Essential Assessments for Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

Chapters:

1. Introduction
2. The Assessment Process
3. Using the Essential Assessments Rubric to Identify Strategies and Supports
4. Setting Goals and Identifying Priorities
5. Tools and Resources
6. Refining the Assessment Process

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

NARRATOR: Before viewing the following webcast, it may be helpful to visit the website earubric.com. There you will find numerous examples of assessment documents and checklists of the type that will be referenced by Karen Blankenship.

BLANKENSHIP: American Foundation for the Blind did an incentive to look at expanded core. So they brought in national leaders from across the country, and we identified eight different strategies to make, kind of turn the curve, make a difference. And my group was working on assessment, because we have no standards of practice.

So we were working on assessments and we did three or four literature reviews to kind of see what the components were that we needed. And from that, we rolled it out at the AER, which is the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of Persons who are Blind or Visually Impaired. So every two years we've rolled out a component of it and got feedback from all the professionals in the field. And so it's been a long journey; about eight years we've been working on this.

And so from that journey we've developed a holistic rubric, which is a content rubric. And then from that we developed some qualitative rubrics. So that it's kind of a one to four scale of what should be included. And we felt strongly as a group that we needed to encourage teachers to do all three assessments at one time. So the essential assessments composed of the functional vision assessment, learning media assessment, and then the expanded core curriculum assessments.

NARRATOR:We see a graphic slide titled — Components of an Essential Assessment for Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired.

Beneath are listed the three components — functional vision of assessment, learning media assessment, and expanded core curriculum.

BLANKENSHIP: Because people were calling everything a functional vision assessment in our field, and really didn't differentiate with what was needed by law in our reports as part of our assessment tools. So that's why we were trying to encourage that, to use all three at the same time.

To be more efficient, as well, and effective. So thus the term "essential assessment" came about. But it does include the functional vision assessment, learning media assessment, and then a process for determining what the priority areas are for the expanded core curriculum. And then completing that.

CHAPTER 2: The Assessment Process

BLANKENSHIP: I always think about the effective instructional continuum. And everything begins with an assessment. And everything has to be data driven. I think we've spent too many years flying by the seat of our pants. And going on theories or observations, and not having real data in front of us. And I think everything has moved in education to real accountability and real data driven. So for us it's kind of been a paradigm shift, moving away from observation only or just trying to get to know the child.

I had a teacher tell me that they didn't have time do assessments, and then in the next voice they would say, but you know it takes me six months to get to learn about this child. Do the assessment! It would be a lot easier on the front-end.

These assessments, the essential assessment, must be conducted by certified licensed TVI, because we have the expertise. We know what the eye conditions mean. We know how to conduct the assessments and how to interpret them. So when the law talks about having the person who is most knowledgeable about that assessment tool, that's TVIs, that's us at the table. Because we're the ones that conduct the assessment. We're the ones that interpret the assessment for the team. So we're a critical team member in completing that. So I am talking about TVIs.

NARRATOR: In a photograph, we see a young girl who is visually impaired sitting in front of a monitor, on which are displayed color illustrations of eight different animals.

Her TVI sits to the right of the student and observes how the student uses a modified mouse and switch, both large yellow high contrast devices, to navigate between and select one of the illustrations.

Information gained from a learning media assessment can be used to determine what type of learning media is best suited to the student's optimal sensory channel.

BLANKENSHIP: And of course, our certified orientation and mobility specialists are partners with us, because they're also looking at O&M at the same time. When we're looking at depth perception, they're looking at depth perception and how that impacts orientation and mobility. So it's a really great model when they're working as a team, to conduct and have two sets of eyes to see what's happening when you're doing confrontation or things like that.

NARRATOR: We see a photograph of an adolescent boy who is blind, using a cane while navigating a school hallway. Behind him is his O&M instructor, who observes his sweeping technique.

BLANKENSHIP: And it does take a lot of time to do observations and interviews. And we always try to follow the RIOT model, it's just kind of a great way to think about it.

