Special Arrangements for Internal Examinations for
Students with Special Educational Needs
Education Bureau
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Revised in September 2015
With Supplementary Notes provided in November 2018
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Contents
Major Updates 2
I. Purpose of the Guideline 3
II. Special Examination Arrangements: Assessment Accommodations and Exemption from Examinations
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III. School Policies and Measures 7
IV. Assessment Accommodations 13
V. Exemption from Examinations / Provision of Alternate Examination Papers
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VI. Special Examination Arrangements for Students with Different Special Educational Needs
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VII. Reporting the Special Examination Arrangements Required by Students
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VIII. Application for Special Examination Arrangements in Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination
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IX. Enquiries 68
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Major Updates (in 2015) and Supplementary Notes (in 2018)
Chapter Section Major Updates
I. Purpose of the Guideline
Additional reference materials (2018)
III. School Policies and Measures
4. School-based Assessment in Public Examinations
Rearrangement of this section to Chapter VIII.
IV. Assessment Accommodations
○2 Modifications in response format
Points to Note are added.
○5 Other assistive aids
The use of speech-to-text software to input answers is added.
○6 Supervised breaks during examination
Points to Note are added.
○7 Additional assistance in examination centres
Points to Note are added.
Q&A on SEA Merging of Q&A into Choosing special examination arrangements
VI. Special Examination Arrangements for Students with Different Special Educational Needs
○
3 Physical DisabilityRearrangement of the SEA for students with Development Coordination Disorder to ○8 Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD).
○4 Intellectual Disability
The SEA for these students and their rationales are beefed up.
○5 Attention
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)
The SEA for these students and their rationales are beefed up.
Flowchart and case illustrations on considering the need for SEA for these students are added. (2018)
○6 Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
The SEA for these students and their rationales are beefed up.
Giving plain text labels/descriptions for question
papers with cartoons or complicated pictures is added.
Flowchart and case illustrations on considering the need for SEA for these students are added. (2018)
○8 Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)
The use of speech-to-text software to input answers is added to the section on SpLD in reading and writing.
○9Other Special Educational Needs
The SEA for students with mental Illness and their rationales are added. (2018)
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According to the principle of equal opportunities, schools should ensure that their assessment mechanism is fair to all students, including students with special educational needs (SEN). In Hong Kong, the major SEN types include hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical disabilities, intellectual disability, attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, speech and language impairment, specific learning difficulties as well as mental illness. Students with SEN may present with functional limitations related to their physical/
psychological conditions, and have their performance in tests/ examinations substantially affected. They may not be able to demonstrate during examinations the knowledge or skills they have mastered as other students do. Under these circumstances, schools need to provide them with special examination arrangements to ensure that they are equitably assessed.
The purpose of this guideline is to elucidate the principles schools should observe and the points to note when providing special examination arrangements for students in internal assessments. The special arrangements described in this guideline are applicable to internal examinations and assessments. In most cases, the rationale and principles of these special arrangements are also applicable to public examinations, including the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) and its School-based Assessment (SBA) component, the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA), and the three Internal Assessments (IA) in Primary five and six that are to be submitted to the Education Bureau as part of the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) system.
The purpose of public examinations is to assess students’ academic attainment through equitable, reliable and valid examinations. In general, the assessing organizations can arrange special examination arrangement for students with SEN, in circumstances where unfair advantages are avoided and the examination contents remain unchanged, to allow them to take the examination in a fair and appropriate setting. However, the purpose and nature of internal examinations and public examinations are not completely the same.
Subject to different considerations, some arrangements provided by schools for individual students in internal examinations may not be applicable to public examinations. For example, when the purpose of an internal assessment is to sustain the learning motivation of students,
I. Purpose of the Guideline
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or to assess the learning progress of students under a tailored curriculum, schools’
arrangements might be different.
When schools provide special arrangements that are not applicable to public examinations/
TSA/ IA for SSPA purpose, they are advised to facilitate parents and students to understand the arrangements and rationale behind. Before students sit for public examinations, schools should gradually adjust the arrangements so that they are close to those allowed in public examinations, so that students gradually get used to public examination requirements.
