Task Force on Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance Blind Task Force (BTF)
Minutes
Virtual WebEx Meeting of Committee Representatives August 4, 2020

For information on the BTF, visit https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory-panels/blind- task-force

Handouts related to presentations for today’s meeting can be found at https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory-panels/blind-task-force

Members in Attendance: Stephen Barr, DJ Butcher, Anthony Blades, Joy Frazier, Rose Ehresman, Geoffrey Barney, Jane Herder, Brent Sharp, Shari Scott, Samantha Scott, Carla Keirns, Linda Coccovizzo, Donna Borgmeyer, Louise Whitworth, Angie Yorke, Jennifer Carmack

Members Not in Attendance: Reeda Rippee, June Lenk, Stacy Hamlett, Denise Boucher Minutes recorder: Regina Miller, administrative assistant, OSE, DESE
L. Coccovizzo, vice chairperson called the meeting to order at 10:25 a.m. L. Whitworth, chairperson, joined WebEx at 10:27 and officiated over the remainder of the meeting.

Introductions were made.

Roll Call: R. Miller conducted roll call in the absence of R. Rippee.

Review and approval of August 4, 2020 Agenda: L. Coccovizzo
Motion to accept agenda with no changes. Motion made and seconded to approve with no changes.

Review and approval of May 5, 2020 Minutes: L. Coccovizzo
Motion to accept minutes with no changes. Motion made and seconded to approve with no changes.

Presentation – Public Health Guidance Regarding School Opening, C. Keirns Members received emails from presenter providing reopening and distance learning resources/links. See handouts related to this presentation at https://dese.mo.gov/special- education/advisory-panels/blind-task-force.

Member discussion of issues and concerns related to reopening of schools
Ninety two percent of parents at MSSD want to see a return to face-to-face learning in the classroom
Meeting student’s needs while working remotely
Subject area challenges (OT, PT, Geometry)
Itinerant staff
Parental support
Need for assistive technology at home. Questions remain regarding how these services can be delivered virtually and their effectiveness
Providing alternate locations to allow for remote learning while parents are at work.
Difficulty with remote Braille instruction

Costs of implementing basic health protections
Positive, supportive approaches to working with young children to ensure they comply with required policies and guidance
Reducing school building capacity to fifty percent and staggering face-to-face days with remote learning during the week
Issues related to internet access, bandwidth, and providing devices (Hot Spot,
Chromebooks, iPads) that students will need for remote learning
Specific thresholds or time tables in place should students, parents and/or teachers become infected
Mental/emotional impact and support within the schools (bereavement counselors; psychologists, etc.)
Frequent connection/communication with parents
Train/retrain parents and teachers on devices, effective teaching practices
Virtual based training materials (videos, online resources, etc.)
Effective contact tracing practices and policies that provide workable timelines for returning to the classroom
Teacher retention
Learning at home is disruptive-too many things can distract the student while trying to remain in a classroom setting
ECSE, pre K and elementary students will have the most difficulty with remote learning, especially if the parents have to work (can’t expect a second grader to be on their laptop and do the work without support or accountability)
Best practices for remote instruction that parents/teachers can use as models
Attendance during remote learning sessions
Training parents to be teachers to deliver effective instruction
Remote learning for students with visual impairment
Statewide resources available for remote instruction
LiveBinder
Resource sharing
Email communication
Sharing virtual activities

Presentation: Presentation on Nemeth Resources, J. Herder
Nemeth is braille math
Honing our Nemeth skills
Learning how we can help our students learn virtually
Project Inspire (University of South Carolina) – Six week online course for teachers and students with visual impairment using videos, lesson plans, assignments and additional disability resources (braille, braille transcribers)
Stem Braille Boot Camp (Six grade to college age students)
Stem Grill Bowl Competition
Pearson (University of South Carolina) Designed to teach students who are visually impaired how to read and write the Nemeth Braille code. It is aligned with common core standards and includes specific teacher scripts, braille, worksheets, answer keys, data, recording sheets, review activities and assessments
Searchable database tool (What is the Nemeth code for an angle?) Tells me what the exact braille code is.
E learning courses available that parents and educators can access
Tech Talk YouTube videos (San Francisco State Tech Talk)

DESE Update: S. Barr

Budget—state: Budgets are fully approved for the 2020-21 school year. Additional cuts to the current budget may still be required to balance the state budget.
Budget—federal: We have the federal awards for the current operating year. Congress is expected to begin discussing the budget for the next federal fiscal year which begins on Oct.1. 2020. If a budget is not approved by then, the Congress typically passes a Continuing Resolution (CR) which essentially maintains most of what is currently budgeted. If no CR, then the government will shut down.
IDEA Funding: DESE received the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant awards for Parts B and C.
COVID-19: The pandemic forced virtually everyone into different modes of work. At the agency, most staff are still teleworking about three days and in office two days per week. We have been maintaining COVID-19 guidance on the DESE website to try to help districts with the many decisions in front of them.
State Leadership Development Grant: The purpose of the grant is to provide training to current and/or future administrators of special education. A focus will be on providing detailed information to help administrators understand and implement special education at an exemplary level. The first cohort met on July 29 for the kickoff. They will begin the modules and discussions as the next step.
State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR): Missouri submitted the state Annual Performance Report (APR) for Part B on January 30 to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the US Department of Education. OSEP will conduct an initial review over the next several months. We engaged in a good discussion with OSEP during the period of clarification in April. We received notice in July that Missouri met requirements.

Alternative Assessment Participation: Changes under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) limit the participation of students on the state’s alternate assessment to one percent of total test takers. We will start looking at data regarding the one percent participation in late October.

Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI): Legislation passed last session allows districts to make up hours of instruction lost due to exceptional circumstances such as weather, power outage or a contagious disease by alternate instructional methods. The primary alternate process may include virtual instruction or computer assisted methods. AMI is now being used in a larger context for extended learning participation and districts wanting to count students for Average Daily Attendance (ADA) are submitting Alternative Methods of Instruction-X (AMI-X) plans.

2020 Sub Committees: Membership and Chairpersons: L. Whitworth
Academic and Vocational Services: L. Whitworth – Nothing to report
Children’s Vision Summit: R. Ehremen – Have not met with committee until we know more about what format CVS will be in. Hope to have more discussion this quarter.
Student Achievement: C. Keirns – Nothing to report
Rules: L. Coccovizzo –

Question posed to members related to future meetings being conducted virtually
Student representatives allowed to attend/participate in meetings virtually
Chairperson will contact members for further discussion

BTF New Members/Vacancies/Updates: L. Whitworth
Vacancies as of August 4, 2020:
(1) Parent of Blind or Visually Impaired Student Attending Public School in Missouri; (1) Public School Special Education Administrator; (1) Public School Building Principal; (1) Employer; (2) Students
Nomination form can be found at https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory- panels/blink-task-force

Current Workshops/Events:
Posted at https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory-panels/blind-task-force

Suggestions for future agenda items:
MoPAL program presentation
Yvonne Ali, Missouri Instructional Resource Center at Missouri School for the Blind (MSB) present a hands on demonstration of new products from the American Printing House for the Blind. These materials are available for school districts to borrow on the Federal Quota Program.
Children’s Vision Summit subcommittee to follow up regarding plans for next summit
Student Achievement subcommittee to revisit data provided by Dr. Barr. C. Keirns, subcommittee chairperson asked for feedback from members by email.

Motion made and seconded to adjourn meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m.

Next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, 2020,