Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges

Follow up report of last On-site Teams Recommendations

from

April 20, 1997 – 2004

Compiled – January of 2004

1997 - Team Member Roster:

Dr. Richard “Dick” Langum, Chair Superintendent

Cashmere School Dist.

Dr. Ralph Barley Superintendent

Kentucky School for the Blind

Ms. Cheryl Grindol Instructor, Dept. of Education

Portland State University

Mr. Don Hanson Program Supervisor, Special Education

Office of Supt. of Public Instruction

Mr. Dennis Mathews Assistant Superintendent

Educational Service District #112

Dr. Anne Nielsen Coordinator, Eastside Vision Cooperative

North Central Educational Service District

Ms. Mary Beth Young Director of Student Home Services

Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School

Philosophical and Objectives:

1. Encourage WSSB to continue to evaluate and expand services that are near the student’s residence.

• Services for blind and visually impaired children have increased by 540+% since 1990. (See the attached growth chart)
• Most growth in program numbers have occurred through Outreach services
• WSSB has been working with various partners to try and regionalize some services and has gained some support from the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to facilitate this.
• Most recent expansion, which doesn’t appear in the above percent in increased services, is WSSB’s new “Distance/Digital Learning Program.”

2. Continue to maintain sufficient staffing and hire a Director of Outreach Services.

• WSSB has been able to maintain appropriate staffing ratios over the years. Most recently the school received a 3% budget reduction that resulted in the loss of approximately 3 FTE. WSSB will continue to re-evaluate positions to make sure that the most efficient use of its positions is being utilized.
• WSSB has eliminated contracted services with the School for the Deaf (WSD) in the areas of: Business Operations, Human Resources and to some degree in food services. This has resulted on paper as an FTE increase. The result for the school has been a more efficient operation and better control over these two important areas.
• Director of Outreach services position was established, which has assisted in continued growth in outreach services. WSSB continues to hire additional trained teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) to provide services to children in local districts as contractual dollars permit. Often the school ends up hiring the new TVI’s on a loss leader basis, realizing that the school will have to provide the fiscal support until the demand increases within the geographical area to fully cover the cost of the new employee.

3. Continue to become a single point of contact for services to visually impaired children, and assimilate the IRC as an active part of the total program offering both on campus and through outreach.

• A single point of contact for services was clearer a few years ago before the start of the Washington Sensory Disability Services (WSDS), which is program funded by OSPI. However, WSSB is still viewed as a facility of Best Practices in assisting districts throughout the state.
• The IRC has been actively incorporated into all aspects of WSSB. This includes the co-location and merging of some functions between the Braille Access Center and the IRC. WSSB Statewide Technology Center services have merged with the IRC in the distribution and tracking of equipment and software. In additional numerous partnerships have been added and expanded.

Curriculum: Learning Areas: (Elementary)

1. Intake/enrollment and Transition back to district be reviewed.

• WSSB has made numerous changes since the last on-site visit from moving this process from Outreach to the on-campus educational program and recently back again to the Outreach Department. This process continues to be revised based upon input from districts and staff.

2. Assign lead teachers to work in the area of curriculum development and use an outside consultant as needed.

• WSSB has assigned three teachers as leads to assist the principal in curriculum development activities. The principal and leads work in conjunction with staff, outside consultants and other stakeholders in the development of curriculum which is tied back to the school mission, purpose and value statements.

3. Provide staff training on curricular development and application in the classroom.

• This is done on a regular basis as coordinated by the principal.

4. Link Essential Learning Requirements to curriculum and IEP.

• These links have been made and continue to be a high priority. This is a constant evolving area.
• Very high emphasis has been placed on teaching students to use appropriate technology that can assist in accessing information once the students returns to their local districts. (see technology plan for more details)

5. Explore student tracking system.

• A student tracking system has been implemented and changed numerous times since the last on-site and will continue to change based upon our needs, districts needs and parent needs. WSSB is exploring an internet based tracking system that would allow parents with access codes to check their child’s progress at any point in time.