Other than this guideline, schools should also refer to the following relevant documents in order to get a clear understanding of the purposes and requirements of different examinations and obtain the latest information on individual examinations:
● The "Internal Assessment Guide for Schools" published by the Education Bureau in 2002
● The leaflet “Whole School Approach: Principles and Strategies for Assessment”
published by the Education Bureau in 2004
(http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/major-level-of-edu/special- educational-needs/supporting-resources/assessment_e1.pdf)
● The Resource CD on “Providing Special Examination Arrangement for Students with Special Educational Needs” published by Education Bureau in 2016 (Secondary schools may contact 35472228 for enquiry)
● The “FAQ: Providing Special Examination Arrangement for Students with Special Educational Needs” updated by the Education Bureau in 2018 (Chinese version only)
(https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/tc/edu-system/special/support/wsa/public-edu/sea_faq.pdf)
● The circular memoranda and letters on TSA and the SSPA System issued to schools by the Education Bureau annually
● Leaflets and online information published by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA)
(http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/Candidates/Special_Needs_Candidates/)
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Code of Practice on Education, Disability Discrimination Ordinance
Which parts of the "Code of Practice on Education" under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance are relevant to assessment accommodations?
The "Code of Practice on Education" stipulates that schools should review their assessment mechanisms in order to provide an equitable assessment for all students, including students with SEN and ordinary students.
Paragraph 17.1 states that "Educational establishments should ensure that their assessment mechanisms do not discriminate against students with disabilities. Teachers are advised to use a number of assessment methods in order to allow students, including those with disabilities, to display their competencies."
Paragraph 17.3 mentions that "Educational establishments should critically review their assessment methods adopted to ensure that they serve the purpose of the assessment.”
Paragraph 17.4 points out that "Sometimes the curriculum for students with disabilities is tailored in order to meet their individual needs; the content as well as the method of assessment should also be adjusted having regard to the tailored curriculum."
The website of the Equal Opportunities Commission "Disability Discrimination Ordinance - Code of Practice on Education" is:
http://www.eoc.org.hk/eoc/otherproject/eng/color/youthcorner/education/cop_edu/cop_edu_b.htm
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II. Special Examination Arrangements: Assessment Accommodations and Exemption from Examinations
Special examination arrangements include assessment accommodations and exemption. In general, all students, including students with SEN, should participate in assessment as far as possible, so that teachers can understand their learning progress and to adjust the teaching accordingly. Appropriate assessment accommodations should be able to reduce or remove the factors that limit students with SEN to demonstrate their learning outcomes in the examination process, without changing the nature or content of the assessment, or creating an unfair advantage over other students. Through the accommodations provided, schools can enable students to have a fair opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge or skills they have mastered.
For students who cannot participate in examinations of certain subjects or parts of certain subjects, schools should consider exempting them from taking part in these parts of examination. Unless necessary, schools should not exempt students from participating in assessment. When deciding whether exemption should be granted, schools should make reference to professional advice and the decision should be made by teachers, students and parents during case conferences or Individual Education Plan meetings. Schools should record and file the decisions made.
All in all, when schools provide special examination arrangements for students, decisions should be based on the functional limitations presented by the students as related to the SEN, and their actual needs, rather than merely the special need categories they belong to:
Students with SEN having adequate ability to take part in assessment, but require schools to make some special arrangements during the examination process in order to reduce or remove the effects brought about by functional limitations related to their SEN.
Assessment accommodations (See Chapter IV)
Students with SEN lacking the ability to sit for the
examinations of certain subjects or certain parts of certain subjects because of their deficits.
Exemption from examinations / Provision of alternate examination papers (See Chapter V)
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III. School Policies and Measures
Formulation of Assessment Policies
Schools should formulate appropriate assessment policies to achieve the target of facilitating learning through assessment.
Schools should assess students in an equitable situation, avoiding individual students being placed in a disadvantaged position during assessment due to their SEN, and ensure that they will have no unfair advantage over other students.
Students with SEN are in need of all around support, and providing special examination arrangement is only one among other support policies and strategies from the schools.
Proper Assessment Measures
Schools should adopt various modes of assessment in order to understand the progress of students in various aspects. Individual differences among students should be taken into account when designing the difficulty levels, types and quantity of questions.
Schools should consider the abilities of students when deciding the number of assessments. For the less able students, schools can divide the learning content into smaller units and conduct assessment right after the completion of a single unit. This will help students consolidate the learning content, as well as enable teachers to understand students’ progress and arrange early intervention.
