December 2000
Annual Study of Blind Student
Academic and Vocational Performance
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Division of Special Education
This study has been funded with federal funds from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, CFDA 84.027A.
Table of Contents
II. Introduction
III. Procedures and Methodology
IV. Technical Analysis
A. Students by Level of Visual Impairment
B. Students and Learning Medium Used
C. Achievement of Students with Visual Impairments
E. Reasons Students with Visual Impairments Leave School
F. Transition Status of Students with Visual Impairments
G. Teachers Certified to Instruct Students With Visual Impairments
V. Findings and Conclusions
VI. Recommendations
List of Tables
Table 1. Students with Visual Impairments by Age
Table 2. Students by Type of Learning Medium Used
Table 3. Students by Primary Learning Medium
Table 4. Type of Learning Medium Used by Grade in the 1999-2000 School Year
Table 5. Blind and Partially Sighted Student MAP Accommodations
Table 6. Learning Medium Used by Blind and Partially Sighted Students for MAP Assessment
Table 7. Missouri Assessment Program Scores for Math
Table 8. Missouri Assessment Program Scores for Communication Arts
Table 9. Reading Proficiency 1999-2000 School Year
Table 10. Missouri Assessment Program Scores for Social Studies
Table 11. Missouri Assessment Program Scores for Science
Table 12. Educational Placements
Table 13. Reason for SVI Leaving School by Student Age
Table 14. State Graduation Rates for Students in Academic Programs
Table 15. Referrals From Public Schools to RSB
Table 16. Missouri Residents with Certification as Teachers of the Blind and Partially Sighted
List of Figures
Figure 1. VI Teachers and VI Childcount With RPDC Boundaries
Questions regarding this study may be directed to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Division of Special Education, 573-751-5739.
I. Preface
The 2000 Study of Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance is the most recent in a series of annual studies on this topic. The 1999 study is available on the World Wide Web site of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Division of Special Education and within the House Bill 401 web page (/divspeced/). Copies of the 1998 study are available from the Division of Special Education.
Readers will note that this study varies in some portions of its content with the prior study available on the web, as well as others that were done prior to 1999. The current year’s study reflects an effort to begin to report and format key information in a longitudinal perspective so readers may easily discern changes which appear to be occurring in the indicators reported, e.g, number of eligible students, achievement, graduation, etc. It is the intent of the Division to continue to increase the reporting of relevant indicators and to report them in a manner that will permit readers to ascertain changes over time.
The Department would like to thank members of the Task Force on Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance for their review and advice on the report, school district personnel and others throughout Missouri who provided data for the American Printing House Blind Registry (APH) and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Childcount of Students with Disabilities (reported as DESE Core Data), and finally, Ms. Wanda McPheron who assembled the information for this report and did the technical writing.
II. Introduction
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is mandated by Section 162.1136, RSMo to provide the Missouri Legislature with an annual report on December 1 detailing the educational status of eligible students with visual impairments (SVI). Missouri statutes define the content that must be reported in the annual study regarding eligible students. Eligible students are defined as “any blind or visually-impaired child, including any student who has a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with conventional correction, or has a limited field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angular distance not greater than twenty degrees, and who is eligible for special education services for the visually-impaired as defined in the department of elementary and secondary education state plan.” The interpretation of this statutory definition is that “eligible students” refers to those who are blind and does not include those who are partially sighted. The findings presented in the 2000 Study of Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance will be used for reflection and policy development regarding services for SVI.
III. Procedures and Methodology
Missouri statutes specify what information, as a minimum, is to be included in the annual report. There were two categories of data for which collection procedures were still being developed at the time of this study including, students receiving Braille materials and related services and students using slate and stylus or other Braille writing devices. In the future, these data elements are expected to be collected via the APH Registry.
Information for this report was assembled from the following sources by the technical writer.
-
Student and teacher data are reported by public schools throughout Missouri each year and are maintained by DESE. This source is referred to as “Core Data”. It contains a count of students by primary disability (this count is required by IDEA), certificated teachers, etc.
-
The Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) is a statewide achievement testing program in which all districts participate. Students in select grades are tested each year in the areas of math, science, communication arts, social studies, fine arts and health and physical education.
-
The American Printing House for the Blind, in collaboration with the Missouri School for the Blind (MSB), conducts an annual count of blind persons of any age who are enrolled in organized education programs below college level. This count does not require that blindness be the primary disability or that the student be identified as disabled according to IDEA. There exists a considerable difference between the count of students using this source when compared with the IDEA childcount.
-
The Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Family Services, Rehabilitation Services for the Blind (RSB) collects information on the number of blind students to whom it provides a variety of services.
