Simply by flipping the screen on a computer can help PI kids do better on their standardized testing. It's easy.... On a PC all you have to do is press control+Alt+down arrow. And don't worry. By pressing the same keys and the up arrow, it will bring it back to "normal". On a MAC, press the apple in the top left corner, go to System Preferences. Press Option+Command+Display and it will give you choices to turn the screen sideways to the left, upside-down or sideways to the right. This process is also easily reversible. To my knowledge there are no rules prohibiting changing a display setting to make it easier for a child to read. This was done locally by a teacher/reading specialist and it significantly increased the student's score. She was also much happier and relaxed doing the test in the way she functions best - upside down. If you have trouble flipping the screen you can go here for help: http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Your-Computer-Screen-Upside-Down
this doesn't make any sense to me. The standardized test isn't in that format. We can't flip the tests can we? Is that something we really want kids to do in every day real life? Maybe I am missing something here.
( And people are not born with glasses... It's a simple accommodation for those kids whose brains work differently. Isn't the object of the testing to find out what the kids have learned? I keep finding that PI kids (who supposedly are considered by teachers and their peers to be either lazy or stupid) actually know much, much more than they can demonstrate in the conventional way. In some cases they are the brightest kids in the class...
It is possible that it can be done in every day real life. This Serbian woman reads and writes upside-down and also uses an upside-down computer screen in work.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ0CU7ZU5hI Whatever it takes....
My sense would be that it would NOT be okay to make this modification with formal standardized testing unless it were officially noted. Teacherman, I agree with the analogy in concept, but there are many such modifications would could be compared with glasses but yet are required to be noted or accounted for if given.
EdEd, I agree that it should be noted as an accommodation. It should also be noted on the IEP for classroom work and for standardized testing. Steve Just out of curiosity, do you know of any testing - standardized or otherwise - that specifically prohibits viewing the testing material at an angle or inverted?
Yeah, and I'm not against the idea - I just think that accommodations by definition break standardization which inhibits your ability to accurately interpret assessment data, so "noting it" would be fine provided that's all that was required from a legal perspective. In terms of assessments that would prohibit viewing from a different angle, typically assessments don't list every accommodation or modification that could perceivably happen, but rather take the approach of "this way or the highway" - that something should be delivered in this exact method or it breaks standardization. Now that you mention it, though, I suppose those assessments don't say "please administer right-side up," so I suppose maybe you wouldn't need an accommodation since it isn't explicitly mentioned.
It doesn't affect the material or assessment in any way. It is a nonissue to me. I would note it just to cover my own patooie, but it changes things far less than say...extended time.
Well then I guess I should flip my glasses upside down as well and expect every one else to go along with it.
It's a lot more than a fashion statement. For these kids, it's the difference between literacy and illiteracy - between passing a high-stakes test to demonstrate what his teachers have taught him or failing miserably and making them look incompetent. Here's Cole on his inverted computer monitor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PtrlbusyXI
Interesting vid. Harry Potter isn't extremely advanced for his age, but obviously to really compare we'd need to evaluate his reading with it straight with upside-down. Just looking at this, though, I guess I could see how it might help by forcing the students to look at each word more carefully. This seems to be getting priorities mixed-up. Most reading material (including paper-and-pencil tests) a student could indeed flip freely. Going into the settings on my PC allows me to flip the screen (the key commands you suggest do not), but I do find working with the mouse more difficult.
