Originally published by the U.S Department of Education in 1995 and revised in 2004, the National Agenda for Students with Visual Impairments, including those with multiple disabilities, is a powerful declaration by both professionals and parents of what must be done to give these students an equal level of public education, resulting in the same employment and community opportunities as non-disabled peers. The document delivered a structure for guiding educational reform and building consistency among efforts to improve quality of services within school systems.
Its direction of the process by which students are to be served was given through presentation of first eight, then ten specific goals for each educator to focus on that were believed to be achievable within a reasonable period of time. Central to the agenda is the concept that reaching these goals is key to successfully providing a free and appropriate public education to this population as required by federal law under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The goals were written to address observable deficiencies, and relate to five areas: the administration of eligibility assessments only by appropriately credited personnel, timely service referrals, policy regarding preparation programs and professional development for specialized professionals, parent partnership rights, and the individualization of service plans for students. The agenda made clear this population of students is to be taught the general curriculum at the same level of rigor and assessed by the same standards as those not in special education programs, as well as be given accommodations to participate in all state or local testing. A summary of the ten goals for each district and each school to aim for is as follows.
- Referral to a special education program will be completed within 30 days of the time a visual impairment is confirmed. Teachers of the Visually Impaired and Orientation and Mobility specialists must then deliver a quality and quantity of services as determined by the needs of the student.
- Policies are to be established that allow for full parental involvement in the process.
- University programs that have even a single faculty member for preparing specialized teachers and/or mobility instructors to work with visually impaired children are to increase production of field-ready professionals to fill nation-wide vacancies.
- Teacher caseloads should reflect student needs according to assessment data.
- A full array of services is to be available to all students.
- Specialized assessments such as those to determine reading media or evaluate functional vision must be administered through participation with a teacher of the visually impaired and the parents of the child.
- An accessible format of all textbooks and instructional materials are to be provided to students at the same time as the general materials are handed out.
- Student goals and instructional plans for both the general and expanded core curriculums must be determined by individual student needs and founded on assessment results.
- Transition goals and instruction should be based on both the individual’s preferences and realistic abilities. They should align to developmental and academic student needs.
- To maintain quality of instruction, service providers will be given and complete various levels of professional development opportunities on a regular basis.
While a couple of these goals sometimes seem unrealistically idealistic due to deepening stress fissures within the current educational system, including severe staffing shortages, they each highlight areas that heavily impact the educational experience of students, families, and teachers within the field. Not only do these guidelines stand as a mark of excellence for educators and policy makers to work towards, but they act as a measure for self-evaluation that programs can compare their services to for the purpose of identifying weaknesses in need of shoring up. The closer a program comes to these targets, the less students’ needs will fall through the cracks and the more likely students served under it will receive a rich and thorough learning journey leading to a successful and fulfilling adult life.