The scoring criteria should link closely to the assessment objectives.
Schools should train up students’ examination-taking skills and appropriate assessment behaviour.
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Proper Design of Question Papers
How to design question papers that can reflect more accurately the abilities of students in assessment?
Content – content of the examinations should match with the teaching content, covering questions of different difficulty levels and types.
Volume – if the purpose of the assessment is not to test a student’s speed of writing, computation or reading, the volume of the question papers should be something that the majority of students can manage to finish within the time limit.
Wording – use simple words in concise sentences, so that students will not fail to answer due to difficulty in understanding the questions.
Layout of question papers –
Clear instructions, printing in appropriate font size and providing sufficient space for answering are recommended practices, so that a student’s performance will not be affected due to difficulties in reading, writing or sustaining attention.
For junior grade students, examples should be provided so that they can easily understand the question requirements and the kind of answering format required.
For questions which require students to read a substantial amount of text before answering, the text and the answering section should preferably be put on the same page. Alternatively, schools should consider placing the two parts on adjacent pages to facilitate students referring to the text when answering the questions.
Mode of answering – In circumstances when the assessment criteria are not affected, allow students to answer in different ways, such as in writing, oral presentation or figures.
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Setting of Suitable Marking Criteria
How to set marking criteria for valid assessment of the abilities of students?
If the assessment objective is to test a student’s mastery of learning content or skills, but the marking criteria over-emphasise the quality or accuracy of the format of answers or handwriting, the assessment objective has been changed.
If the assessment objective is to test a student’s problem-solving ability on mathematical applications, some marks should be granted if the student demonstrated the use of appropriate steps, even if there are computation errors.
If the assessment objective is not to test whether a student can dictate words accurately (e.g. in non-language subjects, as well as in the sentence scramble and reading comprehension sections in language papers), schools may consider setting a ceiling for deduction of marks for wrongly written words.
For the ‘content assessment’ part of an oral examination, marks should not be deducted for a student’s inaccurate articulation/pronunciation.
Examination Skills and Behaviours
For students with SEN, what examination skills and behaviours do they particularly need to learn?
Have a clear understanding of the format and requirements of the assessment in advance, such as the type of questions, mode of answering, time limit, etc.
Mark on the question papers to facilitate grasping of the main points
Understand the vocabulary commonly used in questions
Be on seat and work with good concentration
Manage the time well to finish answering
Follow the invigilators' instructions
Ask for help from the invigilators when necessary
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School Measures in Connection with Special Examination Arrangements
Early identification and intervention -- Schools should set up a mechanism for early identification of students who may have SEN and provide them with appropriate support.
For students having persistent or severe difficulties in learning or adjustment, schools should refer them for related assessment.
Set up a Student Support Team -- Schools should develop school-based support policies and include the internal special examination arrangements in the school policy papers.
Keep a register of students requiring support. Deploy resources to implement various arrangements, and review the relevant policies on a regular basis.
In developing school-based policies on special examination arrangements, schools should involve members of the Student Support Team, teachers in charge of examination affairs and the subject teachers in order that the policies can be implemented smoothly.
In order to implement the relevant policies smoothly, schools should facilitate teachers, parents and students to understand these arrangements in various platforms. For example:
Arrange professional training for teachers during staff meetings or on staff development days to enable teachers to understand and have consensus on the rationale and principles of special examination arrangements and related measures and have consensus.
By means of various channels, such as the school website, parent newsletters, seminars and activities of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), let all parents, including parents of students with SEN and parents of other students, understand the related arrangements.
Schools should enhance the general awareness and acceptance of special educational needs among students to reduce misunderstanding and labelling, so that students with SEN would be willing to accept special examination arrangements.
Schools should deploy sufficient manpower to implement various special examination arrangements, including preparation work such as liaison with parents and relevant professionals within and outside school, documentation, invigilation, and arrangements of the venue or assistive aids for examinations.
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Decide on the special examination arrangements required by individual students:
The Student Support Team should invite school professionals, as well as parents and teachers of the students to participate in case meetings or Individual Education Plan meetings.
