Mrs. Shell mentioned an organization called Bookshare that provides text in alternate formats. What do you think alternate formats are? What further information would you want about this service?
Page 5: Managing Student Records
Bookshare provides an organizational management tool that makes it easy for Primary Contacts or Sponsors to manage student records. The roster for students who qualify can be managed on a single spreadsheet through Bookshare’s Website. This tool allows a Sponsor to keep track of each student’s:
- Identifying information (e.g., name and student number)
- School and district
- Grade level
- Print disability (i.e., visual, learning, or physical)
- Individual education plan or 504 Plan status
504 Plan
A plan that specifies the accommodations and modifications necessary for a student with a disability to attend school with his or her peers; named for Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, ensuring that children with disabilities have equal access to public education; students with 504 plans do not meet the eligibility requirements for special education under IDEA.
A sample of Bookshare’s online organizational management tool for managing students’ records is shown below.
This is an image of a Bookshare Webpage, specifically an organization’s page called Manage Members. The Webpage has the Bookshare title and logo in the upper left-hand corner. The majority of the page is white. In the center of the page in line with the logo and Bookshare title is a book search tool with a box to type in by title, author, or ISBN. Under this box are links that take you to advanced search or browse pages. The following links are at the top of the Webpage: Is Bookshare For Me?, Get Started, Get Involved, Help Center, and My Bookshare.
Selecting the My Bookshare link opens a drop-down menu with the following options: My History, My Reading Lists, Members, Sponsors, Organization, My Requests, and Free Reading Tools. This same list of clickable links also appears on the far-left side of the Webpage. The Members option is highlighted in blue to indicate that it has been clicked on and the Manage Members page of the My Bookshare drop-down menu opened up. The Manage Members portion of the page is white with three links across the top: Manage Members, View Individual Members, and Upload Roster. The Members option has been pulled up on the screen, and a subheading reads “Members are students or clients from your organization that have a qualifying print disability.”
The smaller heading Show By is underneath, with the option to display members by district, school, and list. Orange Filter and Search buttons are next to these options. Two sample Organizational Members are registered and shown in a chart below. This chart has the following headings: First Name, Last Name, District, School, Grade, Quicklist, Birth Date, Membership, Qualifying Disability, and Plan. The first member is Bonita A., with the subsequent columns filled out as follows: Cumberland; Whitfield; 11; -; 11/01/1995; Organization; Physical; IEP. The second member is Steven M. with the subsequent columns filled out as follows: Cumberland; Whitfield; 11; -; 03/02/1996; Organization; Visual; IEP. Underneath this chart is a row of four blue buttons labeled as follows: Add a Member, Add Individual Membership, Increment Grade Level, Add to Quicklist. A white button reads Remove Member. The last item on the page is the text “Add to Reading List” with a drop-down menu and blue Add button.
Confidentiality
Bookshare recognizes the importance of protecting the confidentiality of students’ information and has a strict privacy policy posted on its Website. Bookshare prefers that organizations enter actual identifying information (e.g., first or last name) when registering Members for consistency in data, such as when a student moves to another school. Because some organizations have a need for greater confidentiality, Bookshare allows them to instead register Members using student numbers or pseudonyms.
