The PAR Assessment-Make Data Based Decisions About Reading Accommodations.

Some of the most important decisions we can make in an IEP meeting are selecting accommodations for daily assignments as well as comprehensive tests.  Research shows that IEP teams often make those decisions based on a laundry list of options rather than using a data-based decision making process.  This post is about a tool that will help IEP teams when choosing whether or not a student with a reading disability is going to have adults read tests and assignments aloud, or if they will use Text to Speech (TTS, also known as Screen Reader) technology to do so.   It is known as the Protocol for Accommodations in Reading or PAR.

The Protocol for Accommodations in Reading (PAR) is designed to help IEP teams make informed, data based decisions about reading accommodations. It was developed by Denise C DeCoste and Linda Bastiani Wilson, and is provided free of charge from Don Johnston, Inc.

The PAR is a process for measuring whether a student comprehends better when an adult reads aloud, or when they use a screen reader. The entire assessment can be downloaded for free at donjohnston.com/par. When you download the PAR from the website, you will get a testing manual, data collection sheets, leveled reading passages (3rd-10th grade passages) that you can print as well as load onto a computer, and comprehension questions for each passage. You must provide your own screen reader program, you do NOT get a screen reader when you download the PAR, just the passages. 

There are many options available to access screen reader technology every day at school. For information on free screen reading programs you could use in the classroom, at home, or in a computer lab, please check out this short blog post. You can also use an iPad as a screen reader. For more information, see this post. Also, if you are willing to spend money for a better quality product, you can purchase a single screen reader license for $50 at this site.  You can also purchase a quality Screen Reading program for your entire school for $499 at http://www.donjohnston.com/products/snap-read/index.html. This is roughly the cost of a single iPad!

The PAR is really just an informal data collection protocol and is therefore similar to the curriculum based assessments (CBA) that many teachers already use. If you have your own leveled passages and comprehension questions, you could follow the same basic process as the PAR without downloading and using their passages. The basic idea is to simulate what happens when we ask a student to complete a reading task on his/her grade level, and measure their performance with a variety of accommodations. It must be administered individually, and usually takes about 10-25 minutes per student, depending on their grade level and how long it takes them to answer comprehension questions.

When choosing reading accommodations, here are a few more things to consider.

-There are definite pros and cons to both adult readers AND screen readers.

-Even the VERY BEST screen reader programs do not match the prosody and expression of adult readers.

-Screen reader programs cannot react to individual student behavior and make changes on the fly (e.g. pause and redirect when a student gets distracted.)

-Students with disabilities who succesfully learn to use a screen reader ultimately become more independent readers, especially as they get older.

-Students are less likely to ask an adult to re-read text than they are to re-read text using a screen reader.

-Older students are more likely to perceive adult read aloud accommodations as "too childish".

For more information or to see of video of the PAR in action, check out this site:  and click on the link that says VIDEO: PAR in Action.  You can also watch a webinar about the PAR at the same site.