Finalize various arrangements with reference to objectives and nature of assessment, as well as the views from all parties, including:
Recommendations from professionals / reports / medical certificates
Observations and recommendations from the class teacher or subject teachers
Opinions of the parents
Opinions of the students
Record the decision and file the relevant documents, and notify the students and their parents.
In case the special examination arrangements given to individual students may not be applicable to the public examinations, schools should let parents understand the situation.
Regular review on the effectiveness of the special examination arrangements for individual students:
Schools should review the effectiveness of the special examination arrangements in different ways, such as:
Observing the students’ performance in examinations by the invigilating teachers
Obtaining comments from teachers / parents / students
Monitoring the academic progress/ learning motivation of the students
Schools should regularly review the accommodation measures, so as to adjust them according to the needs of the students, e.g. a Primary one student who needs to have the questions read out to him/ her to facilitate his/ her answering may not necessarily need the same arrangement when he/ she has improved word reading ability in higher grade levels. Another example is that a student with SpLD in reading and writing who can finish answering the examination papers within the time
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given in primary school may not be able to do so in secondary school as he/ she has to process a greater amount of reading materials, and he/ she would need to have extra time allowance in examination then.
Transfer of information when a student changes school:
When a student is promoted to secondary school or changes school, subject to parental consent, the school should transfer the assessment report and records on the support and assessment accommodations to the new school.
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Assessment accommodations refer to the special arrangements made for students with SEN during the examination process, allowing them an equal opportunity to demonstrate their learning outcomes.
Principle
Appropriate assessment accommodations should reduce or remove the effects brought about by the functional limitations of students with SEN in the examination process, without changing the nature or content of the assessment, or creating an unfair advantage over other students.
Points to Note
Since appropriate assessment accommodations do not involve changing the nature or content of the examination, and do not cause any unfair advantage over other candidates, schools can use the assessment scores for cross comparison among students, and do not have to indicate on the report cards the types of accommodations provided for the students.
Types
Generally speaking, assessment accommodations include:
Extra time allowance○2 Modifications in response format
○3 Modification in presentation format
○4 Reading aloud of papers / Use of screen readers / Asking for pronunciation of words
○5 Other assistive aids
○6 Supervised breaks during examination
○7 Additional assistance in examination centres
○8 Abridged question papers
IV. Assessment Accommodations
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Points to Note in Providing Assessment Accommodations
Extra time allowance
Mode
For written papers, normally a 25% extra time allowance will be granted. The percentage can be adjusted upward or downward according to professional advice. The extra time allowance required by students with visual impairment or physical disabilities will depend on the severity of their disabilities and professional advice such as that of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, ophthalmologists, etc.
For oral examinations, extra time will be given to students with SpLD in reading and writing for reading the written text, or to students with communication difficulties for making responses.
For listening tests, prolonged pauses and/or more pauses in the audiotape can be arranged.
Points to note
Schools can arrange students requiring extra time allowance to sit for the examination in a separate room.
It is less desirable to arrange the students concerned to sit for the examination in the same venue as other students do. If such arrangement has to be made, schools may let these students start the examination earlier or collect their answer sheets at a later time.
Students granted with extra time allowance are entitled to supervised breaks during examinations. This arrangement is generally only applicable to examinations lasting 90 minutes or more. Normally, a 5–minute break for every 45 minutes of examination will be given. Additional or longer breaks may be permitted only in exceptional cases with justifications.
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○2
Modifications in response format
Mode
Allowing students to write answers on alternate lines
Providing answer sheets with wider spaced lines / larger grids
Allowing students to circle multiple-choice answers or fill in the answers directly on question papers
For primary schools: allow students to present the answers in other ways, e.g. when doing sentence scramble, students can use numbers to show the sequence of words instead of copying the whole sentence
Points to Note
Schools should note that modifications in response format may not be applicable to public examination. For acceptable forms of modifications in response format in public examination, please refer to the relevant information of HKEAA.
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○3
Modification in presentation format
Mode
Enlarged question papers
Question papers with enlarged print on a normal-sized paper
Question papers with one-side printing
Allowing students to undo the binding of question papers
Question papers printed on papers of specific colour (such as ivory) for easy reading.
Allowing students to use the Braille version / soft copy of question papers
Points to note
If schools use enlarged question papers / Braille question papers / soft copy of question papers, there is a need to provide students and invigilators with a copy of the normal question papers used by other students for reference. This is of particular importance if there are questions involving measurement of shapes in the papers.