Where the "R" stands for review of records. So you want to know, is there additional disabilities? What is the condition? Do you have the eye health report?

Gathering all that information. Are there other educational concerns in the file to look at? And then the "I" stands for interviews. And the federal law says you have to have input from all the team members. So thinking about interviews, you want the family. You want the other service providers, the Gen-Ed teacher. And of course the student, as soon as possible.

And then observations. The learning media assessment alone tells you to do three different observations in five different settings. So 15 observations for a learning media assessment, and then with the functional vision assessment, you're looking in the computer lab, the PE class, the classroom, the lunchroom, the hallway. So thinking about combining those three things.

And then the "T" stands for both informal and formal testing. And I know diagnosticians would shudder when I say, I think our assessments are formal. Because we do have a framework, we do have the literature review to, kind of, back up the components. I know it's not like key math and it's not published, but for us it's a real formal evaluation for students.

NARRATOR: In a photograph, we see a young boy who is visually impaired and multiply disabled sitting in a chair that supports him and allows him to sit up right as a TVI conducts an assessment of the boys vision.

The TVI is presenting a blue plastic ring-shaped object in the upper left of the boys visual field, and he is reaching out for the object.

BLANKENSHIP: So we do that. And then there's always your observations and checklists that you're going to use in addition to that, but having some formal measures. So we had to negotiate those points. That I'm not doing a medical measure, I'm just doing a gross, just kind of close accommodation of what's happening in the classroom. So thinking through that.

CHAPTER 3: Using the Essential Assessments Rubric to Identify Strategies and Supports

BLANKENSHIP: We wear so many more hats than other disability areas. So thinking through the complexity and keeping abreast of what's good for birth to three, what's right for three to five, and then moving into that school age, five to 22. And then for students with additional disabilities, thinking through that routine base.

That everything's embedded into a routine, day in and day out, so that there is no — they can anticipate what's going to happen. They start to learn what the next steps are and they can build on their repertoire. Thinking about students with significant disabilities. So it is a complexity, thinking about what's the best delivery model for services for us, too, and how to approach the different complexities.

The goal is changed and the forms changed; they're a little bit more complex. So, birth to three you're thinking about the sensory channels. So you're just really kind of doing observation to figure out if the child is using their tactical sense, using their auditory sense, and their visual sense. And then you move into more complexity.

NARRATOR: As an example of the increase in complexity, a content rubric for assessment of current media functioning is displayed. The first column heading is "birth to three years", and below are listed the numbers of the LMA, or learning media assessment forms, which are used as appropriate to assess primary and secondary sensory channels and appropriate learning media. In this case, LMA forms two and three. The second column heading is "three to five" years. In addition to forms two and three, LMA form four has been added to provide recommendations for initial literacy medium for preschoolers.

Column three is "five to 22 years" and below, LMA Form five would now be added and used as appropriate to address the selection of an initial literacy medium for initial literacy instruction for students entering an early conventional literacy program. Forms six and seven would address any needed changes in the primary literacy medium or the need for additional literacy tools.

The fourth column heading is "multiple disabilities/deafblind". In addition to LMA forms two, three, and four, a sensory learning kit, sensory learning summary, arousal state profile, sensory response record, and appetite aversion list would be used if needed and appropriate to assess and provide recommendations for primary and secondary sensory channels, learning media, and readiness for a conventional literacy program, if appropriate.

BLANKENSHIP:So then you're just listening to, just for discrimination. And then you move to a more complex, where you're listening to learn. The same thing with reading. You're just getting the words, getting some of the letters, but then all of a sudden you have to be able to read to learn. So it's that complexity and that continuum, age-wise, of moving along to make it more complex. And you're gathering more complex information the older they get. Even in social skills, moving from kind of parallel play to group play to actual communication with peers in the school setting.

NARRATOR: In a video clip, we see a number of students sitting at a table and interacting in the Perkins cafe.

STUDENT 1: Wait, did he say that he woke up at 3:00 in the morning?

