VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 4
longitudinal studies—are particularly expensive and difficult to accomplish with a
group as small and heterogeneous as is the population of children with visual
impairments. Without sound research, however, we will never know what works
and what does not work—and progress toward our goals will be limited.
The kind of collective action by professionals who provide services to
children with visual impairments and their families that has the potential to be most
immediately effective relates to supporting the Cogswell-Macy Act (H.R. 4822, S.
2681; 116
th
Congress), which was introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress
in October 2019. This legislation would amend IDEA and require states to
accurately account for all students who are identified as having a visual or hearing
impairment or both, regardless of the category of disability in which they are
reported. Further, it mandates that states ensure that there are "enough qualified
personnel to serve children who have such disabilities and that a full continuum of
alternate placements is available" to meet the assessed needs of children. Among
the proposed law's provisions are the requirement that the U.S. Department of
Education "monitor and report on states' compliance with their obligations with
respect to instruction and services specifically provided to students who are deaf,
hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind," and that a national center
be established "to proliferate evidence-based practices in the education of students
with vision loss, to keep special educators current with the latest instructional
