Donna McNear , 2007 CEC/DVI Distinguished Service Award, was awarded the 2008 CEC Outstanding Leadership Award

April 3, 2008 in Boston, MA

Pictured:  CEC Outstanding Leadership Award winner Donna McNear with Past-President Ellyn Ross.

CEC is proud to recognize Donna McNear as its 2008 Outstanding Leadership Award recipient. Ms. McNear is a teacher who has achieved national recognition as a leader in visual impairment education. Her service to CEC and the field has resulted in improved educational practices for children with visual impairments, teacher training, professional standards, and national reform initiatives. Through her work, Ms. McNear has established collaborative relationships, within and without the field of blindness, to benefit educational services to children with visual disabilities.

Ms. McNear began her role as a volunteer leader on her district's Technology Partnership Force, Mentorship Committee, and Staff Development Committee. In 1988, when Ms. McNear was elected President of CEC's Minnesota Division for the Visually Handicapped, her work encompassed the state. Ms. McNear shared her experience and knowledge of the education of children with visual disabilities to, among others, Minnesota's State Vision Network; Minnesota Resource Center Low Vision Work Group; Minnesota Department of Education Task Force on Educadtion of Children with Disabilities; and Child Rehabilitation Program Task Force, State Services for the Blind.

At the national and international levels, Ms. McNear's expertise has proven invaluable for CEC and the field. Ms. McNear served as President of CEC's Division on Visual Impairments, helping grow the division and promote its work. Through her service with the INTASC Standards for Students with Disabilities and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, she contributed to the development of two national standards initiatives. In addition, Ms. McNear helped guide policy development through her service to the Center for Teacher Quality and the Steering Committee for the National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youth with Visual Impairments. Ms. McNear is also a Peer Review Panel Member of the U.S. Department of Education and a peer reviewer for the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. Further, Ms. McNear is director of Micronesia Missions, which serves children with visual impairments in the Federated States of Micronesia.