VIDBE-Q 2025 Volume 70 Issue 1
Background and Problem
When considering staffing, allocation of students on individualized
education programs (IEPs) or young children and families on individualized family
service plans (IFSPs), and service provision, administrators often adopt a caseload
model. In this model, administrators simply divide the number of students with
visual impairments by the number of available TSVIs and O&M specialists
(Meador, 2015). Importantly, such a model considers the number of students who
require special education services without regard to the amount of time needed to
meet those students' needs or teachers' other responsibilities (American
Occupational Therapy Association, American Physical Therapy Association, &
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2014; Wilton, 2017). However,
in recent years, researchers and professional organizations have encouraged
administrators to adopt a workload model. Workload refers to all activities and
responsibilities performed by TSVIs and O&M specialists, including, but not
limited to, lesson planning, preparing unique curricular materials, adapting
classroom-based materials, conducting evaluations, attending meetings, traveling
between educational sites, and direct and collaborative consultation service
provision (Pogrund & Cabrera-Garcia, 2023; Pogrund et al., submitted 2023;
Wilton, 2017).
