Digest
Educational Services for Children
Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
Findings and Recommendations Adopted by the
Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee 12/15/00
STRENGTHEN LEADERSHIP
FINDINGS
¬ Leadership for vision education is lacking and roles are confused.
¬ Few steps have been taken to address serious gaps in the array of services for children with vision-related disabilities.
¬ No state document outlines goals, objectives, or strategies for vision education; best practice guidelines have not been issued to local districts.
¬ State support offered to districts is limited in scope and quantity.
¬ Quality services require a centralized state resource for technical advice, assistance, and leadership.
¬ BESB has the potential to be the lead advocate and central resource for vision education.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Amend the statutes to articulate BESB's education services mission as follows: the Board of Education and Services for the Blind, in collaboration with the state department of education, shall support local school districts in meeting the educational needs of children with vision-related disabilities by providing, within available appropriations, advice, assistance, and resources, including the specialized educational services and materials children require because of their blindness or visual impairment. (for discussion, see pp. 5-6, full staff findings and recommendations report.)
2. Rename the Board of Education and Services for the Blind the Connecticut Services for the Blind. The agency's current seven-member advisory board should also be renamed the Connecticut Services for the Blind Advisory Board. (p. 5)
3. Add a representative from the special education staff of the state department of education, designated by the commissioner of education as an ex officio member to the BESB advisory board. (p. 7)
4. Require the Board of Education and Services for the Blind and State Department of Education to work together to develop and issue to local districts policy and best practices guidelines related to education services for children with vision-related disabilities. (p. 7)
5. Amend the Braille Literacy Advisory Council's responsibilities to include evaluating and reporting on: the array of education services available to children with vision-related disabilities; access to services, materials, equipment and technology; and outcomes of the services provided. (p. 8)
6. Change the name of the council to the Advisory Council on Vision Education Services and increase its membership to include a parent of a child who is blind or visually impaired and has additional disabilities and a teacher who specializes in providing vision-related education services to multiply disabled students. (p. 8)
IMPROVE ACCESS TO SERVICES AND MATERIALS
FINDINGS
¬ The current distribution of teachers of the visually impaired throughout the state is inefficient and unfair.
¬ Teacher services are unavailable during summer months.
¬ BESB has few resources and little funding flexibility to support its statewide technical assistance, training, and advocacy functions.
¬ The agency's materials resource center is understaffed and unable to meet demand for transcription and other services.
¬ Technical assistance and support for computers and other technology is minimal.
¬ The BESB Birth-to-Three program has been cited for administrative deficiencies.
¬ More state efforts are needed to secure an adequate supply of qualified teachers.
RECOMMENDATIONS
7. Require BESB to provide its teachers to districts on a fee-for-service basis starting in the 2002-03 school year to make access to agency teaching staff equitable. (p. 9)
8. Require BESB to pursue contract revisions to ensure the availability of teacher of the visually impaired services all 12 months of the year during its next collective bargaining negotiations. Require the agency to make teacher services available year-round for its Birth-to-Three program, through collective bargaining negotiations or other arrangements, before June 30, 2001. (pp. 9-10)
9. Revise the statutes to authorize the agency to provide teacher of the visually impaired services on a fee-for-service basis to any school district in state. Enact legislation to establish a self-sustaining account to receive fees from districts and pay costs related to supplying teacher services. (pp. 9-10)
10. Use the state funds formerly allocated for BESB teacher costs to augment the agency's centralized resources and support services. (pp. 11-12)
11. Require SDE to officially include BESB education staff in planning, evaluating and monitoring the activities undertaken through its federal teacher training grant project. (pp. 12-13)
12. Require the state education department, in consultation with BESB, to determine the number of teachers and other personnel, such as orientation and mobility specialists, that are required to meet the education needs of children with vision-related disabilities in Connecticut at present and over the next ten years and report its results to the advisory council by July 1, 2001. (pp. 12-13)
REDIRECT FUNDING TO SUPPORT EDUCATION GOALS
FINDINGS
¬ About $7.5 million per year is provided to towns through BESB to offset special education costs for children who are blind or visually impaired.
¬ The present funding mechanism is cumbersome and ineffective in supporting the specialized services and materials needed by students with vision-related disabilities.
¬ Much of the funding - almost 80 percent during the last school year -- appears to subsidize basic special education expenses such as out-of-district tuition and salaries of special classroom teachers and aides.
¬ A substantial amount of BESB funding supports special education services for students whose primary disability is not vision-related.
¬ Dedicated funding can be an effective way to promote the quality and accessibility of education services for children with vision-related disabilities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
13. Repeal the current statutory provisions on state payment of special education costs for blind or visually impaired children and replace them with language establishing a grant program for vision-related education services to be administered by the Board of Education and Services for the Blind.
a) The grant program shall be funded at an amount equal to $6,400 times the number of blind and visually impaired children in the state as determined by BESB.
b) BESB shall use the state funding to provide eligible students who are blind or visually impaired with the specialized instructional materials, including Braille and large print books, and adaptive equipment and technology they require to access their education programs. The state shall also annually provide a $2,000 entitlement to districts for the special education costs of each child who is blind or visually impaired.
c) The remaining balance of grant funding shall be used to provide supplemental funding to reimburse local school districts on a proportional basis for the costs of consultation and instructional services provided by teachers of the visually impaired and other services related to providing expanded core curriculum for blind or visually impaired students including but not limited to orientation and mobility training and independent living skills. Only districts that have expended an amount greater than the total amount of entitlement funding received on educational services required for vision-related disabilities shall be eligible to apply for supplemental funding.
d) The Board of Education and Services for the Blind, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall develop a proposed statutory funding formula for the grant program and a description of all expenses eligible for funding to present to the legislature for its consideration by January 1, 2002. The new grant program for vision education should go into effect by January 1, 2003. (pp. 16-17)
PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
FINDINGS
¬ Defining standards, measuring success, and reporting results are important steps in the process of improving education.
¬ How well the current system for serving students with vision-related disabilities achieves education goals is unknown at this time.
¬ Neither BESB nor the state education department track educational outcomes for students with vision-related disabilities; no data are compiled on drop-out rates, post-graduation employment rates, or literacy rates.
¬ A comprehensive blueprint for carrying out BESB's education services mission is critical to achieving desired outcomes for children who are blind or visually impaired.
RECOMMENDATIONS
14. Require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Board of Education and Services for the Blind, to establish, monitor, and report on outcome measures for educational services to children who are blind or visually impaired. Monitoring results should be included as part of the department's annual report on special education beginning in 2002. (p. 17)
15. Require the portion of the BESB's strategic plan concerning education services for children who are blind or visually impaired to be completed by July 1, 2001, and be updated annually. The strategic plan should incorporate and specifically address the outcome measures developed under the prior recommendation.
a) Require BESB, with the assistance of the State Department of Education, to arrange for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) to conduct one of its training seminars on improving educational services for the sensory impaired in Connecticut. (p. 18)