Division on Visual Impairments

VIDBEQ.66.2.Spring.2021

A quarterly newsletter from the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Visual Impairments containing practitioner tips for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and other professionals.

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VIDBE-Q Volume 66, Issue 2 41 impact other service providers in their school settings in a peer-based "train the trainer" model. The process of facilitated peer-to-peer learning is referred to as developing "lateral capacity" and is critical to the achievement of systemic change in education (Rincon-Gallardo & Fullan, 2016). Through facilitated Cohort discussions, targeted professional development, and one-on-one intervisitations between teachers, cohort members reported an increase in their knowledge and skills in best practices related to this unique population. The Cohort meets every 6 to 10 weeks throughout the school year, bringing together approximately 20 teachers and administrators from various participating agencies; the largest group being from NYCDOE EVS. Members then work in small groups that organically emerge between meetings to support each other in developing assessment and intervention strategies on-site with students with CVI across the five boroughs of NYC. Highlights are shared and challenges are then problem-solved at Cohort meetings. Outcomes In 2015, only approximately 3% of students registered with NYDBC were identified as having CVI, which was understood to reflect significant under- identification and under-referral of this population. After the first three years of the cohort (2015-2018), there was a measurable increase in the identification and referral to NYDBC of more than 15 students with CVI who were also diagnosed

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