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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">I agree with Bill’s suggestions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><br>
Catherine Carlson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Coordinator<br>
Testing & Evaluation/Student Records Department<br>
Salem-Keizer School District<br>
503-399-5590<br>
FAX 503-391-4088<br>
<i>Supporting student achievement through information, professional development, and assessment services</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Assessment_Advisory_Committee [mailto:assessment_advisory_committee-bounces@listsmart.osl.state.or.us]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Bill Stewart<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, September 28, 2015 8:24 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> HEIDE Jordan<br>
<b>Cc:</b> assessment_advisory_committee@listsmart.osl.state.or.us<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Text-to-Speech on Tablets and Chromebooks<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Jordan,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Interesting situation! Since the 'problem' can't be fixed and the function can't be blocked, it leaves ODE and DTCs caught in the middle.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">The proposed workaround seems reasonable, with a few caveats.
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1) I'd suggest changing 'support' to 'allow' under the bold header <b>"<span style="color:black">Proposed Workaround"</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="color:black">2) Include a
<b>STRONGLY </b>worded disclaimer that<b> this is a workaround</b> of an unfixable
<b>technical issue </b>and that districts should<b> use it with caution. </b>Sort of a 'buyer beware' statement...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="color:black">3) Include, if possible, the
<b>likelihood of future fixes</b> that would <b>align the function</b> of tablets with the existing (or future) function of laptops and desktops. This could inform districts that are considering further investment in tablets for assessment.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="color:black">I hope this helps!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Bill</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 3:13 PM, HEIDE Jordan <<a href="mailto:jordan.heide@state.or.us" target="_blank">jordan.heide@state.or.us</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black">Dear Assessment Advisory Committee members,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black">ODE is requesting your feedback on whether to change its policy regarding allowing districts to use text-to-speech on tablets and Chromebooks.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="color:black">Issue</span></b><span style="color:black">: For technical reasons, the pause feature is not available for text-to-speech (TTS) on tablets and Chromebooks.
Students can stop TTS reading in the middle of an item or passage, but there is no way to have TTS resume reading where it was stopped. If the student activates TTS again for the same item or passages it will start again at the beginning. The pause feature,
which allows TTS to resume reading where it was paused, is available on desktops and laptops.
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="color:black">Current Policy</span></b><span style="color:black">: ODE has disallowed the use of TTS on tablets and Chromebooks on the basis that the inability to
pause TTS and then resume again at the place it was paused would disadvantage students testing on tablets and Chromebooks when they encountered a long passage or item<b>. It’s important to note that while this restriction is noted in all documentation and
user guides, AIR is not able to actually block TTS on tablets or Chromebooks.</b> AIR and ODE received a lot of calls from districts that were testing students on tablets and Chromebooks and wanted to be able to use TTS. They questioned why it was not available
and stated that it was a great inconvenience to not be able to use it. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span style="color:black">Proposed Workaround:
</span></b><span style="color:black">AIR has proposed some workarounds as an alternative to the pause feature if ODE decides to support TTS on tablets and Chromebooks in 2015-2016:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="font-family:Symbol;color:black">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;color:black">
</span><span style="color:black">Students can select the text they want read aloud and TTS will read only the selected text. Therefore, if a student pauses a passage in the middle and wants the TTS to resume where the passage was paused, the student can highlight
the remainder of the passage.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="font-family:Symbol;color:black">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;color:black">
</span><span style="color:black">We can include in the documentation the recommendation that if a student will use TTS a desktop or laptop computer should be used for the ELA performance task test, which is the test that has the longest passages.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black">To inform ODE’s decision-making on whether to allow TTS use on tablets and Chromebooks with the proposed workarounds, please respond with your feedback
by <b>Wednesday, September 30</b>.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="color:black">Thank you as always for your input!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Bill Stewart<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Special Projects<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Gladstone SD<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:stewartw@gladstone.k12.or.us" target="_blank">stewartw@gladstone.k12.or.us</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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