IV. Technical Analysis
A. Students by Level of Vision
The December 1, 1999 IDEA child count reported 229 blind students and 196 students who were partially sighted, between the ages of 5 and 21 and for whom a visual impairment was the primary disability. Table 1 reflects the number of blind and partially sighted students by age cohorts, level of vision, and type of school in which educational services were provided during the 1997-98, 1998-99, and 1999-2000 school years. The type of school is defined as public (PS), private/parochial/home school (P/P/H), and MSB.
Table 1. Students with Visual Impairments by Age
|
|
1997-98 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age |
Level of Vision |
PS |
PPH |
MSB |
Total |
| 5-K |
Partially sighted |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
| Blind |
7 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
|
| 6-11 |
Partially sighted |
103 |
0 |
0 |
103 |
| Blind |
54 |
0 |
29 |
83 |
|
| 12-17 |
Partially sighted |
80 |
0 |
0 |
80 |
| Blind |
71 |
0 |
56 |
127 |
|
| 18-21 |
Partially sighted |
8 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
| Blind |
2 |
0 |
21 |
23 |
|
|
Totals |
332 |
1 |
108 |
441 |
|
|
1998-99 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age |
Level of Vision |
PS |
PPH
|
MSB |
Total |
| 5-K |
Partially sighted |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Blind |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
| 6-11 |
Partially sighted |
117 |
2 |
0 |
119 |
| Blind |
60 |
2 |
25 |
87 |
|
| 12-17 |
Partially sighted |
85 |
0 |
0 |
85 |
| Blind |
70 |
0 |
59 |
129 |
|
| 18-21 |
Partially sighted |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Blind |
14 |
0 |
27 |
41 |
|
|
Totals |
361 |
4 |
113 |
447 |
|
|
1999-00 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age |
Level of Vision |
PS |
PPH |
MSB |
Total |
| 5-K |
Partially sighted |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| Blind |
4 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
|
| 6-11 |
Partially sighted |
82 |
1 |
3 |
86 |
| Blind |
70 |
1 |
16 |
87 |
|
| 12-17 |
Partially sighted |
75 |
0 |
22 |
97 |
| Blind |
69 |
1 |
42 |
112 |
|
| 18-21 |
Partially sighted |
2 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
| Blind |
6 |
0 |
17 |
23 |
|
|
Totals |
312 |
7 |
108 |
425 |
During the three-year period, the number of students with blindness as their primary disability was greatest during the 1998-99 school year. The table reflects there were more students with blindness as a primary disability during each year of the period than students for whom partial sightedness was the primary disability. The majority of Missouri resident students with blindness are educated in public school districts; however, a significant number are also educated at MSB that provides day schooling and residential services. The reader may also refer to Figure 1 found later in this report that reflects the IDEA childcount of both partially sighted and blind students by county.
In addition to this count source, another called the APH Registry is also taken which is of blind persons of any age who are enrolled in organized education programs is below college level. It does not require that the visual disability be the primary disability as is the case with the IDEA childcount, or that the persons be identified under IDEA as disabled. During 1999, this count enumerated 930 blind persons; the largest single report coming from the State Schools for Severely Handicapped.
B. Students and Learning Medium Used
Of the students classified as blind in the APH Registry, 104 primarily used Braille in their studies and 49 used it to some extent. Table 2 depicts the primary learning medium for students during the last six school years. It appears that most blind students who read use their residual vision and a lesser number use Braille.
Table 2 indicates that MSB reported 36 students as non-readers. These are generally students attending a multihandicapped program at MSB who, in addition to having a visual impairment, also have other significant disabilities. However, all these students have been reported as having a primary visual impairment on the IDEA childcount.
Table 2. Students by Type of Learning Medium Used
|
|
|
|
|
1994-95 |
1995-96 |
1996-97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Schools |
|
|
|
| Auditory Sources |
7 |
8 |
13 |
| Braille |
62 |
66 |
71 |
| Non-Reader |
236 |
237 |
236 |
| Pre-Reader |
116 |
128 |
145 |
| Visual |
261 |
253 |
240 |
| Total: |
682 |
692 |
705 |
| MSB |
|
|
|
| Auditory Sources |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Braille |
19 |
23 |
29 |
| Non-Reader |
19 |
19 |
34 |
| Pre-Reader |
20 |
19 |
12 |
| Visual |
37 |
32 |
32 |
| Total: |
95 |
93 |
107 |
| Private/Parochial Schools |
|
|
|
| Auditory Sources |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Braille |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Non-Reader |
10 |
10 |
7 |
| Pre-Reader |
112 |