Special Examination Arrangements for Students with Different Special Educational Needs

 Hearing Impairment

Students with hearing impairment have difficulties not only in listening, oral and dictation of Chinese and English, but also in Putonghua and Music. Generally speaking, the assessment accommodations or special examination arrangements for students with hearing impairment must take into account the severity of their hearing impairment, their communication abilities, the use of hearing aids and rehabilitation training received.

 Assessment should be conducted in a quiet room without reverberations. Students with hearing impairment should be seated far away from noises and close to the teacher or the source of sound for better reception of sound.

 Teachers should encourage students with hearing impairment to use their amplification devices during assessments. If necessary, schools should make arrangement for them to use their devices together with assistive listening devices such as audio equipment, loop systems or FM systems, etc. Students should try out the devices before assessments and get to understand the operation and reception condition of the devices.

 Should there be any special announcements during the examination or test, teachers should write the main points on the blackboard to ensure that students with hearing impairment fully understand all the arrangements and adjustments.

 During assessment, teachers should allow sufficient time for students to understand clearly questions or instructions given verbally. Teachers can adjust the time required for assessments on a discretionary basis so as to allow sufficient time for them to figure out the requirements of the questions before answering.

 If students encounter difficulties in receiving instructions or understanding the content of the examination, teachers should repeat the questions or instructions in simpler wordings to avoid misunderstanding of the questions or instructions, which would affect the students’ performance in assessments. During assessments, teachers should preferably

32

use short sentences to brief students with hearing impairment the key points of the instructions, or repeat the instructions to the students face to face.

 During listening tests, appropriate pauses such as prolonged pauses and/or more frequent pauses in the audiotape can be arranged upon the needs of those students with hearing impairment. If students with hearing impairment cannot listen clearly from better located seats, they can use assistive listening devices to enhance the effectiveness of reception. If the situation allows, teachers can stay in front of the students with hearing impairment and read aloud the listening materials so as to let them grasp the content by lip reading.

 During oral examination, teachers should sit in front of the students with hearing impairment, so as to facilitate the use of lip reading in understanding the conversation.

 During dictation, teachers should stay in front of the students with hearing impairment, thus facilitating their use of lip reading to grasp the content of the dictation. Teachers can also adjust, on a discretionary basis, the number of times of reading aloud and the duration of the dictation. This is to allow the students sufficient time to grasp the content and write the words. If necessary, teachers should let the students know clearly the scope of dictation at the earliest time possible for better preparation. Teachers can replace lengthy dictations with other assessment tasks, such as dictation by recitation or by fill in the blanks with key words/ terms. If results of these students and other students are incompatible as the contents of dictation are different, schools can consider exempting the dictation scores.

 For assessment conducted in small groups, schools should arrange appropriate seats for the students with hearing impairment so that they can face other students of the discussion group with their better ears or the ears prescribed with hearing aids, and ensure that they have adequate opportunities to communicate and fair chances to express.

Schools should note that the above arrangements aim to encourage students to participate in internal examinations as far as possible and these arrangements are not exactly the same as special arrangements in public examinations. Regarding the current special examination arrangements in public examinations for students with different levels of hearing impairment, please refer to the related information of HKEAA.

33

There may be individual students with hearing impairment having substantial severity of functional limitations to attempt the parts of examination requiring listening or speaking. For example, some students with moderately severe hearing impairment or above may be unable to attempt dictation and the listening part of Putonghua and Music, etc.; and some students with severe or profound hearing impairment may find it difficult to attempt oral examinations.

Hence, teachers may consider granting exemption to students with hearing impairment from parts of the examinations in view of their functional limitations.

34

 Visual Impairment (VI)

 Extra time arrangements

 Extra time arrangements should be given to students with VI in accordance with the nature/severity of their disabilities and the amount of reading/writing required in the assessment. For example, 33.3% to 75% extra time is to be given to students who are totally blind or having moderate to severe low vision, and 25% to 33.3% extra time for students with mild low vision.

 For students with VI with multiple disabilities, appropriate amount of additional time should be added on top of the above arrangements in accordance with the recommendations made by an ophthalmologist, an optometrist of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind or the Resource Support Programme (RSP) teacher from Ebenezer School.

 Exemption

 Senior secondary students who are totally blind or with severe low vision should be allowed to choose, depending on individual competency, to be exempted from taking the questions involving complicated diagrams / graphics.

 Senior secondary students who are totally blind or with severe low vision or moderate low vision should be allowed to choose to be exempted from taking the questions on map reading in Geography, the questions on drawing description in Visual Arts and the part on sight playing / sight reading in Music. If students choose to sit for the part on sight playing / sight reading in Music, schools should give them longer preparation time.

 Supervised breaks during assessment

 A 5-minute supervised break for every 45 minutes during assessment should be given to secondary school students with VI.

 A 5-10 minute supervised break for every 30 minutes during assessment should be given to primary school students with VI.

35

 Special examination papers

 Candidates should be provided with Braille question papers. Question papers in soft copy or enlarged print in accordance with the severity of their VI. Question papers in enlarged print are usually no bigger than A3 size, with font size adjusted in accordance with the severity of the students’ VI. To minimize the possibility of jumping lines during reading, it is better for schools to print the questions on normal-sized paper using larger font size.

