National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center for Children who are Deaf-Blind

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National Consortium On Deaf-Blindness
Technical Assistance
State Projects
Personnel Training
Families
Information Services and Dissemination
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A Collaborative Partnership Among

• The Teaching Research Institute (TRI) of Western
  Oregon University
• The Helen Keller National Center
• The Hilton/Perkins Program at Perkins School for
  the Blind

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Organization

• TRI has conceived, led, managed and elevated
  technical assistance, dissemination, symposia and
  product development activities in the area of
  deaf-blindness for three decades

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Organization

• HKNC has provided national leadership in
  deaf-blindness and services to youth and adults
  who are deaf-blind since it was established by
  Congress in 1967

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Organization

• Perkins School for the Blind has served children
  who are deaf-blind for more than 150 years and
  operates the Hilton/Perkins Program, which
  provides consultation, training and technical
  assistance related to deaf-blindness throughout
  the nation and in developing countries

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Organization

• A cooperative agreement will be developed between
  OSEP and The National Consortium on
  Deaf-Blindness
• In a cooperative agreement, substantial
  involvement is expected between the U.S.
  Department of Education and the recipient when
  carrying out objectives and activities in the
  agreement

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National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
Technical Assistance
Information Services and Dissemination
Personnel Training
Critical Activity Areas
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Needs of children and youth, their families and
service providers

• Needs of children
• In 2005, 9849 children and youth in the United
  States were identified as deaf- blind (NTAC 2005)
  with 91 having at least one additional
  physical, cognitive or medical disability

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Needs of children and youth, their families and
service providers

• Needs of families
• Deaf-blindness presents substantial challenges
  not only for children, but also for their
  families
• It is critical that families have access to
  services and understandable information and
  resources

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Needs of children and youth, their families and
service providers

• Needs of service providers
• It is estimated that only 6 of children who
  are deaf-blind have a teacher trained in
  deaf- blindness (S. Bruce, personal
  communication, January 2006)

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Federal Mandates and Initiatives

• State Performance Plans (SPP) and Annual
  Performance Reports (APR) require states to
  outline measurable and rigorous targets for 20
  Part B indicators and 14 Part C indicators

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Federal Mandates and InitiativesRelevance to
Children Youth who are Deaf-Blind

1. Percentage of infants and toddlers birth to one
   year with IFSPs
2. Percentage of infants/toddlers receiving services
   in the natural environment
3. Participation and performance of children with
   disabilities on statewide assessments
4. Percentage of youth aged 16 and above with an IEP
   that includes coordinated, measurable annual
   goals and transition services
5. Percentage of parents with a child receiving
   special education involved in the education
   process

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Objectives

1. Communicate, collaborate and form partnerships as
   directed by OSEP
2. Implement multi-level needs assessment
3. Implement evidence-based practices
4. Implement technical assistance and personnel
   training
5. Build the capacity of youth who are deaf-blind
   and families

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Objectives

1. Provide personnel training on the implementation
   of IDEA/evidence-based practices
2. Identify, collect, organize and disseminate
   information related to deaf-blindness
3. Develop and disseminate accessible products that
   synthesize evidence-based research, effective
   practices and emerging knowledge
4. Implement a comprehensive system of evaluation

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Objective 1 Federal Partnerships

• Communicate, collaborate and form partnerships as
  directed by OSEP and with agencies, organizations
  and projects in order to improve results for
  children/youth and families
• PDM
• Self Assessment
• Collaborative Partners

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Objective 2 Needs Assessment

• Implement an ongoing, multi-level needs
  assessment to systematically identify the needs
  of children/youth, families and service
  providers, including personnel training, in order
  to adequately and appropriately address those
  needs
• Census
• TA Process
• Surveys

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Objective 3Implementation of Evidence-Based
Practices

• Provide national leadership in the implementation
  of evidence-based practices in order to address
  gaps in knowledge and to scale up current
  practices
• Practice Partnership
• Research Community of practice
• Research Synthesis

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Objective 4 Technical Assistance

• Implement an array of technical assistance and
  personnel training activities to build the
  capacity of state and local agencies to meet the
  needs of children/youth and their families
• State-specific TA
• Multi-state TA
• National TA

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Objective 5 Families Consumers

• Utilize collaborative partnerships and facilitate
  efforts to build the capacity of youth who are
  deaf-blind and families in order to promote
  self-advocacy, personal empowerment and knowledge
  of deaf-blindness
• Collaborative Agreement with NFADB
• Underserved population
• AADB Teen Program
• Family Specialists
• Family Leadership Training
• Young adults career explorations

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Objective 6 Personnel Training

• Provide leadership in a coordinated national
  effort to promote personnel training on the
  implementation of IDEA and evidence-based
  practices in order to address the shortage of
  leadership and highly qualified personnel in the
  field of deaf-blindness
• National personnel training and leadership
  consortium
• Personnel training activities
• Collaboration with Personnel preparation
  programs

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Objective 7 Dissemination of Evidence-Based
Practices

• Identify, collect, organize and disseminate
  information related to deaf-blindness, including
  evidence-based practices, in order to respond to
  inquiries and increase knowledge that promotes
  effective early intervention, education and
  transition services, and supports families

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Objective 8 Product Development

• Expand the utilization of information resources
  by developing and disseminating accessible
  products that synthesize evidence-based research,
  effective practices and emerging knowledge

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Objective 9 Evaluation

• Implement a comprehensive system of evaluation to
  assess the impact of the Centers objectives and
  activities across the four outcome domains of
  child, family, service provider and systems
• Formative
• Summative
• Use of Goal Attainment scale
• Use of OPIs

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Focus of Practice Partnership

• Early and appropriate identification of children
  who are deaf-blind (under age one year)
• Student achievement in language arts, math and
  science
• Achievement of meaningful post-secondary goals
  through coordinated, measurable and annual
  transition services
• Effective parent involvement for families
  representing different cultural, ethnic,
  linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds
• Accountability through effective evaluation
  strategies for collecting and analyzing data to
  improve results for children

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Focus Area of Impact

• 1) Improve early and appropriate identification
  of children who are deaf-blind
• a) increase in the number of children under one
  year of age who are appropriately identified
• b) decrease in the number of states who report
  no children under the age of one year

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Focus Area of Impact

• 2) Increase student achievement in language
  arts, math and science
• increased alignment of students instructional
  programs with the general education curriculum
• increased student achievement in academic content
  as documented through process monitoring and
  state-approved assessments

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Focus Area of Impact

• 3) Increase achievement of meaningful
  post-secondary goals through coordinated,
  measurable and annual transition services
• a) Students and their families will more
  successfully transition from school-based
  services to post-secondary education, employment
  and community-based environments through the use
  of outcomes-based measurements and the National
  Child Count

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Focus Area of Impact

• 4) Increase effective involvement in education
  planning of families representing different
  cultural, ethnic, linguistic and socioeconomic
  backgrounds
• a) increased understanding of the unique needs
  of their children
• b) improved access to diagnostic, intervention
  and educational services resulting in
  positive outcomes for children

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Focus Area of Impact

• 5) Improve accountability through effective
  evaluation strategies and the collection and
  analysis of data
• a) All state deaf-blind projects will report
  their annual performance reviews,
  self-assessments and site reviews using valid and
  reliable assessments for documenting change in
  awareness, knowledge, skills, and child outcomes