The HK Fellows Project has several objectives to implement the final outcome of the program which 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.

These objectives are as follows:

  1. Increase the number of highly qualified educators with a specialty in meeting the needs of students with simultaneous vision and hearing impairments through the development of “Helen Keller Fellows” a cadre of teacher leaders who will receive integrated training and practice opportunities in educational strategies, leadership and systems thinking that will enhance the competencies of personnel who share responsibilities for providing effective services.
  2. Network university faculty responsible for low incidence programs with a focus on deaf-blindness by lessening their isolation from one another so that they may maximize the incorporation and dissemination of research-based practices that improve outcomes for children with severe impairments including simultaneous vision and hearing loss.
  3. Connect Helen Keller Fellows with leading researchers in deaf-blindness through the creation of a Community of Practice embedded with enrichment activities that will maximize the ability of the Fellows to (a) provide evidence-based instruction and services; and, (b) engage in leadership activities at the systems level.
  4. Match the Fellows with intensive field-based training opportunities provided by their home states’ deaf-blind technical assistance project which includes high-poverty communities, rural areas, and urban areas.
  5. Evaluate the extent to which the Fellows have the knowledge and skills to provide evidence-based instruction and services that result in improved outcomes for children through the use of Teacher Work Sample Methodology (TWSM).
  6. Provide free web-based training modules compiled from the “webinars with the experts” and made available to parents, educators, and related service providers through the NCDB website.
  7. Evaluate the outcomes of the proposed project through a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods.