Student Translator Learning Tool
Providing accommodations for students is top of mind at Formative. Teachers on the Balanced Assessment Suite can provide a Translations accommodations to students at the global level, setting up the accommodation once and have it applied thereafter for every formative on which the Translator learning tool is enabled by the teacher.
Once set up for a student, the Translations accommodation will go into effect whenever a formative is assigned along with the Translator tool to the student, across all classes and subjects. The student with the accommodation will have access to the Translator's icon on all items* that support the feature, when opening the formative.
*Translator can identify and translate all text within Formative, including the following elements:
Text input
Math input (typed in or entered using the in-app math keyboard)
Hyperlink Text
Subscripts and Superscripts
Note: Files such as PDF, Image, Video, Emoji, or embedded content are incompatible with the Translator.
🙋🏽 What happens if my formative has items that are incompatible with the Translator?
Items that are incompatible with the Translator will not be translated. These items will require a different method to get translated such as utilizing a 3rd party translation service outside of Formative.
Set a global accommodation of Translations
Student Management Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the "Student Management" page
Click the "eye" icon next to "Accommodations"
Next to the student's name click on the blue highlighted status (this can read "None" or showcase a different accommodation)
In the pop-up window, select the student's preferred language from the dropdown list next to 'Translations'
Click "Update" to confirm the accommodation
Once a Translations accommodation has been set for a student, the status under "Accommodations" will change to show it.
Student Profile Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the "Student Management" page
Locate the student and click the carat next to their name, to navigate to the "Student Profile" page
Click on the blue highlighted status next to "Accommodations" at the top of the page (this may read "None" or showcase a different accommodation)
In the pop-up window, select the student's preferred language from the dropdown list next to 'Translations'
Click "Update" to confirm the accommodation
Once a Translations accommodation has been set for a student, the status next to "Accommodations" at the top of the page will change to show it.
Set up accommodations in bulk
If you need to set up the same accommodation for multiple students, you can take this action in-bulk:
From your "Student Management" page - check mark the boxes next to all the students you'd like to set up the accommodation for
Choose "Set Accommodations" from the menu at the bottom of the screen
In the pop-up window, select the students' preferred language from the dropdown list next to 'Translations' (same language will be applied to all students selected)
Click "Update" to confirm the accommodation
Once a Translations accommodation has been set for the students, the status under "Accommodations" will change to show it.
Note: only setting up accommodations in currently available for bulk action. If you need to change or remove accommodations for students, you will need to do so for each student individually
Remove the accommodation
Student Management Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the Student Management page
Click on the eye icon next to "Accommodations"
Next to the student's name click on the blue highlighted status (this will now indicate the Translations accommodation)
Change the selection on the 'Translations' dropdown from the previously selected language to 'None'
Click "Update" to save
Student Profile Page Pathway
Go to your "Classes" tab
Click on the title of the class the student is a member of, to open the Student Management page
On the "Student Management" page locate the student and click the carat next to their name, to navigate to the "Student Profile" page
Click on the blue highlighted status next to "Accommodations" at the top of the page (this will now indicate the Translations accommodation)
Change the selection on the 'Translations' dropdown from the previously selected language to 'None'
Click "Update" to save
NOTE:
Accommodations are set globally on the student level. This means that once accommodations have been set for a student, they will apply for that student across the board: on all formatives in which a Translator learning tool is enabled and in all classes!
If a teacher changes or removes an accommodation from the "Student Management" page or from the "Student Profile" page - it will effect the student's accommodations for all classes and other teachers as well.
Assign a formative with the Student Translator learning tool
Setting up the global accommodation on the student's profile is only the first step. Setting the global accommodation will define what language the Translator will use, however teachers must also enable the Translator learning tool on the specific formative they are assigning for students to be granted access to it.
Enable the Student Translator learning tool
Select the class(es) to be assigned via the 'Assign' button
Access the Assign Settings window (by clicking on the arrow next to one of the selected classes names
Locate the Learning Tools button, and toggle it ON
Next, locate the Student Translator button in the expanded list of learning tools, and toggle it ON
Continue to select the rest of your preferred assign settings, and when ready click 'Assign' (if you're updating assign settings, click 'Update')
FAQ & Troubleshooting
🙋🏽 The student's Global Translations accommodation doesn't apply to my class / subject - What do I do?
If a student has a Translations accommodation and a teacher assigns a formative to their class, the teacher can simply not toggle on the Student Translator learning tool when assigning. Without the Student Translator learning tool enabled in the formative's Assign Settings, students will not have access to it.
However, if you do want to assign the formative with the Student Translator learning tool enabled, but make it available only to some of the students with the accommodation, you can remove the Translations accommodation for specific students for that specific formative, without affecting the accommodation on other formatives or classes.
When assigning a formative, if there are any students in your class with accommodations (in general), you will see an indication of the number of students with accommodations next to the "Accommodations" setting.
Remove Translations for specific students with a global accommodation:
Click the carrot next to "Accommodations" to reveal the list of students with accommodations
Click the blue-highlighted accommodation status next to a student's name
Change the language selection on the Translations item to 'None'
Click "Update" to save the changes for this specific formative
Note: the global accommodation will still show on the student's record, but once updated to 'None' in the assign settings of a specific formative, the accommodation will not appear on the student's end when they access that specific formative.
The Student Experience
When students with a Translations accommodation in place open a formative that was assigned with the Student Translator learning tool enabled, they will see the menu of Global Learning Tools on the right side of their screen, and the Translator icon will appear within this menu:
Students will click the Translator icon, and then the prompt to translate in the language of the Translations accommodation. The formative will be immediately translated.
To return to the formative's original language, students will click the prompt to return to the original language, and the formative's language will change back immediately.
Additional information
The Student Translator learning tool is available only for organizations that have purchased Newsela's Balanced Assessment Suite.
If you're a member of such a school or district and you can not find the Student Translator learning tool in your account, please have your admin reach out to their dedicated Newsela/Formative customer success manager.
If you're an admin of a district that is not currently subscribed to the Balanced Assessment Suite, and would like to explore capturing insights in every classroom to meet students' needs district wide Click HERE to learn more!