Can a student dictate his or her writing tasks on the assessment using a speech-to-text program?

Yes. If it is a documented adaptation for the student, the student may use a speech-to-text program to dictate his or her writing on the assessment. Speech-to-text programs are considered an acceptable adaptation in the writing portions of the assessment. Because the assessment is a secure form, student writing must be deleted from the computer once a hard copy has been printed for submission with the assessment booklet.

If a speech-to-text program is used during the writing portions of the assessment, all spelling, grammar, and word prediction features must be disabled. As with any adaptation used during the assessment, the use of a speech-to-text program must be in place as of the first day of the assessment and be documented in the student's cumulative record file.

The type of assistive technology used during the assessment must be specified in Section 2 of the back cover of the student’s assessment booklet.