NRMA

When a student is diagnosed with a visual impairment, the first question that teachers begin to ask is whether that student should learn braille or read large print. For students who can still identify print letters by sight, many teachers presume that print is the most efficient way for that student to learn to read and write, even when the readable print size surpasses 18 point font.

Surprisingly, after more than 40 years of federal laws requiring that blind children be accommodated in the classroom, there was no standardized tool to make this determination until 2011.

Louisiana Tech University designed, tested, and published the first standardized tool for teachers of the blind to use.

The National Reading Media Assessment (NRMA) has three purposes:

1. To determine the most appropriate reading medium/media for students who are blind/visually impaired (i.e. braille, large print, or both braille and large print)
2. To ensure that the most appropriate medium is chosen not just for current need, but also for future needs
3. To reduce the possibility that a student's academic success is hindered by incorrect reading and writing medium.

Standardized, Reliable and Relevant Metrics Set the NRMA Apart

The NRMA uses only observations relevant to reading and writing.
Other assessment tools ask the evaluator to classify a student's behavior as visual, aural, or tactile, regardless of the efficiency at which the student is working and before he or she receives any training in non-visual methods. The NRMA looks only at a student's success with reading and writing.

The NRMA uses standardized conditions.
Other methods for testing a student allow for highly customized (and unrealistic) lighting conditions, reading posture, and variable line spacing. Because a student must learn to work in environments as diverse as a college lecture hall to a bright sunny day to a dimly-lit theater, the NRMA insists on standardized print size, lighting conditions, and typical line spacing.

Test results are based on what is expected of similarly-aged sighted students.
Too often, teachers have narrow expectations for their blind students. Exemptions from difficult schoolwork are made, eye strain is made to be a factor in how long a student has to complete assignments, and the students are sometimes held to a lower standard than their sighted classmates. The NRMA starts with the premise that a blind student can compete on terms of equality with their sighted peers, if the blind people are given appropriate training and opportunity.

Learn More

Teachers of blind students around the world are encouraged to apply for an account to administer the NRMA. Registration is free at www.nfbnrma.org