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VIDBE-Q Volume 63 Issue 2
As a result, data were gathered in a qualitative study to explore how the ECC is
addressed at schools for the blind. Two schools for the blind were each visited for 5 days
with a 1-day follow-up visit 1 year later. Observations were made in instructional and
residential settings, interviews or focus groups were conducted with a wide range of
students and staff, and documents (e.g., curricula, IEPs) were collected and reviewed.
The data shared here are part of a larger research project with Dr. Sandra Lewis regarding
the implementation of the ECC at schools for the blind, including barriers and facilitators
to instruction, but the challenges and strategies outlined below may prove particularly
useful for practitioners.
Implications for Practitioners
Barriers
Tension between academics and ECC. Multiple sources of information in both
schools revealed a tension between providing instruction in the ECC and the core
academic curriculum. Students were reported to often enter school with academic skills
below expectations and, as a result, required instructional time be spent on remedial
academic skills instead of the ECC to meet state and national testing requirements. This
pressure to teach academics may have resulted in a dichotomy of ECC and academics
and made it difficult to integrate the two areas.
Training challenges. Both instructional and residential staff members reported
learning about the ECC once on the job, through graduate education or in-service
programs. Additionally, high staff turnover led to difficulty building an experienced staff.
As a result, teachers, educational assistants, and residential advisors all reported a desire
