APH and UEB
Presented by:
Cathy Senft-Graves
and
Robin Wingell
Agenda
 Introductions
 Policies regarding UEB Transition at the
American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
 APH products which are or will soon be UEB
compliant
 Plans for and progress on the revision of the
Building on Patterns (BOP) curriculum
 Interim plans to incorporate UEB in BOP
Steps Toward Transition
 November 2012: BANA adopts UEB
 October 2013: BANA’s first UEB Transition
Forum chooses January 4, 2016
implementation date
 November 2013: BANA affirms
implementation date
 July 2014: APH announces transition plan
Policies Regarding UEB Transition at APH
 Orders for textbooks in subjects using literary braille (i.e.,
social studies and language arts), not previously
transcribed, will be produced in UEB for the 2015-16
school year.
 Orders for textbooks in technical subjects (i.e., science
and mathematics), not previously transcribed, will be
produced in UEB and/or UEB with Nemeth Code for the
2015-16 school year.
 Textbooks previously transcribed will be available in their
original codes, following APH’s policy of not duplicating
previously transcribed textbooks and supplementary
materials.
Policies Regarding UEB Transition at APH
 APH will transcribe assessment materials in the codes
requested by customers who contract with APH to make
assessments accessible in hardcopy and/or refreshable
braille. APH recognizes that assessment materials must be
available in the code that is used most efficiently by each
test taker (as indicated on his/her Individual Education
Plan or 504 Plan). APH is committed to providing multiple
formats for these high stakes assessments.
Policies Regarding UEB Transition at APH
 APH will gradually transition instructional and assessment-
related catalog products and materials to UEB and UEB
with Nemeth Code throughout the next several years.
Implementing UEB Transition at APH
 Braille Transcription
 All transcribers have completed or are in the process of
completing the Australian UEB Online (AUO) course.
 Newly hired transcribers (approx. 6) are training with the
AUO course and the NLS lessons made available this
year.
 Proofreaders are training with the AUO course.
 Accessible Tests
 All personnel have completed or are in the process of
completing the Australian UEB Online (AUO) course.
Implementing UEB Transition at APH
 Accessible Textbooks
 All in-house personnel have completed the AUO course.
 All of the prison programs we are working with have
either all completed a UEB course or have a plan to
complete it by the end of May 2015.
 When we outsource new transcriptions, we request a
copy of the transcriber’s UEB certification.
 Braille Transcribers Apprentice Program (BTAP)
 First transcriber starts in March, one more in June
New Products Being Produced in UEB
or UEB and Nemeth
 Emergent Literacy
 VIPS@Home: Power At Your Fingertips
 VIPS@Home: Emergent Literacy
 PAIVI (Parents and Their Infants With Visual
Impairments) Second Edition Practitioners Manual
 PAIVI Learning Together booklet
 PAIVI Getting Ready for Preschool booklet
New Products Being Produced in UEB
or UEB and Nemeth
 Touch, Label, and Learn Poster: Human
Skeleton (Anterior View)
 Instruction sheets for Nemeth Numbers Feel ‘N
Peel stickers UEB Basic Math Symbols and
Nemeth Basic Math Symbols
 All Aboard! The Sight Word Activity Express
 Building on Patterns, Prekindergarten
 Building on Patterns UEB Supplements
Building on Patterns Revision
Building on Patterns
 Only “basal reading series” for teaching braille
reading and writing
 Building on Patterns Team
 External Writing Teams from Arkansas, California,
and Oregon (All members of the writing teams are
experienced teachers of students with visual
impairments.)
 APH Staff
 Consultants to the program
Building on Patterns
 2nd Revision began immediately after completion of
BOP 2nd Grade (original Patterns went through 3rd
grade)
 Original intent to begin revising BOP Kindergarten
 Writers and consultants determined a need for
Prekindergarten BOP to lead into Kindergarten
based on state standards and checklists for
Kindergarten entry
Research to Support Need for
Pre-K Program
 National Early Literacy Panel Report
 Common Core and Pre-K State Standards
 National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC) Early Learning Standards
 Quality Literacy Instruction Study
 Current BOP-K Survey
Current BOP-K Survey
 Online survey conducted 11/14/12 – 12/20/12
 75 respondents from 22 states and the US Virgin
Islands
 97% of respondents TVIs
 Participants were asked:
 What is taught in BOP-K that should be taught in a
pre-kindergarten early literacy program?
