Reading Accommodation Assessment System Now a Free Download

The PAR (Protocol for Accommodations in Reading) is a system for assessing reading accommodations by Denise DeCoste, author of the widely embraced Assistive Technology Assessment: Developing a Writing Productivity Profile and Linda Bastiani Wilson. PAR is completely free as a download from the good folks at Don Johnston Inc. PAR doesn't compare specific pieces of software (i.e. Read:Outloud vs. Kurzweil 3000 vs. Read Write Gold). PAR delivers effective insight into how an individual student performs when reading independently, compared to reading with a human reader and reading with an e-text reader. This is an invaluable resource for anyone on the IEP team. PAR includes a manual, reading samples in multiple formats and quizzes for students from Grades 3-10. We were all blown away during the recent webinars by how incredibly rich PAR is. (You can check out an archived version of Denise's webinar by following the link on the PAR page.) CUDOS to Denise, Linda and DJI for making PAR available free of charge! -- Bogdan Pospielovsky