 Diagrams or charts in the question papers should be adapted or transformed into Braille form according to the needs of students. The lines of the diagrams must be clear and duly simplified. There should also be adequate space between two diagrams with appropriate legends as needed.

 For Braille examination papers, questions with the same difficulty level should replace those that cannot be represented in Braille form (e.g. questions containing photos, complex charts, maps, diagrams and drawings that are difficult to read tactilely, or questions that require students to answer with complex drawings/charts).

 Students should be allowed to use alternate ways to present their answers. For example, for multiple-choice (MC) questions, writing down the English letters that stand for the answers instead of circling them or filling in the MC answer sheets; for sentence scramble, allowing students to write down the numbers representing different parts of the sentence instead of rewriting the whole sentence.

 If necessary, schools should provide students with special answer sheets, such as those with larger grids or wider-spaced lines or Braille answer sheets.

 Oral examinations

 Extra preparation time should be given to students with VI in accordance with the severity of their VI and the amount of reading required: 50% to 70% additional time for totally blind students or students with moderate low vision or severe low vision;

and 30% to 66% additional time for students with mild low vision.

36

 Assistive aids

 These include optical magnifiers, CCTV (closed circuit television), magnification system, Braille display, computers and screen readers, etc.

 Schools may allow students with VI who need to use computers and Braille display to use screen readers during examinations.

 Regarding the points to note on reading aloud of papers and using screen readers, please refer to Section 4 of Chapter IV.

 Practical tests

 Exempt students from taking practical tests on measurement of distance and judgment on space.

 Provide colour discrimination assistance to students with VI who have colour blindness or colour deficiency.

 Listening tests

 Longer pauses (approximately double the length of a normal pause) should be given.

 Recommendations on marking

 When marking questions that involve using measuring instruments, drawing charts/shapes or judgment of space, emphasis should be on the students’ mastery of the concepts.

 For students using the Chinese Braille input system for answering, marks should not be deducted for homophone prints.

Regarding the classification of VI, the extent of extra time allowance and the principles for various special arrangements in public examinations, please refer to the related information of the HKEAA.

37

 Physical Disability

Physical disability (PD) refers to the disability caused by diseases of the central and peripheral neurological systems, traumas or other congenital diseases of the musculoskeletal systems. These conditions might affect a student’s motor co-ordination, speech, writing and daily activities, as well as their performance in Physical Education, Music, Visual Arts, Design and Technology, and subjects with laboratory experiments. Cerebral palsy, spina bifida, spinal muscular atrophy, muscular dystrophy, amputation, osteogenesis imperfecta, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis are the main categories of PD in Hong Kong.

 Solicitation of professional advice: Schools should consult the opinions of students, parents, teachers and professionals such as doctors, physiotherapists or occupational therapists for understanding the physical conditions of the students, their writing abilities and speed, etc. in order to provide them with appropriate arrangements in learning and examinations.

 Examination venue and additional assistance: Schools should arrange students with mobility problems to sit near the exit to facilitate their getting in and out. They should also arrange students using wheelchairs or other mobility aids to have single-file seats so that they have enough space to move around with the wheelchairs or place their mobility aids. Subject to the needs of individual students, schools should provide the students with necessary assistive aids and facilities such as computers and purpose-built desks and chairs. Schools should also arrange invigilators to provide assistance, e.g. helping students to handle laboratory equipment when they are doing practical assessments.

 Extra time: Depending on the severity of disabilities of students and making reference to the recommendations of the professionals, and also taking into consideration the answering modes and writing requirements of different subjects, schools should provide appropriate extra time allowance. Generally speaking, students who are granted extra time allowance in written examinations will be given longer pauses in listening tests and longer preparation time in oral tests. Students with limitations in hand movements or those with weaker physique should also be allowed to take short supervised breaks during examinations.

38

 Special arrangements in answering mode: Subject to circumstances, schools can allow students to use computer input method instead of handwriting during examinations.

Students who have a confirmed diagnosis of neurological impairment such as cerebral palsy and assessed by professionals as having severe difficulties in reading may use screen readers during examinations. (Regarding the points to note in reading aloud of papers and using screen readers, please refer to Section 4 of Chapter IV). Some students with severe cerebral palsy may need an amanuensis to write down the answers during the assessment.

 Discretion in marking: Teachers should consider the abilities and limitations of the students with physical disabilities when marking their papers. For example, for students with relatively poor hand coordination who cannot use the drawing instrument flexibly, no points should be taken off for lack of neatness in the drawings.

 Exemption: If a school has to modify the content or criteria of an assessment due to the disabilities of the students, e.g. for students with physical disabilities who cannot participate in sports skills or physical fitness tests of Physical Education, they can be exempted from these assessments and be only assessed on their knowledge and attitude.

39

 Intellectual Disability

The intellectual development of students with intellectual disability is significantly delayed in comparison with students of the same age. They have notable difficulties in thinking, memory, attention, language abilities, sensory motor skills, temporal and spatial organization as well as adaptive skills in daily life. Generally speaking, students with intellectual disability attending ordinary schools require curriculum tailoring.