BOP-K Survey Results:
Teach Before Kindergarten
 When asked what is taught in BOP-K that should be
taught in a Pre-K emergent literacy program, the top
three responses were:
 phonemic awareness and phonics
 the alphabet, or an introduction to the alphabet
contractions
 at least the first 12 lessons of BOP-K should be taught
earlier.
BOP-K Survey Results:
Teach Before Kindergarten
 Other specific skills that received multiple mentions were:
 Tracking, reading with both hands
 Rhyming
 Introduction of braille cell
 Capital sign
 Period
 Spatial awareness/directionality: left to right; top, bottom,
middle
 Concepts/concept development
 Tactile identification as fun activities
 Listening comprehension
 Vocabulary
NELP Variables for
Literacy Development
 Alphabet knowledge
 Phonological awareness
 Rapid Automatic Naming of letters or digits
 Rapid Automatic Naming of objects or
colors
 Writing or writing name
 Phonological memory
Quality Literacy Instruction Study
Skill Areas
Consistency
Total Time per
Day
Time Span
Duration
Emergent Braille
Literacy Skills
1 to 5
1/2 to
days/week 1 hour
Infancy to
Preschool
At least one
school year
Early Formal
Literacy Skills
("prebraille")
Daily
1/2 to
1 hour
PreschoolAt least one
Kindergarten school year
Beginning Braille
Literacy Skills
Daily
1-2 hours
per day
Kindergarten- At least one
Grade 3
school year
Beginning Literacy Daily
Skills in Dual Media
(Print and Braille)
1-2 hours
per day
Kindergarten- At least one
Grade 3
school year
Project SLATE /Framework for Braille
Professional Consensus on Instructional Considerations for Students in Braille Literacy Programs
Koenig, A. J., & Holbrook, M. C. (2000). Assuring quality literacy instruction in braille literacy programs. Journal of Visual Impairment
and Blindness, 94(11), 677-694.
Need for BOP Pre-K
 BOP-K survey confirmed a need for Pre-K braille
literacy material
 Pre-K will be a separate curriculum as is available in
general education programs
 Maryland Common Core State Curriculum
Frameworks for Braille includes Pre-K skills
 Keeping pace with peers: many entering
kindergarteners recognize letters & numbers, read
and write their names
Selected BOP Principles
 BOP will be a part of a comprehensive program
 Importance of consistent literacy instruction from






qualified TVI
Service delivery is diverse
Literacy instruction should be evidence-grounded
and on-going research should be conducted
Value of authentic literature
Concept development through literacy instruction
Connections to the ECC
Students have individual needs, likes and dislikes
Components of BOP Pre-K
 Reading and Writing Braille Letters and Numbers
 Reading and Writing Simple Connected Text
 Dialogic Reading with Authentic Literature
 Comprehension and Vocabulary
 Phonological Awareness and Phonics
 Knowledge and Concept Development
 Tactile Skills, including Graphics
Purposes of Pilot Field Test
 Ask for feedback from Pre-K teachers on
Lessons 2, 3, and 4
 Get video examples of Pre-K children working
through parts of lessons
 Check length of lessons and activities within
lessons
 Gather information about service delivery impact
on completion of lessons
Our Pilot Testers
 3 sites
 Kentucky, New Mexico, and Florida
 2 service delivery models
 Center based and Itinerant
 Participants
 7 teachers and 7+ children
Key Findings
 Stories (trade books) are interesting but some are a
little long; children responded more (and better) to
the second reading of the book
 Vocabulary words—good balance between simple
and challenging words
 Comprehension—these young children had some
difficulty with “open ended” questions and questions
that asked children to “personalize” something in the
story
Key Findings (continued)
 Children have difficulty producing written work on the
braille writer (Perkins) but teachers saw value in
ongoing practice to encourage finger strength, finger
isolation and span [writers are including consistent
practice in lessons]
 Largest issue was lesson length and consistency.
