Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) aka

Accessible Educational Materials (AEM)

by Valerie Wilson

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West Virginia’s Landscape

Demographic Data

State Enrollment by Special Education Status Trend

Special Education Status by Race for 2014-2015

General Education: Full Time (LRE=0) 64%

General Education: Part-Time (LRE=1)

25%Special Education: Separate Class

(LRE=2) 8%

OSE (LRE=5)1%

Parentally Placed in Privace School

(LRE=8)1%

Least Restrictive EnvironmentsWest Virginia

December 1, 2014

All studentsGrades: PK - 12

Of all students, 48% qualify as Low-SES

Student demographics, SY 2013-2014

Of all students, 15% qualify as SWD

62% of SWD qualify as Low-SES

Data source: End of Year Certified Enrollment file, 2013 – 2014Notes: Results incorporate all school districts (including WVSDB & Institutional Programs), Grades Pre-K – 12, analysis excludes exceptionally gifted (EG) and gifted (GF) from SWD classification

• 43,250 of West Virginia’s 274,363 students have IEPs Ages 3-21• Represent 15-16% of the student population• Special education status by race between 16% of White and 16% of Black or

African American subgroups• Largest eligibility groups are speech language impaired at 29% and specific

learning disabled at 29%• 16% of students intellectually disabled including mild, moderate, and severe• 84% of SWDs within average range of intelligence• Approximately 62% are low socio-economic status (SES)• West Virginia’s percentage of students with disabilities ages 6-21 is 2.8%

higher than the nation• West Virginia’s percentage of students with disabilities ages 3-5 is 2.6%

higher than the nation

West Virginia Students with Disabilities - Demographics

Online at http://wvde.state.wv.us/osp/accessiblematerials.html

What is AEM?• AIM or AEM are materials that are designed or converted in a

way that makes them usable across the widest range of student variability in any format (print, digital, graphical, audio, video).

• IDEA specifically focuses on accessible formats of print instructional materials. In relation to IDEA, the term AIM refers to print instructional materials that have been transformed into the specialized formats of braille, large print, audio, or digital text. 

• AIM provides exactly the same content in a format that makes the information usable by the widest range of students.

Accommodations vs. Modifications

Accommodations and Modifications:

How They’re Different

Formats for AEM

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ACTUAL PASSAGE:LEARNING DISABILITY SIMULATION

I suspect that children with learning disabilities may experience an "Alice in Wonderland" existence. They may become confused by symbols we give them, may feel pressured by the length of time in which to do it and may become frustrated by failure. Often, students with learning disabilities do not learn the traditional way, so we must teach them differently.

Do you have students:1. who are not reading “typical” grade level

instructional materials? or

2. whose problem solving teams believe progress would increase if barriers to accessing instructional materials were lowered?

• Then you have students who need AEM!

Data Disconnect• WV Data Disconnect:

– August 2011- 292 students served– August 2012- 611 student served– August 2014 – 749 students served

• Physical disability – 38%• Visual Impairment – 16%• Learning Disability – 47%

• National Studies:– Statistical Probability (approx 2- 4% of general pop)– 5,643 -

11,285 in WV– Statistical Probability for Students with IEPs (20% - 40%) -

8,852 - 17,703 in WV

• 2013 WESTEST2 Read Aloud Accommodation:– All grades: 18,926– 3 – 11 grades: 16,743

What Is the Relationship to FAPE?

“Timely access to appropriate and accessible instructional materials is an inherent component of [an LEA’s/SEA’s] our obligation under [IDEA] to ensure:

• that FAPE is available for children with disabilities and • that children with disabilities participate in the general

education curriculum as specified in their IEPs.”

–Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), 71 Fed Reg. 46618

AIM-Related Responsibilities of Decision-Making Teams

1. Establish need for instructional materials in specialized format(s)

2. Select specialized format(s) needed by a student for educational participation and achievement

3. Commence the defined steps to acquire needed format(s) in a timely manner

4. Determine supports needed for effective use for educational participation and achievement.

#1

Establish the need for instructional materials in specialized format(s)

Who Needs AIM?

• Students whose disability presents difficulty accessing traditional instructional materials, such as print or locked digital materials effectively.

• Students with sensory, orthopedic or learning-related impairments

Who Needs AIM?

• Struggling readers?• Students lacking English proficiency?

Who Needs AIM?