STUDENT 2: He did, he woke up.

BLANKENSHIP: So it's that complexity along all the different areas, expanded core, and the visual functioning, and the learning literacy and media. Because so many times, they call our students "Swiss cheese kids" because there's so many gaps in their learning. And being purposeful, so there aren't gaps in their learning. So we're kind of following along and making sure that there are no gaps.

We're talking about Braille and sometimes we just stick on Braille and we don't think about the fluency, thinking about the reading to learn and moving students along. So that they could read technical manuals, they can read college textbooks. So I think the rubric just tries to think through the complexities of moving from birth to 22. Because we're one of a few fields that has birth to 22. All ability levels, all acuity levels.

CHAPTER 4: Setting Goals and Identifying Priorities

BLANKENSHIP: We have such a low employment rate, and it has not changed in over 45 years. So we've got to do something differently to have better outcomes for students. So thinking, I think starting at 22, what the student wants to do, what the family's vision for that child is, and then back-mapping. To make sure that we have the right skill-set, the right courses that we're taking care of.

So I think that's a great way of thinking about it. And transition doesn't begin at 14, transition begins at birth. And so I think being intentional, because we know that incidental learning does not occur for our kids. Everything has to be intentional. Everything has to be intense as we follow through in building skills.

And I think one of the concerns in the field has always been that we have no hierarchical skill-set. We are not scaffolding. That we're kind of flying by the seat of our pants and doing this. And it was a great way when we didn't have anything framed, to at least start venturing out into teaching expanded core. But now we have a framework.

Now we know what the skill-sets are. So it's kind of moving us to a more intentional educational process similar to Gen-Ed, where we're starting to think about those skill-sets from birth to 22 and how do we continually build on them. So everything is scaffold, everything is hierarchical. So we're not doing a skill-set here, a skill-set there, that never really builds on it. And making sure that we come to mastery.

NARRATOR: In a photograph, we see a young man who is blind working and serving a customer at a student run coffee shop on the Perkins campus.

His competence is evidence of the mastery of social skills that allow him to interact appropriately. Math skills to receive money and make change. And orientation and mobility skills which he uses to get to work and to navigate around the cafe.

BLANKENSHIP: I think we use the term mastery way too loosely. In thinking about, mastery really means that the child can use that skill-set on automatic and pull it out at a certain time in a certain environment when they think that's appropriate. And that automation really takes a lot of intense instruction to get to that point, where it's stored in long term memory and can just be pulled out when needed. If you think about the rigor and relevance in real life.

So I think everything has to be intentional, and the assessment is just that first piece of that. But it really drives everything we do. So it tells us what we're supposed to do. How we're supposed to approach it. So what is the visual functioning, What's the learning media assessment? And then the expanded core curriculum gives us our skill-sets that we work on.

So we've worked on — Dr. Hatlen, Phil Hatlen, who kind of framed the expanded core, we were kind of talking. He wants us to teach all nine areas. And I was thinking as an old itinerant teacher, that just wasn't physically possible with 28 students on my caseload. So we came up with a process and Dr. Hatlen gave it his OK and approval. Thinking through where you have a conversation about all nine areas, so you're doing a screening. And both the FVLMA has a screening tool in there and then we developed one in Iowa that's on our website.

And the other place is Texas just developed a new screening tool. Where you're having a real structured conversation about all nine areas, but you choose two to three priority areas for the year. And then you go do a formal assessment on those two to three priority areas, and that becomes your instruction for the year. So thinking through, but you're not losing sight of the other areas of the expanded core and what might be needed on the map. So you're kind of resource mapping the expanded core areas.

CHAPTER 5: Tools and Resources

BLANKENSHIP: Classroom teachers have a scope and sequence. They have curricular that they pull off the shelves. They know what their grade level expectations are. There's a standardized test that everyone gives. So they have a lot more structure than we have in our field. So thinking about what are the resources out there for teachers, and kind of applying the rubric to the different materials out there to give teachers some heads up. What covers this component, what covers this component. So when we develop the content rubric, there are resources. There's 122 free resources for teachers with public domain, and then things that they could purchase.

