Title:  Call to Action: Prevent Educational Harm to Braille Readers
Author: Christopher Gray

Description: Article by the President of The Alliance for Braille Literacy
             presenting a thoughtful argument for transcription using
             NUBS.  The article is made available in RTF and PDF formats
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Downloads: Call to Action: Prevent Educational Harm to Braille Readers

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Christopher Gray, President
5453 Chippewa Street
St. Louis, MO

November 2014


Subject: Call to action: Prevent educational harm to braille readers
To: US Department of Education
    State and local departments of education
    Members of Congress
    Members of state and local legislatures
    School administrators
    Teachers, especially special education teachers
    Parents of blind children
    Advocates of equal opportunity, especially for math and science education

As you may be aware, there are efforts under way to make significant changes
to the braille notation currently used in the United States. You may have 
received a letter from the Braille Authority of North America (BANA), an 
organization that proposes braille standards within the U.S. BANA is not an 
official governing body of braille standards and has no legal authority over 
which braille codes schools should or should not use.  

The centerpiece of the proposed change is a switch of braille notations to 
Unified English Braille (UEB). Although it may be adequate for general literature,
UEB is a major step backwards for math and science materials. Because it is very
different from current braille notations, it will be confusing to 
braille-reading students and will interfere with their educational success.

Braille notation has critical impacts on the performance of
braille-reading students. The educational consequences of the proposed changes
should be afforded the same level of scrutiny as would be employed if
equivalent changes to English spelling and mathematical notation were proposed
for sighted students. The Alliance for Braille Literacy (ABL) has studied
braille literacy in general and UEB in particular and is gravely concerned
about the adverse effects that switching to UEB would have. The most
detrimental consequence would be that braille users would be required to read
and write a more complicated mathematical notation, thereby inhibiting their
ability to learn math and science concepts. At a time when an increasing
number of jobs require advanced skills in science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (the STEM fields), it is essential that braille-using students
not be placed at such an unnecessary disadvantage compared with their sighted
peers. The goal of equal opportunity requires you to be alert to the adverse
impact.

Currently, braille notation is handled by several "codes": there exists a code 
for plain literary text, a code for math and science, a code for music, plus 
multiple specialized braille codes including codes for the study of foreign 
languages. Students today learn the literary code and the math code, often in 
first or second grade. The system works, although in theory having a single 
code would be desirable. The term "unified" in UEB stands for the merging of 
literary and math codes as well as for the standardization of braille throughout
the English-speaking world. Unfortunately, the result of this effort of
unification is that the math aspect of UEB is completely different from what
students use now. It is so cumbersome for all but elementary math that it will
hinder learning. This is why switching to UEB will harm the educational
success of braille-using students. Moreover, while a world standard sounds
attractive at first, it is basically irrelevant to education when one
considers that textbooks used in other countries would not be used in the
United States. Even worse, the international standardization led to unnecessary 
changes to braille spellings in UEB that were made to conform to certain braille 
practices of other countries.

The solution is simple: for the moment, braille in the United States should not 
change. The educational setbacks from switching to UEB outweigh its benefits. 
We urge all decision makers and stakeholders to advocate the following actions:

1. Retain the current use of the "Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science 
Notation" (Nemeth). It has been successfully used at all grade levels for the 
past six decades. The math component of UEB is an entirely different system 
that is less than adequate for higher level mathematical concepts such as those 
taught in middle and high school.

2. Stipulate that textbooks on mathematically-oriented subjects continue to be 
produced entirely in Nemeth. BANA is considering mixing UEB and Nemeth throughout
a textbook, a practice that would likely result in numbers, simple operation 
signs (such as plus and equals), and other symbols appearing in two different 
notations on the same page. Such a conglomerate of symbols would render math and 
science materials unnecessarily complicated and confusing.

3. Ensure that students be taught Nemeth when they are first introduced to math.
This is the current successful practice. BANA is reportedly deliberating the 
idea that students first learn the new UEB mathematics notation and later, 
when math concepts increase in complexity, either switch to, or worse, do without,
the proven Nemeth notation.

4. Refrain from implementing any part of UEB. One of the goals of the developers 
of UEB was to make braille easier to learn and use.  However, the result of 23 years
of effort has become a notation that is actually less intuitive and slower to write 
than the current system. Also, UEB changes the braille spelling of approximately 
9% of all English words and requires students to learn many new mathematical and 
special symbols. With so many disadvantages, there is no merit in the educational 
disruption of switching to UEB or the extra monetary expenditures.

5. Should significant changes such as those currently proposed ever be implemented
in schools, ensure that all tests, especially standardized tests, continue to be
available in the current braille notation until students have reached high 
proficiency in reading and writing the new braille system in all subject areas. 
BANA has designated January 4, 2016, as the date after which all new braille 
materials are to be produced in UEB. In the short time remaining, however, 
students and their braille teachers will not be sufficiently trained in the 
new code, and most students will not encounter textbooks in the new notation 
before the 2015/16 school year at the earliest. The ultimate decision on the 
readiness of each individual student should lie solely with each student's 
IEP team.

In summary, ABL regards the changes being pursued by BANA to be educationally 
harmful to braille users, particularly with regard to math and science. 
ABL, therefore, urges you to prevent the implementation of UEB. In today's 
knowledge economy, where employment prospects of all students hinge upon a 
fundamental understanding of scientific concepts, braille users cannot afford 
a setback.

Very truly yours,
Chris Gray