• Students who simply prefer options for different tasks or for use in different environments.

Who Needs AIM?

• If any student is unable to read traditional grade level print instructional materials

• at a sufficient rate and with adequate comprehension to complete academic tasks with success, relative to same-age peers,

• or cannot do this independently, or cannot do this across environments and tasks,

• then the student may need AIM.

Video

Students Speak Out on Accessible Instructional Materials

#2

Select specialized format(s) needed by a student for educational participation and

achievement

The AEM Navigator• A process facilitator to help educators, families,

and students make decisions about AIM for an individual student

–(Not a screening or evaluative tool)

The AIM Explorer

A free downloadable simulation tool that combines grade-leveled digital text with access features common to most text readers and supported reading software.

#3

Commence the defined steps to acquire needed format(s) in a timely manner

Bookshare and Learning Ally

Who qualifies to use these resources?

http://www.bookshare.org/ - free

http://www.learningally.org/ - paid

Online Comparison

Acceptable Devices

• PC• Mac (app available on iTunes)• Android (app available on Google Play)• iOS Apple devices (ipod, ipod Touch, iPad)

NIMAC

National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center

Who Qualifies for NIMAC?

Authorized Users of NIMAC in WV:

Bookshare and Learning Ally*Not all web based materials are

accessible.

Timely Provision of AIM

Page 17 of the AIM-WV guidance document shows the steps to acquire

AIM for students with an IEP or 504 plan and a print disability.

Page18 of the AIM-WV guidance document shows the steps to acquire AIM for students who do not meet the criteria for copyright law but may benefit from AIM

Tools for Students Who Don’t Qualify for AIM

• Read&Write for Google (Chrome Required)

– Read Write Gold– Kurzweil 3000

• Access Tools From WVTIS

#4

Determine supports needed for effective use for educational participation and achievement

Technology

Assistive Technology

SETT Process

WVATS

Training

Instructional Strategies

Support Services

REMINDER: Accommodations and Modifications

• AIM Navigator• http://aem.cast.org/navigating/aem-navigator.html#.VWouS1xVikp

• AIM Explorer• http://aem.cast.org/navigating/aim-explorer.html#.VWouc1xViko

• AIM-WV Guidance Document• http://wvde.state.wv.us/osp/AIMwvguidanceMay2015.pdf

• Audio Supported Reading• http://aim.cast.org/learn/student_learning/ASR/forBVI#.U1_QGfldWSo

• Jeff Diedrich, CCC-SLP, Director, Michigan’s Integrated Technology Supports Ruth Ziolkowski, MBA, OTR, President, Don Johnston Incorporated Presentation at ATIA 2009, Orlando, Florida

• National Center on Accessible Educational Material • http://aem.cast.org/

• Accommodations and Modifications: How They’re Different

• SETT Process• http://www.joyzabala.com/Documents.html

Free Android and iOS Text-to-Speech

• Most new android and iOS devices have text to speech built in

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-prep-for-dictation-on-the-samsung-galaxy-ta.html • Text to speech translator can be used

translating from English to English

Other AT web extensions

• www.readability.com Takes away distracting information from a webpage http://www.readability.com/bookmarklets

• Chrome extension: TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) makes a summary of the webpage of information

West Virginia Library Commision

• Visit their website: http://www.librarycommission.wv.gov/– Under Services, select “Special Services

Library”

• http://www.librarycommission.wv.gov/services/specialservices/Pages/default.aspx

• Download an application

Talking books

• Receive in the mail, free of charge a Daisy reader

• Receive a catalog with new book available every 3 months

• Email titles and numbers for books you want to talkbks@wvlc.lib.wv.us

• Receive in the mail, listen, and return• Materials are free as long as you are using them

Features• Easy navigation (unlike cd’s)

– Page– Chapter in the Table of Contents

• Controls for speed, and tone without distortion of speaker’s voice

• Bookmarking to save your place• Narration by real people; also includes charts,

graphs, and pictures• Easy search by isbn, autor, title, keyword• Many current popular fiction available with VoiceText

Great resource

Free Technology Toolkit for UDL in All Classroomshttp://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/home

What are the 4 formats of accessible instructional materials (AIM) described in IDEA?

What 2 attributes must a student have to qualify for free AIM from the NIMAC (National Instructional Materials Access Center)?

The AIM Navigator tool should be used during an IEP meeting. (T or F)

Ticket out the Door

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