If schools use enlarged question papers / Braille question papers, the students should be provided with a larger desk.
Using a normal-sized question paper with enlarged print may be a more convenient arrangement for students as they do not need to use a larger desk. However, schools should note whether the use of large font / Braille question papers has affected the layout of the question papers. For example, the passage and questions of “Reading Comprehension” should be placed on the same page, or parallel to each other on two separate pages; another example would be printing the test instructions and the relevant parts of the questions on the same page so that it is easy for students to answer.
Another example is to put the instructions and examples on the same page of the questions for that part.
Schools should note that the above arrangements may vary from the special arrangements in public examinations. For the special format of question papers that can be arranged in public examinations, please refer to the related information of the HKEAA.
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○4
Reading aloud of papers / Use of screen readers / Asking for pronunciation of words
Mode
Students with SpLD in reading and writing and having severe difficulties in reading, and students who cannot read the papers in any other ways because of blindness / severe low vision / neurological impairment, without affecting the objectives and content of assessment,
can be allowed to use screen readers during examinations
can have teachers arranged to read out question papers for them
can ask invigilators the pronunciation of words in non-language examination papers
(Please refer to relevant sections on SpLD in reading and writing, Visual Impairment and Physical Disabilities in Chapter VI.)
Points to note
Ways of implementation:
In situations where teachers are to read out the question papers to students, the examination should be conducted on a one-to-one basis or in small groups.
If students are allowed to ask the invigilators the pronunciation of words on the question papers, the examination can be conducted in small groups. In addition, there should be an appropriate invigilator-candidate ratio to shorten students’ waiting time.
Arrangement of readers:
Schools may arrange school personnel such as teachers, student guidance personnel or teaching assistants to read out question papers to students.
Since readers have to abide by certain codes of practice, it is not appropriate to arrange students’ parents or senior students to read out the papers.
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Schools should develop a code of practice on reading question papers for invigilators, for example:
They can only accurately read out the content, without giving any explanation.
They should not finish reading the entire question paper in one go. While reading, they should take note of the answering speed and whether students can remember the information.
They may repeat certain parts of the question paper upon students’ request, but not deliberately repeating the parts where students have made mistakes.
No hints should be given. For instance, they should not stress the main points or key words of the questions, or read out the mathematical formulae or the names of the geometrical shapes. Otherwise, they would have unfair advantage over other students.
Use of screen readers:
Teachers setting the examination papers should be clear about the functions and limitations of the screen readers students are using in examinations, so as to avoid creating inconvenience or giving them unnecessary hints. For example, screen readers cannot read out information saved as an image, as well as most mathematical formulae and special symbols, but will read out text (answers) hidden under images.
Before examinations, schools must provide sufficient training for students to enable them to smoothly and effectively operate the device.
Schools should provide students using screen readers with the soft copy of the question papers, so that they use the voice-output function of the screen-reader to read out the text appearing on the screen. Schools should also provide students with the printed version of the question papers for their reference. And the Braille version of the question papers should be provided for students with visual impairment using the screen readers.
Schools should ensure that the text file of the screen reader is the same as the printed version or Braille version. For students answering in hand-written form, schools must remind students that if the content of the question papers read out by the screen
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reader is different from that of the printed version, the latter version shall prevail. For students with visual impairment answering with computer input method, the soft copy of the question papers should prevail while the Braille version only serves as a reference or for backup purpose.
Before examinations, schools should remove from the computers functions that may affect the fairness of the assessment, such as spell-check, grammar-check, translation, thesauri, “displaying related terms” in Chinese character input and internet access, etc. However, as students with visual impairment using Braille as the learning medium do not have visual memory of the Chinese Orthography, schools should enable the “displaying related terms” function to help them distinguish homophones.
On the examination day, schools should ensure that the computers are functioning properly, and arrange backup computers. Before the start of the examination, schools should provide sufficient time for students to practise using the device provided for him.
For papers in public examinations where various categories of students with SEN are NOT allowed to use screen readers, please refer to the related information of the HKEAA.
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Computer facilities and suitable software of screen readers
How much do you know about the screen reader?
