dictation. Scribes must be impartial and not give hints of any type. The scribe should not:
· alert the student to mistakes during the test or during development of the writing composition,
· prompt the students in any way that would result in a better response, or
· influence the student’s response in any way.
The guiding principle in scribing is only to assist the student in accessing the test and responding to it. The goal for scribing is to provide access to the test or assessment without penalizing the student or enhancing the student’s response in any way.
When using a scribe accommodation, the student’s IEP or 504 Team or a teacher working with the student should determine the student’s preferred mode of dictation. If possible, Kansas State Assessments, classroom testing, and classroom assignment completion should use the same method in order for the student and scribe to have practice and become comfortable and efficient in the particular method used. Some options for transcribing are:
1. Into an audio recorder
2. Into a speech-to-text converter (e.g., voice recognition software, etc.)
3. Directly to a scribe
The scribe should have the opportunity to become familiar with the directions and format of any classroom test and any Kansas State Assessments, but especially the Kansas Writing Assessment. This will help facilitate the scribe’s ability to record the student’s answers easily. To the extent possible, the scribe used during the state writing assessment should have had responsibility for transcribing information given by students during classroom instruction, assignments, and tests. The scribe must produce legible text so that the written assignments, classroom tests, and the state writing assessment can be scored accurately.
Using a Scribe for the Kansas Writing Assessment
For the 2008-09 school year, students using a scribe on the Kansas Writing Assessment should have marked on their answer sheets ACCD code 5 – student dictated his/her answers to a scribe (Response). This response accommodation includes the use of human scribes, transcribers, and voice recognition or voice to text software. When the accommodations section of a student’s score sheet indicates that the student used a scribe for the Kansas Writing Assessment, the computer scoring will eliminate the Conventions trait score, and prorate the other traits to obtain the composite score.
When using this accommodation for the writing assessment, the student dictates (orally or by signing) his or her composition to the scribe, who then writes the student’s response using proper grammar, mechanics, and spelling. Once the student has dictated his or her response, the scribe shows the student the draft composition. The student may then instruct the scribe to make any desired changes.
After the student has finished dictating his or her draft composition, the scribe must ask the student to do the following:
· review the draft composition and
· make any necessary edits, including editing of word choice, organization, etc.
Other than making the changes requested by the student, it is important that the scribe not assist the student during the editing process.
After the student reviews the composition and makes any desired changes, the scribe copies the final draft, including the student’s edits, into the student’s Final Copy Booklet. Or, if using a word processing program, the scribe makes the changes indicated by the student prior to printing the final copy. Local scoring may include scoring the Conventions trait. However, if the student’s answer sheet is marked with the accommodation of using a scribe, the computer scoring will eliminate the Conventions trait score, and will prorate the composite score without Conventions.
Using A Scribe for the Kansas State Assessments Other Than Writing
For the 2008-09 school year, students using a scribe on any Kansas assessment should have marked on the answer sheet ACCD code 5 – student dictated his/her answers to a scribe (Response). When using this accommodation, the student should give the answer choice they select either orally or by signing to the scribe. The scribe then enters the student’s selection by marking the bubble sheet for the paper and pencil tests or by selecting that answer choice on the KCA.
When working as a scribe with students, it is important to follow all the directions included in the Test Administration manual. It is especially important to carefully follow the following guidelines:
· Do not coach or cue students in any way during test administration. This includes gestures and facial expressions.
· Do not respond to questions during testing that would help the student to understand the question, aid him/her in responding to an item, or advise/encourage him/her to edit or change a response.
· Do not tell students to use certain strategies or clues prior to or during the test.
· Do not say or do anything that would let a student know whether an answer is correct.
· Do not ask students how they got an answer.
· Do not tell students to redo or review any part of the test.
· Local educators may not test students using paper and pencil and transfer the responses to KCA unless the student took the KAMM.
Guidelines for using printed screenshots of the KAMM
Transferring answers to KCA for students who use printed screenshots of the KAMM is not considered to be a scribing accommodation. Instead the following guidelines should be followed
§ Students should mark their answers in the test booklet.
§ After the student has finished the entire assessment, the answers may be transferred to KCA.
§ Two people should be used to transfer the answers to KCA.
§ ACCD code 13 (Student used printed screenshots of the KAMM) must be coded for students who received the accommodation of using printed screenshots of the KAMM.
Qualifications for Scribes
Scribes may be teachers, teacher aides, teacher assistants or other school personnel who are appropriately trained and qualified. Parents, school volunteers, peer tutors, and other students may not act as scribes on the Kansas State Assessments. Whenever possible, students should have the same scribe for the state assessment as they have had for classroom tests or classroom instruction. For classroom assignments and tests, the general education teacher or the special education teacher should set up a routine to be followed by the student and scribe. For the state writing assessment, the scribe must understand how to record responses using Kansas Writing Assessment procedures and be familiar with the test, including knowledge of the vocabulary used. For all other Kansas State Assessments the scribe must be familiar with the procedures of the assessments, as described in the assessment manual.
Qualifications
· a staff member, paraprofessional, or teacher
· has experience in scribing
· is familiar with the student
· understands the distinction between the instructional role of the teacher or paraprofessional and the technical role of the scribe
· has legible handwriting
· has adequate word processing skills
KSDE January 2009 - 1 -