[nfbwatlk] Fw: [Wcb-l] Wa. State School for the Blind Study

Sun Jun 24 19:46:37 CDT 2007

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sue Ammeter" <sue.ammeter at cablespeed.com>
To: <wcb-l at wcbinfo.org>; <loudurand at dsb.wa.gov>; <gloria.leonard at spl.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 5:41 PM
Subject: [Wcb-l] Wa. State School for the Blind Study


>    Hello all,
>
> Those of you who attended either the WCB convention or the NFBW convention
> heard Dr. Robert Beadles discuss the study that he was doing concerning 
> the
> educational practices of the Washington State School for the Blind.  The
> Schuman Trust had contracted with Dr. Beadles to assess the School for the
> Blind and to make recommendations about the school's effectiveness and
> viability for students who are blind or visually impaired.  Dr. Beadles 
> has
> concluded his study and below you will find an Executive Summary of his
> work.
>
> The full text of the study runs about seventy print pages.  We are happy 
> to
> provide it to interested individuals via an email attachment, on CD rom or
> in Braille.  However, I would like to know how many folks would like a
> Braille copy before we contract with the Braille Access Center to produce
> these copies.  If you would like a copy of the study in Braille or on CD 
> rom
> please contact me at sue.ammeter at cablespeed.com.  If you would like the
> final report in a Word attachment also let me know.  Please feel free to
> circulate this Executive Summary to all interested parties and thanks for
> your assistance.  Our School for the Blind is an effective and viable
> resource for our blind visually impaired students and we are fortunate to
> have such a quality program in our state.
>
>
> Identification of Statewide Services and Best Educational Practices for
> Washington State Students Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, and with
> Multiple Disabilities: A Study of the Washington State School for the 
> Blind
> and Related Statewide Services
>
>
>
> Robert J. Beadles, Jr., PhD, CRC
>
> VI RehaB Consulting
>
> PO Box 1909
>
> Auburn, Alabama 36830
>
> bob.beadles at charter.net
>
>
>
> EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
>
>
>
> This study is an evaluation of statewide services for students who are
> blind, visually impaired, and multiply disabled in the state of 
> Washington.
> Concerned citizens with visual impairments in the state of Washington
> contacted VI RehaB Consulting to provide national and statewide research 
> of
> services following the 2006 Washington State Public Policy Institute 
> (WSPPI)
> study that evaluated both the Washington State School for the Blind and 
> the
> Washington State School for the Deaf.
>
>
>
> There is no true comparison between the educational programming 
> differences
> of specialized schools for the blind and public schools. Given the lack of
> sufficient numbers of qualified personnel to serve and teach children who
> are deaf or blind, a specialized school placement provides a viable
> educational and cost-effective choice for parents.  It is imperative that
> early identification and intervention should be expanded to ensure that 
> all
> infants and toddlers qualifying for blind and visually impaired services
> across the state are identified.
>
>
>
> The continuum of placement options should be considered the best practice
> for students who are blind or visually impaired. In some areas of the 
> state,
> services for students who are blind or visually impaired are limited or
> non-existent. This may be due to various factors which include a shortage 
> of
> qualified vision professionals, the need of the student to receive more
> intensive training (such as reading braille), or because student's home is
> in a remote region of the state.
>
>
>
> Regardless of placement, educational programs for students should be
> provided by qualified vision professionals and teachers. Best practices 
> are
> sometimes difficult to measure, but successful outcomes (such as school
> completion or employment) are a good measure of overall best educational
> practices.
>
>
>
> The WSIPP study (2006) proposed two policy options from its study of the
> Washington State School for the Deaf and the Washington State School for 
> the
> Blind.
>
>
>
> 1). Maintain the schools' instructional, residential, and outreach 
> programs
> while considering capital funding requests and changes in governance
> structure
>
>
>
> 2). Scale back school operations with partial or full closure of one or 
> both
> schools.
>
>
>
> A third option should be strongly considered that was not presented by the
> WSIPP Report would be:
>
>
>
> 3). Maintain the current school's instructional, residential, and outreach
> programs, increase funding to support the hiring of additional outreach
> personnel to work with the more rural ESDs, and maintain the existing
> governing structure.
>
>
>
> This option, not presented as an alternative under the 2006 WSIPP study,
> seems to be the most logical in terms of providing specialized services 
> for
> a low-incidence population. It is also more cost effective to support and
> develop further educational programs to serve those unidentified students
> who appear on the APH Federal Quota Count, but do not appear in the State
> Child Count. The WSIPP statement from their recommendations states that 
> "the
> full extent of the impacts on local schools and individual students is
> unknown" (WSIPP, 2006, p. 6).
>
>
>
> Mann (2006) in the WSIPP literature review cites that collaboration 
> between
> local schools and specialized schools is increasing, leading to a more
> seamless set of services available for students who are blind or visually
> impaired. As these two educational settings work together, there has been 
> an
> increase in 1) transferring between the settings, 2) expanding the
> educational practice of short-term placements to work identified student
> needs, and 3) more mainstreaming efforts between public and specialized
> schools for academic students.
>
>
>
> Also, Washington Sensory Disability Service only has one vision 
> professional
> out of a staff of 17 working on vision-related services. Fiscal 
> governmental
> responsibility should examine the need for the vision component of WSDS 
> and
> move that position to WSSB. It also does not appear to be fiscally-sound
> management practices to have a state program (the IRCB) located at WSSB 
> and
> associated by proximity and personnel supervision administered by another
> program in the middle of the state with only one employee. By appearances