The screen reader refers to computers installed with text-to-speech software with voice output function to read out the text information on the computer screen. The computer facilities required for using screen readers include: computer with text-to-speech software installed, sound card and headphone. Schools should provide soft copies of the question papers saved in commonly used word processing formats such as MS Word format for use in the examination.
The text-to-speech software that students can use must have voice output functions in Cantonese and English. At present, some text-to-speech software distributed by non- government organizations includes the following:
1. NVDA Text-to-speech Software – for persons with visual impairment (distributed by Hong Kong Blind Union);
2. Windows Light Screen Reading Software – for persons with visual impairment (distributed by Retina Hong Kong); and
3. Windows Light Screen Reading Software (Read Assist) -- designed especially for persons with Specific Learning Difficulties in Reading and Writing (distributed by Retina Hong Kong).
Other than these, students can also select screen readers permitted by the HKEAA for use for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. For details please refer to the information put on the HKEAA website
(http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/tc/Candidates/special_needs_candidates/).
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○5
Other assistive aids
Mode
Use of Perkins Braillers / magnifiers / Braille display, etc. for students with visual impairment
Use of hearing aids / assistive listening devices for students with hearing impairment
Use of computers (as word processors) to input the answers for students with visual impairment, physical disabilities or those having severe Developmental Coordination Disorder
Use of speech-text-device to input the answers in particular subject for students with specific learning difficulties in reading and writing who show severe difficulties in dictation and writing
Points to note
Schools should encourage and coach students to use the equipment properly in daily learning.
If the sound emitted by these aids will disturb other students, schools should arrange students in need to have assessment conducted in a separate examination room or arrange for noise reduction devices, such as earphones.
Schools should pay attention to the size of desktops and the distance between seats to ensure adequate spacing and avoid interference among students. Schools should ensure that the related devices can function properly in the examination rooms.
Before the examination, schools should allow students to check whether the relevant device is functioning properly.
Students should only be allowed to input words/numbers to the computers. They are not allowed to use functions such as spell-check, grammar-check, translation, thesauri,
“displaying related terms” in Chinese character input or internet access. Students with VI who use Braille as the learning medium do not have visual memory of the Chinese
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Orthography. Therefore, schools should enable the “displaying related terms” function to help students identify homophones.
From 2017 onwards, eligible students with specific learning difficulties in reading and writing can apply for the use of speech-to-text software (e.g. the built-in speech-to-text software on MacBook Air) to input answers in the Liberal Studies Papers in the HKDSE.
For details please refer to the related information issued by HKEAA.
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○6
Supervised breaks during examination
Mode
Schools can give students a 5-minute break during an assessment (normally for question papers lasting for more than 90 minutes).
In exceptional cases with justifications, schools can give students a longer supervised break.
Points to Note
During the supervised breaks, students should stop answering or reading the question papers and be accompanied by staff arranged by schools.
As the supervised breaks required by different students vary, schools should first try the breaks out in circumstance other than examinations to let students get them familiarised with the arrangements and assure their effectiveness.
If students need to perform specific activities during the supervised breaks, for instance, drinking water, stretching limbs, or leaving the classrooms, schools should list those activities in the instructions to invigilators in advance of the examinations for invigilators to familiarise themselves with the procedures.
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○7
Additional assistance in examination centres
Mode
Without affecting the assessment criteria, schools can render assistance to students with SEN, such as:
Special seating arrangements
Prompting students to concentrate on answering the questions using gestures, verbal reminders or cue cards
Repeating verbal instructions
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders may have communication problems or rigid behaviours that may affect their performance or that of other students during group discussion. Schools may arrange classmates familiar to them or non-candidates to participate in the group discussion.
Points to Note
Relating to prompting students to concentrate on answering:
Prompting should be provided by school personnel, but not students’ relatives, peers or parents of other students.
Regardless of the form of prompts, they should not be related to or affect the content or objectives of the assessment.
Since different students need different prompts, schools should first try out the prompts in circumstance other than examinations to let students get familiarised with the prompts and assure their effectiveness.
Before examinations, schools should specify clearly in the invigilation instructions the types of prompts that the students need under specific circumstances (e.g. When the student ceases answering for three minutes, tap the student’s desktop twice and prompt the student to continue answering.)
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Schools are advised to record the number of prompts given in each assessment and the students’ responses to the prompts so as to help review if such arrangements are useful for the students.
