Study Guide

Field 045: Special Education Specialist: Visually Impaired
Sample Constructed-Response Assignment

The following materials contain:

Directions for the Braille Transcription Assignment

This section of the test involves transcribing a passage into Unified English Braille (UEB). Your transcription must be made using a Classic Perkins Brailler® that can accommodate the 11" × 11.5" paper provided by the test administrator. You must use a 40-cell line and should make maximum use of each line. However, do not divide or hyphenate words at the end of a line. Your transcription should be done in Unified English Braille (UEB). It is not necessary to number your pages in braille.

The following errors will be counted as incorrect in your transcription.

  • contractions omitted or misused
  • characters misformed (including added or omitted dots)
  • characters inserted or omitted
  • text omitted or repeated
  • spacing errors
  • format irregularities
  • punctuation or composition signs omitted or inserted
  • erasures detectable by touch

If you need additional braille paper, notify your test administrator. When you have completed your final version of the transcription, check the appropriate box at the bottom of the page containing your final version. Your score for this section will be based solely on the version of your transcription that you designate as the final version.

Sample Braille Transcription Assignment

Transcribe the following passage into braille.

The mid-nineteenth century expansion of settlements west of the Mississippi is a common subject of historians' work. In examining this phenomenon, it is important to keep in mind that this expansion was the sum of many individual experiences. Those people who moved westward were courageous pioneers who made many sacrifices along the way. In her writings, Laura Ingalls Wilder recorded her family's experiences as they moved from the relatively crowded territory of Minnesota to the vast open prairie of South Dakota.

About the Braille Transcription Assignment

Specifications

In the transcription section, representation of words (including contractions), partial words, letters, numbers, and symbols must be exactly accurate.

Scores are based on 32 words (including contractions), partial words, letters, numbers, and symbols from the passage, selected in advance of the assessment administration. Capitalization and punctuation may be considered in scoring. The use of short-form words in conjunction with whole-word, part-word, and other classes of contractions must be exactly accurate.

Directions for Scoring the Special Education Specialist: Visually Impaired Braille Transcription Assignment

This section of the assessment involves transcribing a passage into Unified English Braille (UEB). Your transcription must be made using a Classic Perkins Brailler® that can accommodate the 11" × 11.5" paper provided by your assessment administrator. You must use a 40-cell line and should make maximum use of each line. However, do not divide or hyphenate words at the end of a line. Your transcription should be done in Unified English Braille (UEB). It is not necessary to number your pages in Braille.

The following errors will be counted as incorrect in your transcription.

BRAILLE TRANSCRIPTION NOTATION NOTATION DESCRIPTION
Items 1–32
C
 Correct—the candidate's response is a correct and appropriate representation of the word, partial word, letter, number, or symbol transcribed from the written passage, i.e., the response conforms to the standards of Unified English Braille (UEB).

If the response is not correct, circle one of the following choices:

BRAILLE TRANSCRIPTION NOTATION NOTATION DESCRIPTION
Items 1–32
NC
 Not Correct—the candidate's response is an incorrect representation of the word, partial word, letter, number, or symbol transcribed from the written passage, i.e., the response does not conform to the standards of Unified English Braille (UEB).
Items 1–32
U
 Unscorable—the candidate's response is illegible or is not in Braille.
Items 1–32
B
 Blank—There is no response to the assignment.

Score Point Descriptions

The Special Education Specialist: Visually Impaired assignment is a transcription task. In a transcription task, 32 elements are underlined. Each of these underlined elements is considered in scoring candidates' responses.

Score Point Correct Incorrect
4
 30–32 0–2
3
 28–29 3–4
2
 26–27 5–6
1
 0–25 7–32
U
 The response is Unscorable because it is too incomplete to score (i.e., unrelated to the assignment, is unreadable, is not in Braille, or does not contain a sufficient amount of work to score).
B
 There is no response to the assignment.