> using overhead monies as a flow-through agency to support an almost
> non-existent program at WSDS reduces the amount of monies that should be
> provided directly to the IRCB and it also reduces the amount of monies 
> that
> could be used for direct media services for students who are blind or
> visually impaired.
>
>
>
> If the issue is primarily about cost, then the state must be prepared to
> have the ESDs shoulder the burden of finding and hiring highly qualified
> staff. If public school were the only option available, then the students
> would not be able to receive additional expanded core curriculum studies
> that focus on social skills, activities of daily living, and orientation 
> and
> mobility skills because of the core content expectations within the
> classroom. Expanded core curriculum means time added on to the school day 
> to
> focus on these important life skills. Thus, the full-continuum of 
> placement
> options would not exist for children who are blind or visually impaired.
>
>
>
> Examining other issues about the cost of education for low incidence 
> groups,
> the WSIPP study stated that "Potential expenditure savings could be offset
> by requests from the local districts for supplemental funding if students
> require exceptionally cost-intensive services or an out-of-state 
> residential
> placement" (WSIPP, 2006, p .6). In their own words, the possibility of
> expenditure savings could in essence cost more. Add on to this the
> possibility that the student might have to attend school completely out of
> state which could pose a major imposition on any family.
>
>
>
> Given all these variables, specialized schools for the blind serve a small
> segment of the public school population of students who are visually
> impaired. These students need a variety of specialized educational options
> and a residential placement is one of the options that should continue to 
> be
> available. Providing adequate numbers of qualified vision professionals in
> all public school settings will not occur in unless more federal and state
> funds are provided to higher education programs who are graduating
> individuals trained to teach and work with individuals who are blind or
> visually impaired.
>
>
>
> The Washington State School for the Blind is one of the leaders in the
> education of children and students who are blind and visually impaired. 
> The
> opportunity to expand services through regional programming and the use of
> the distance learning and digital portal teaching model will further 
> enhance
> the full-spectrum of positive educational outcomes for students who are
> blind or visually impaired.
>
>
>
> The various findings provide foundation for a list of recommendations that
> are intended to help the state move in a positive direction for students 
> who
> are blind or visually impaired. There are several factors that need to be
> considered and should be implemented to improve and expand services for
> parents and families of infants, toddlers, and students who are blind,
> visually impaired, or multiply disabled.
>
>
>
>  a.. Early identification and intervention should be evaluated and aligned
> to provide a seamless set of services as they move from a medical service
> delivery model into and educational program that includes all infants and
> toddlers qualifying for vision-related services across the state.
>
>
>  a.. A stronger commitment towards strengthening family involvement is
> needed, including family-oriented services such as parental education and
> counseling throughout the child's education.
>
>
>  a.. In order to have effective early intervention programs, increased
> family involvement, and viable services for children who are blind or
> visually impaired, early and appropriate services must be brought closer 
> to
> where these children reside through either regional centers of via
> cooperative agreements with related educational entities.
>
>
>  a.. The roles of WSSB as statewide resources need to be more clearly
> defined and include proactive responsibilities such as tracking all 
> students
> who are blind or visually impaired in the state and assisting the Office 
> of
> State Public Instruction in meeting their needs.
>  b.. WSDS needs to develop clearer philosophies of service and purpose for
> the blind or solely focus on deafness-related issues. It is thought that
> because of the minimal services currently provided by WSDS through the
> vision component either be eliminated and moved under the supervision of 
> the
> WSSB.
>
>
>  a.. More needs to be done to retrain current vision professionals in the
> state and to focus on recruiting individuals to train and education them 
> as
> O&Ms or TVIs so that they can help reduce personnel shortages. Using the
> medical nursing model of "growing your own" and providing financial or
> educational opportunities to meet shortage needs might need to be
> considered.  This is especially important in rural areas of Washington 
> where
> finding or maintaining itinerant personnel are the greatest.
>
>
>  a.. Increased funding and hiring assistive technology staff throughout 
> the
> state so that students who are blind and visually impaired can be held to
> the same academic standards as other Washington students. This also 
> includes
> reducing the visual bias and visual limitations posed by high stakes 
> testing
> such as the WASL.
>
>
>  a.. Students who are blind or visually impaired have additional learning
> needs. This can be accomplished through focusing on the National Agenda,
> which focuses on the expanded-core curriculum for students who are blind 
> or
> visually impaired, and the extended-academic year.
>
>
> In closing, the data presented in this study is consistent with other
> specialized schools for the blind in the United States. Every state's 
> school
> for the blind programs varies in degree and scope of services provided to
> infants, students, and family members. Specialized schools also vary in
> funding sources and the diversity of the student population served. In
> addition, specialized schools for the blind and visually impaired in the
> United States vary in their interaction and role in the public education 
> of
> students with disabilities. The role of the specialized school should be 
> as
> an educational entity and resource to students, parents, family members, 
> the
> general public, and public and private school special educators and
> teachers.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
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