Relating to special arrangements in group discussion:
To identify appropriate peers, teachers should pay attention to whom the student is more familiar with, which classmates are friendly and helpful, and the performance of the student in group discussions with different classmates.
If the behaviours of the student will affect the performance of other group members in a group discussion, it is more appropriate to arrange peers to join the group discussion in the capacity of non-candidates.
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○8
Abridged question papers
Mode
In cases when students with physical disabilities or visual impairment need to take more than 9 hours of examination (including extended examination time) on the same day, instead of giving the candidates extra examination time, the students will be given an abridged version (approximately 50%) of the question paper to be completed in the normal examination time.
Points to note
The difficulty level of the abridged question papers should be the same as the original version.
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Choosing Special Examination Arrangements
In general, we should avoid compromising the assessment objectives and criteria when providing special examination arrangements. Schools should take into consideration the nature and objectives of assessment when providing students with appropriate special examination arrangements.
A. Items (1) to (5) listed below aim to reduce or remove the effects brought about by the functional impairments of these students while taking examinations, without compromising the assessment objectives/criteria.
(1) Allowing students to write their answers directly onto question papers.
(2) Slowing down of the teacher’s reading speed according to the response speed of students during dictations.
(3) Arranging students with hearing impairment to sit near the teacher or broadcasting equipment during listening tests; and increasing the intensity of rhythmic beats and repeating them where appropriate during Music examinations.
(4) Allowing students with handwriting difficulties to write on alternate lines, and use answering sheets with wider-spaced lines without deducting marks for having these arrangements.
(5) During the course of examination, prompting the students to concentrate on answering.
B. Whether the arrangements in items (6) and (7) below result in a change of the assessment objectives/criteria will depend on the assessment objectives set by schools. If schools allow all students to answer in multiple formats, the
assessment objectives/ criteria are not compromised.
(6) Allowing students to answer in short phrases or diagrams instead of writing complete sentences in non-language subjects like General Studies.
(7) Allowing students to draw pictures in lieu of words that they do not know when taking the Writing papers.
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Choosing Special Examination Arrangements (cont.)
C. Items (8) to (16) listed below involve altering the content of assessment and affect the assessment objectives/criteria. When the main aim of internal examinations is to assess students’academic achievement after a period of learning, or to compare the differences in performance among students, it may not be appropriate to have these arrangements. Should schools provide such arrangements to individual students, their assessment results should be treated in the same way as provision of alternate question papers.
(8) Some students bring their vocabulary books/ notebooks to sit for the Chinese writing examination.
(9) Some students are asked to do sentence scramble with fewer parts, such as three parts instead of five.
(10) Deleting, for some students, the parts in reading comprehension that do not affect the answers to questions in order to shorten the length of passages.
(11) Deleting, for some students, the non-answer choices for “fill in the blanks” questions.
(12) Adopting different marking schemes for dictation, with some students given marks for words correctly written, and others on the mark deduction system.
(13) Preparing Chinese, English and Mathematics question papers in different difficulty levels for students with intellectual disability.
(14) Setting up different assessment tasks for students with physical disabilities in Physical Education.
(15) Exempting students with intellectual disability from answering long questions of General Studies and setting multiple-choice questions instead.
(16) Preparing separate Chinese, English and Mathematics question papers for primary school students receiving intensive remedial support programme.
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V. Exemption from Examinations/ Provision of Alternate Examination Papers
Exemption refers to exempting of individual students from taking certain subjects or parts of a certain subject in the internal assessments.
Principle
Assessment is an indispensable part of the learning and teaching process. Through assessment, teachers could get an understanding of students’ (including students with SEN) learning progress, so as to adjust their teaching in order to enhance students’ learning.
Unless necessary, schools should not exempt students from participating in assessment. If students with SEN cannot sit for examinations of certain subjects or parts of a certain subject because of their disabilities, schools should make reference to advice from professionals and involve teachers, students and parents to make a decision on exemption during case conferences or Individual Education Plan meetings. The decision should be properly documented.
Format
Schools may exempt students from taking certain subjects or parts of a certain subject.
Schools may modify the content of the question papers or assessment criteria for individual students.
Schools may consider preparing an alternate examination paper / progress report for the students to reflect on their learning progress.
