Developing and piloting adapted EGRAs both for in-person and remote administration

• In Event: Adapting the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) for Students Who are Deaf in the Philippines

Proposal

Under the USAID-funded Gabay project, School-to-School International, in collaboration with Resources for the Blind, led the development, adaptation and pilot of an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. This process included an adaptation workshop with experts in Deaf education in the Philippines as well as government officials. Workshop participants examined subtask content and shared critical context about sign language and about students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in project areas. The adapted assessment was then piloted in six schools, assessing 92 learners across K- G3, which provided further insight into subtask items, regional variations, language complexity and assessment protocols.
This adapted assessment was further modified to address considerations and challenges in remote administration. Informed by a series of consultations with experts and administrators in Deaf education in the US and the Philippines, School-to-School International and RTI International developed a detailed proof-of-concept research design, identifying key aspects for remote administration. While these aspects remained constant, an alpha test attempted three scenarios, focusing on the level of in-person support needed for students to navigate the assessment. A beta test attempted two assessment forms, focused on automated scoring and minimized assessment length.
This presentation will provide key lessons learned, considerations, and challenges in the development and adaption process implemented for in-person and remote administration, as well as further areas of exploration for remote administration.

Author

• Melyssa Sibal, School-to-School International