Through the objectives of this proposal, a cadre of geographically dispersed and networked teacher leaders will be prepared to provide evidence-based practices and professional expertise required to meet the educational needs of children with simultaneous vision and hearing impairments.
There is a significant and ever widening gap separating children with simultaneous vision and hearing impairments (i.e., deaf-blindness) from the professional knowledge necessary to meet their varied educational needs. Fewer than 6% of children with deaf-blindness are served by a teacher with training in deaf-blindness. Learners who have both hearing and vision losses require specific instructional techniques to learn to communicate, to develop concepts, to learn to interact, gain mobility and acquire independent living, academic, and vocational skills. The availability of qualified special educators to serve children with disabilities nationwide remains a critical concern. This issue is amplified in the area of low incidence disabilities and especially severe for students with simultaneous vision and hearing impairments.
However, it would be impossible to produce enough classroom teachers to guarantee that each child with deaf-blindness has a teacher with a graduate degree in the field. A more realistic solution is to identify and train highly qualified “teacher leaders” to extend the reach of the state technical assistance projects in order to support district level mentoring and sustained professional development. The development of such a cadre would assist the field by providing coaching/mentoring to their educational colleagues, enhancing instructional programs, and providing job-embedded professional development within the least restrictive educational environment.
The Teaching Research Institute at Western Oregon University, in conjunction with ten geographically dispersed universities (Boston College, East Carolina University, Hunter College of City University of New York, San Francisco State University, Texas Tech University, University of Alabama – Birmingham, University of Arizona, University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Utah, and Utah State University), will collaborate to implement the Extending a Legacy through the Helen Keller Fellows Project. This project addresses the critical shortage of qualified personnel in low incidence disabilities with particular emphasis on simultaneous vision and hearing impairment (i.e., deaf-blindness) and was awarded through the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) under the Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities Combined Priority for Personnel Development (CFDA 84.325K). It targets Focus Area b (Training Personnel to Serve School Age Children in Low Incidence Disabilities).
Participating universities select candidates from their respective graduate programs. Candidates are typically teachers who wish to become teacher leaders with an emphasis in deaf-blindness. Over the four year grant cycle it is anticipated that 36-40 Fellows will complete their master degree programs and become teacher leaders in the field of deaf-blindness.
Each Helen Keller Fellow receives a $10,000 educational stipend. As required by section 662(h) of IDEA, Fellows agree to a service obligation to provide special education services to children with disabilities for a period of two years. Sixty-five percent of the total HK Fellows budget must be designated for Fellow stipends and enrichment activities.
Each Fellow will: (1) attend a Fall HK Fellows Orientation; (2) participate in “webinars with the experts” that incorporate live video, real-time online interaction, and asynchronous communication with leading researchers, technical assistance providers and master teachers; (3) attend the annual topical conference on deaf-blindness hosted by the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness; (4) attend a face-to-face, three-day seminar focusing on leadership and systems-thinking; and (5) intern with their home state’s deaf-blind technical assistance project for at least two weeks to experience a variety of environments including high-poverty communities, rural areas and urban areas.
Upon completion of their university’s graduate program requirements and consortium activities, each Fellow will receive a master’s degree in education as well as documented competencies in addressing the needs of students with deaf-blindness and the educators who work with them. The overall goal of the HK Fellows Project is to improve the quality and increase the number of personnel who are fully credentialed to meet the needs of children with the most severe disabilities.