VIDBE-Q Volume 64 Issue 4
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program, we have learned many lessons about training teachers to work
with very young children with visual impairments or deafblindness. One of
those lessons has been the importance of aligning Recommended
Practices, as outlined by the CEC – Division of Early Childhood (DEC
Recommended Practices, 2014), with the standards that our DVIDB
division has agreed are important to our vision training programs (Initial
Specialty Set: Blind and Visual Impairments, 2018). Therefore, in this
article, we endeavor to share this alignment. It is through such comparison
that we have identified areas of instruction that should be considered for
inclusion in teacher training programs when scholars are being trained to
serve infants and toddlers as a part of their future practice.
The DEC Recommended practices are made up of seven key areas
including (a) Assessment, (b) Environment, (c) Family, (d) Instruction, (e)
Interaction, (f) Teaming and Collaboration, and (g) Transition. Similarly, the
BVI Specialty Set is made up of seven strands including (a) Learner
Development and Individual Learning Differences, (b) Learning
Environments, (c) Curricular Content Knowledge, (d) Assessment, (e)
Instructional Planning & Strategies, (f) Professional Learning and Ethical
Practice, and (g) Collaboration. Since our EL VISTA courses were
designed to encourage teachers of students with visual impairments and