6. Continue to examine student schedules to reduce pullouts for some of the specialized training.

• WSSB has recently gone to a modified schedule for teachers including some staff on four-10 hour days in order to facilitate individual lessons in the area of blindness skills without impacting the child’s other classes.

Curriculum: Learning Areas: (Secondary)

1. Sufficient staff time and training provided to meet legislative mandates in the area of curriculum development.

• WSSB has set aside funding to provide for staff time to meet mandates within the school’s budgetary abilities. This is a constantly changing area, which requires constant changes in the schools budgetary allocations. Just like other districts mandates often do not come with funding.

2. Increase coordination between cottages and school program to facilitate higher levels in student performance.

• This has been a high priority and we believe that staff have made major gains in coordination and communication. Daily person contacts are made in many situations, including use of voice mail, and e-mail. Also, most teachers are posting their assigned work on the internet for staff and parents to follow.

3. Encourage team teaching with Hudson Bay staff when WSSB students are enrolled.

• I don’t know whether I would say that WSSB is doing better team teaching, but staff have been assigned to Hudson Bay that have developed excellent rapport. Daily contact occurs with Hudson Bay teachers who have provided classes for as many as 20 WSSB students at any one time.
• Through WSSB’s involvement with the new “Digital Learning Commons Pilot Program”, the school’s staff have in a different way been involved in a team teaching situation with a number of students involved in Distance Learning.

4. Explore scheduling joint meetings with residential and education staff.

• This occurs at least two times per month.

5. Expand vocational offerings.

• Career development work both on and off campus have expanded.
• Youth Employment Solutions I (YES I), YES II, and Bridges, career development programs have been completed.
• Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) – a fifth year transition program for students from local education agencies was implemented the second semester of the 2003-2004 school year.
• Industrial arts program has diminished in size, with the retirement of a trained I.A. Teacher. This is an area WSSB would like to see once again expanded, especially in the area of basic skills needed for home care and repair work.

6. Continue to explore increasing internet and technology access.

• WSSB has made huge gains in this area through training, equipment and capital facility upgrades.

Curriculum: Learning Areas: (Life Skills and Vocational)

1. Create a campus-wide philosophy.

• This was done as part of the campus-wide review and update on program focus.

2. Continue to develop scope and sequence of essential learning and disability outcomes.

• Completed as part of EALR’s alignment.

3. Tacking and assessment.

• Tracking done in relationship to EALR’s and IEP goals.
• More work needs to be done in the area of assessment – Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

4. Examining student scheduling and grouping to make sure efficient use of student time at WSSB is being utilized.

• On-going development in this area, especially in the area of work experience both on and off campus. More could always be done.

5. Increase efforts in career awareness and development considering the high unemployment within the blind community.

• WSSB is constantly examining better ways to provide programs for children. Currently, 87.5% of students that graduate from WSSB are successful – employed, in college/ vocational technical schools, or appropriate arrangements have been made for those students who are terminally ill. (data collected since 1998)

6. Increased job opportunities and training;

• This has occurred, but WSSB is always looking for additional partners.
• The fifth year program LIFTT was started to help address LEA students who haven’t had these opportunities.
• WSSB has developed an interagency agreement with the Department of Services for the Blind to expand transition services. (see agreement and reports for more details).

Physical Education:

1. Diversify P.E. Program, update equipment, and the philosophy of the physically education program to incorporate more of a concept within a fitness center.

• WSSB has done a complete revamping of the Physical education program, which is now called Fit for Life. (program described below)
• Equipment has been updated.
• The Kennedy Building has been scheduled for a remodel, but may need to be razed and replaced due to seismic concerns. This is under investigation at this time. Anticipated replacement of the building, which is dependent upon additional funding from the legislature, would be scheduled to begin July of 2005.

Fit for Life Program

Children and youth with visual impairments tend to frown upon the word physical education and fitness due to past experience, failure, and fear.  Many have been denied the opportunity to participate fully in school sport and fitness programs.  Those students who have been integrated in the general physical education setting may have felt high degrees of failure due to the lack of adaptation of activities.  Not having the ability to see where you are running, see when the ball is coming, or see what the instructor is demonstrating can develop emotions of fear.  Whatever the reason, children with visual impairments tend to live a sedenta