The
Role and Responsibility of the State Education
Consultant for Students with Visual Impairments
State
Education Consultants for the Visually Impaired
Introduction
Since the 1940s there have been persons in the state and provincial
departments of education with titles similar to "state education consultant
for the visually impaired." From
the beginning, these persons were primary advocates to insure appropriate
acceptance of the child with visual impairments
into the regular education program. Later
in the 1960s, they expanded their activities to include conducting inservice
training programs and setting up specialized materials centers. Throughout the three decades, state consultants were instrumental in the
development and coordination of volunteer services to produce textbooks and
other specialized educational materials. During the 1970s, state special education laws and federal legislation
brought new challenges, increased demands, and major changes in the role and
responsibilities of the state education consultants for students with visual
impairments.
The necessity for continuation of a strong coordination and support role
within state and provincial departments of education specifically for programs
and services to children with visual impairments remains critical to the
function of education agencies. The
need for these state consultants' specialized skills is frequently overlooked in
spite of their long and successful history of encouraging the integration of
students with visual impairments into regular education programs. In addition, services for students with visual impairments must often
compete with higher incidence impaired populations and previously unserved
populations for representation and funds.
Legislation has had a tremendous impact on the role and responsibilities
of leadership personnel in all special education categorical areas. In most states, the implementation of these laws has demanded changes in
function for state department personnel. They
are shifting from responsibility for particular program areas, such as vision,
to monitoring compliance with state and federal regulations. However, if the quality of programs for students with visual impairments
at the local level is not to be eroded, concerned professionals must define
roles and responsibilities that are essential to the effective functioning of
state education consultants for students with visual impairments so that
creative leadership may be provided to the local school districts and
residential schools.
Statement
of principles
To assure the free,
appropriate, public education for all students with visual impairments, state
education consultants for children and youth with visual impairments are
necessary to:
1. Serve as advocates
for the formation and implementation of appropriate laws, regulations, and
program standards affecting the educational well-being of all students with
visual impairments;
2. Provide leadership to
teachers in local, regional, and residential education programs and to function
as advocates for them with local administrators;
3. Provide an on-going program
of local administrative professional development in order to raise the level of
technical expertise for those local supervisors responsible for making important
daily programmatic decisions;
4. Serve as catalysts
for the development of teacher-designed inservice opportunities;
5. Serve as consultants
to local school district personnel and residential school staff as they conduct
appropriately designed program evaluation and improvement practices;
6. Design and administer
systematic child search plans which will effectively identify students needing
specialized educational services related to visual impairments;
7. Act as analysts of
census data in order to recommend and enforce the establishment of a continuum
of appropriate program models to serve all identified students with visual
impairments in the least restrictive settings;
8. Assure that adequate
federal, state, and local funding programs are provided to support statewide
special education delivery systems;
9. Serve as advocates
for the development and maintenance of comprehensive delivery systems for
specialized educational materials and equipment for students with visual
impairments in the least restrictive and most appropriate settings;
10. Assure that
appropriate related services are provided as necessary within the special
education delivery systems;
11. Design and
administer public communication systems which will clearly describe all programs
and services potentially necessary for students with visual impairments to
receive a free, appropriate, public education;
12. Serve to foster
interagency and medical community cooperation to insure the smooth provision of
other necessary social, vocational, rehabilitation, medical, and welfare
services to students with visual impairments in concert with the total education
system;
13. Serve as information
channels in the long-range development of appropriate programs, services, and
technology to national and provincial agencies;
14. Advise teacher
training institutions of evolving competencies needed for teachers of students
with visual impairments; and
15. Maintain regular
communication with national professional organizations and consumer groups to
insure uniformity of service delivery patterns and to keep abreast of the latest
policy, curricular, technological, and program developments.
To perform these tasks, and to function adequately as leaders, state
education consultants for students with visual impairments must have a
background of knowledge, understanding, and experience with the special educational
needs of students with vision impairments and must possess skill in
administration and consultation. The
following competencies are considered to be essential:
1. Ability to design and
implement an appropriate special education service delivery system for students
with visual impairments;
2. Ability to supervise,
advocate for, coordinate, and support teachers who work with students with
visual impairments at the local and regional levels;
3. Skill to assess
educational and adaptive skill needs of students with visual impairments,
determine priorities of work responsibilities, and manage time and resources;
4. Ability to secure
funds and manage fiscal matters;
5. Ability to utilize
skills of a change agent to establish appropriate service delivery systems;
6. Ability to plan and
implement on-going staff development;
7. Ability to work
effectively with other professionals such as local and state education
officials, instructional materials center personnel, legislators,
college/university personnel, residential school personnel, parents, and
community volunteers;
8. Ability to engage in
meaningful problem solving;
9. Skill in analyzing
and utilizing the political communications systems;
10. Ability to serve in
an advocacy role;
11. Ability to apply
research skills to the solution of educational problems;
12. Ability to select
and manage appropriate evaluation procedures for students with impairments and
programs; and
13. Skill in
facilitation and consultation.
With
these competencies, a state education consultant can serve in an advocacy role
to assure that the needs of children with visual impairments are adequately represented at state and national
levels. To do so effectively,
however, requires that the primary foci and priorities of the state education
consultant for students with visual impairments be to assure that appropriate
special education delivery systems for students with visual impairments exist
and to provide support critically necessary for teachers and administrators at
the local, regional, and residential levels.
Position
In order that children and youth with visual impairments may be assured
of receiving a free, appropriate, public education of consistently high quality,
state departments of education must maintain at least one full-time consultant
specifically trained and experienced in education of students with visual
impairments whose primary responsibility is educational programming for children
and youth with visual impairments.
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