Writers have made major changes to plans for the
lessons that addresses these concerns
 Children liked songs and other enrichment activities
(The Wheels on the Bus; art projects)
Key Findings (continued)
 Children liked the Tactile Storybooks
 Discovered issues that need to be addressed in
some way:
 Rhyming Words
 Comprehension Questions
 Introduction of the Swing Cell
 Enjoyment of tactile graphics symbols
 Teachers reported that even if their student has
trouble with some things (e.g., finger strength) it is
good to work on them
Pre-K Changes
Based on Field Testing
 BOP Pre-k writers have reviewed results of the pilot
field test and are working to:
 Shorten and/or reduce the number of activities within
the lesson
 Decrease the length of the curriculum by shortening
the length of review and assessment lessons
 Attend to needed practice in areas of concern to
teachers
In Every Lesson
 Reading of Authentic Literature Story
 Comprehension and Vocabulary
 Tactile Storybook
 Writing: Practice Exercises and Modeled/Interactive
 Phonological Awareness
 Knowledge and Concept Development
 Letter Recognition and Phonics
 Number Recognition
 Reading Continuous Text
Additional Lesson Features
 Daily reading of alphabet
 Regular reading of numbers 1-10
 Enrichment: Music
 Other enrichment activities such as art or movement
 Parent Letter
 Letter Bank
Authentic Literature
Pete the Cat
and
His Four Groovy Buttons
by
Eric Litwin
Vocabulary
groovy: really cool; great; awesome
favorite: the one he liked best
popped: came off or fell off
buttonless: without buttons, no buttons
Tactile Storybook Cover:
Pete’s Buttons
Tactile Storybook Page
#a
3333 = 333 = 3333 = 333 = 33
3333333333333333 #d 33333333
333333333 pop 33333333333333
Fun Learning Activities!
Field Testing
 APH uses the comments and recommendations
gathered from experts in the field to refine and
improve products before actual production.
 Complete form available at:
http://www.aph.org/edresearch/
 Contact Laura Zierer, Research Assistant,
lzierer@aph.org
Building on Patterns
UEB Teacher Supplements
and
Updated Student Materials
Components
 Student textbooks and worksheets in UEB
 Posttest materials for First Grade and
Second Grade in UEB
 Free, downloadable supplements for the
existing teacher’s editions with information
on what changes for UEB
Changes Being Made Now
 Stopped production of student materials in old code
 Retranslating student materials in UEB as needed
 Only 4 pages in one BOP Kindergarten book changes
 Student Textbooks for Units 1 and 2 of First Grade do
not change
 All worksheets in First and Second Grade change due
to page numbering (WS24-6 is now ,,ws#bd-#f)
 Writing teacher supplements
Teacher Supplements Content
 Introductory page of information
 How to read the charts
 General changes not listed in the charts
 Chart of changes for each Lesson
 Page number in Teacher’s Edition (TE)
 Location: Where on page in TE, or Student Textbook
page number, or Worksheet page number
 Description of change
 Additional location information and type of change
GRADE 1: UNIT 5, LESSON 25
Location
TE / WS / ST
TE Page
Change
Sentence
Spacing Rule Omissions
61
ST 19
last line
with a
62
ST 20
line 5
for a
66
WS25-3
#4
of the /
with the
72
ST 24
last line
and a
73
ST 25
line 1
of the
ST 25
line 2
of the
ST 29
line 5
and a
77
78
ST 30
UEB does not have a
contraction for "com."
ST 30
87
WS25-8
line 2
line 2
UEB does not have a
contraction for "to."
come: com
omitted
#3
for a
to
Ordering
 Taking fax orders for new kits and student materials
for Kindergarten and First Grade levels
 Orders have to be accompanied by Federal Quota
Funds Order Form (APH website)
 Asking for orders to be placed by April 15
 Kits will now be “student kits”; teacher’s editions sold
separately
 First and Second Grade Posttests will also be
updated to UEB; only asking for orders on First
Grade Posttest at this time
Questions?
Please Consider Field Testing!
 APH uses the comments and recommendations
gathered from experts in the field to refine and
improve products before actual production.
 Complete form available at:
http://www.aph.org/edresearch/
 Contact Laura Zierer, Research Assistant,
lzierer@aph.org