VIDBE-Q Volume 66, Issue 2
72
150 school districts in 4 New England states. Educational Programs consists of 20
full-time teachers (TVIs, COMS, and Deafblind Specialists), an Assistant Director,
and a Program Director. At the beginning of March 2020 teachers were challenged
to flexibly respond to districts who were either in person, hybrid or completely
remote. They developed lesson plans and instructional strategies for skills such as
braille, orientation and mobility, and educational supports for students with CVI.
Using small work groups and "Brainstorming Bunch" meetings, teachers,
leadership, and other colleagues collaborated to develop a shared Google Drive
with a vast assortment of resources, lessons, and strategies for remote learning.
Educational Partnerships teachers reported that remote teaching had positive
impacts on their practice: "I have learned that creativity, online resources, built in
features of platforms (screen sharing, white boards, etc.) and the ability to mail or
drop off materials, made online learning a viable option for the education of many
students" (Clark, 2021).
While assessments are a critical component of our work, they have always
been done in-person until this time. In our small working groups we brought in
experts in the field of assessment and brainstormed with them to create a set of best
practices for remote assessment. These meetings resulted in a series of documents
that teachers were able to use, including instructions and assessment elements to
share with families, as parents and caregivers were now deeply involved in the