Scoring Method
If a student is exempted from parts of a certain subject, the school can derive his/her total score in that subject from the papers he/ she has taken on a pro rata basis. If a student is exempted from certain subjects, the school can work out his/her total scores in that examination on a pro rata basis.
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Points to note
If individual students are exempted from taking certain subjects or parts of certain subjects in the internal assessments, or have modified the content of the question papers or the assessment criteria, schools should indicate in the Student Report Card the parts that are modified and the percentage of the scores involved.
If a student is exempted from the examinations of major subjects or essential parts of major subjects, schools should seriously consider whether it is appropriate to compare his/ her scores with those of other students.
Example of the calculation of scores with exemption from part of a subject Student A is an ordinary student while student B has severe hearing impairment. Student B is exempted from the listening and speaking papers of English Language mid-term examination.
Subject Papers Full marks Scores of
Student A
Scores of Student B English
Language
Reading Comprehension 100 60 60
General English 100 60 60
Writing 100 50 50
Listening 50 30 Exempted
Speaking 50 25 Exempted
Total score 400 225 170
The school can calculate the total score of Student B based on the following formula:
Total score obtained by the student in
the papers taken x Full marks of all papers Full marks of the papers taken by the
student
Student B's score in English Language is: 170/300 × 400 = 227
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VI. 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Alternate Examination Papers:
If teachers have tailored extensively the curriculum for individual students with intellectual disability, schools may consider designing alternate examination papers for them so that the content of assessment is commensurate with the curriculum they pursue. If schools set alternate examination papers, the following points should be noted:
Design questions that match with the objectives and content of the curriculum pursued by the students.
Use simple words and sentence structures as far as possible.
Introduce more daily life scenarios or insert graphic illustrations so that students can easily grasp the questions.
Apply visual strategies (such as highlighting key words) in the examination papers to prompt the students.
Provide different modes of answering to reduce writing, e.g. use multiple-choice or yes/no questions, etc. to assess students’ ability in reading comprehension, and allow students to circle diagrams to express their feelings towards a particular story.
Schools should note that arranging alternate examination papers for students with intellectual disability does not apply to public examinations (including the SBA), the IA for SSPA purpose and the TSA. Schools should make sure that parents have a clear understanding of the arrangement.
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Assessment Accommodations:
If schools do not prepare alternate examination papers for students with intellectual disability and arrange them to take the same examination papers as other students, and if these students cannot demonstrate in assessment their knowledge and abilities acquired due to deficits in their ability, schools can provide them with assessment accommodations according to their needs.
Schools should refer to the recommendations of teachers and professionals such as educational psychologists, speech therapists or occupational therapists, and decide on the assessment accommodations during Individual Education Plan meetings. Schools should properly file the records on the assessment accommodations provided, as well as the review on the effectiveness of the accommodations and the needs for support.
Generally speaking, the following assessment accommodations can be considered in order to meet the special educational needs of the students with intellectual disability:
Additional assistance in examination centres, e.g. special seating arrangement, prompting to promote on-task concentration, etc.
Special format of examination papers, e.g. enlarging the entire question papers.
Special arrangements for answering questions, e.g. allowing students to circle the answers of multiple choice questions directly on the examination papers, etc.
There may be individual students with intellectual disability having substantial severity of functional limitations, such as:
Very weak fine motor coordination and control abilities that may cause hand fatigue, extremely slow handwriting speed or low legibility of handwriting
Substantial difficulty in language and communication skills that may inhibit group discussion during oral examinations
Very short attention span and high distractibility that makes it difficult to sustain attention in examinations, especially when sitting for lengthy examinations; or markedly delayed speed of answering, despite frequent prompts
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Substantial difficulty in thinking and information processing that may markedly delay the speed of information retrieval and answering
In order to assist individual students with intellectual disability who have substantial severity of functional limitations to participate in the examination process, schools should refer to the recommendations of teachers and professionals, such as educational psychologists, speech therapists or occupational therapists, and consider assessment accommodations as suggested below during the Individual Education Plan meetings:
Short breaks during examination
Use of computer input instead of writing for answers
Extra time allowance for oral examination preparation
Arrangement for familiar classmates or dummies in oral group discussion
Extra time allowance
As with other students with SEN, for individual students with intellectual disability requiring special arrangements in public examinations, schools must submit an application to the HKEAA.