One of the tools we identified is the FVLMA that was produced by, written by, Rebecca Burnett and LaRhea Sandford, and it's for sale from the American Printing House for the Blind. And it has 68% of all the components that we identified in the rubric. They also have interviews for teachers, interviews for parents, interviews for students. They have observation forms. So they have a lot of the forms already developed.

But some teachers didn't like those interview forms or observation forms, so there's a few more that we've collected from teachers across the country for different groups of students. And so teachers can choose to use those, they could start with that, adapt it, whatever they want to do. But at least they are there, so they don't have to start from scratch when they're thinking about their interviews and their observations.

So we've tried to identify some of those tools. There's a great tool that was developed by the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, an observation tool. So we've pulled that in as a public domain tool for teachers. So trying to come together, collectively, to think about what might help teachers of students who are blind and visually impaired. What resources they might need. Because we don't really have a centralized place in our field of vision where people could post or blog or have things put up that can share with each other. So it really is just thinking about establishing a standard of practice that we could all start with. And then move out from there.

CHAPTER 6: Refining the Assessment Process

BLANKENSHIP: Moving forward, thinking about, is this impacting student outcomes? Which would be our expanded core data more than our FVLMA. Those would be our accommodations, and are we doing a good job in Gen-Ed with accommodations? So that's a way to measure are they successfully accessing Gen-Ed? Well that comes from our FVLMA, those accommodations. And then our instruction would come from our expanded core curriculum data. And using, hopefully, progress monitoring. And for students with significant disabilities, it's those mastery measures, those sub-skills, of that.

So really encouraging curriculum based measures. That has not been a term widely used or practiced in the field of vision. So thinking about what other people are doing that we can bring in and build on within our own field. So that we have those tools like everyone else has. So that data, we have some powerful progress monitoring data on students. That they do have improved skill-sets. So that's pretty powerful.

But I think you also have to walk in with the laws and requirements. So that you have that policy piece that's tied to your assessment, because everything the bottom line's money, and AT costs money. So we have to have the assessment tool. Go back to policy that says on the IEP, you must address AT, assistive technology. So you bring that policy piece, you have your assessment tool, but then we have to show that that tool is, that resource is making a difference with students.

NARRATOR: In a photograph, we see a boy who is blind and hearing impaired in a mainstream classroom with his peers.

The boy, who appears to be about 10 or 11 years old, is using a Braille note taker. His teacher, who stands in front of the class, perhaps four feet from the boys desk, wears a microphone on the collar of her shirt. The microphone transmits to the boys hearing aids.

BLANKENSHIP: So teachers better have their progress monitoring data to show that it's making a difference, because it does cost a lot of money. And going from low to high. So I think it's across all of that. So you're thinking about policy, you're thinking about your assessment data, and then you have your progress monitoring data to show that it's effective.

I think for some teachers it's not a paradigm shift and for others it's a huge shift. If no one in their district knows anything about vision, and a lot of our TVIs never are provided ongoing staff development that's appropriate for vision. They go to things for the school district that really has nothing to do with children who are blind or visually impaired. So for some, this will just be a natural extension of what they're already doing.

Others will embrace it, oh here's finally some sort of framework that I can use to grade myself. Because rubrics have been shown to improve practice. And gives just kind of a tool to let you know what the standards are. But for some teachers this is going to be brand new learning, because we are so different across the country in what kind of services we provide. Where you graduated from college makes a huge difference, because I think everyone has their different sets of competencies. So I think for some it will be new and for others it'll just be thank goodness there's something I can hang my hat on now to support them.

NARRATOR: More information about Assessments for Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired can be found on the following websites — earubric.com. The Learning Media Assessment Publication at AFB.org is a valuable resource, as is the information also available on the site regarding the expanded core curriculum. Information about Functional Vision Assessments can be found at Perkinselearning.org.