State School for the Visually Impaired Schleswig

1
State School for the Visually Impaired Schleswig
2
State School for the Visually Impaired, Schleswig

• Agenda
• Current Situation SfS
• Process of Assessment in Practice for SfS
• Key Question and Reflections of the Visitors
• Steps of Working on Reflections
• Goals for SfS and European Agency

3
State School for the Visually Impaired, Schleswig
4
State School for the Visually Impaired, Schleswig
Mandate Providing special educational support
and consultation services to children, youth
and young adults with visual impairment in the
least restrictive environment.
5
State School for the Visually Impaired, Schleswig
Implementation Support and Consulting Seminars
Courses Media Center, Administration
6
State School for the Visually Impaired, Schleswig

• Personnel
• Central and decentralized in all of
  Schleswig-Holstein
• multidisciplinary competencies and
  qualifications in one
• place service center
• Exchanging, maintaining and developing expertise
• Frequent meetings (Schleswig-Tuesday) team
  meetings, monthly conferences with all staff
• Comprehensive work groups and projects internaly
• Frequent publication Info Intern twice a month
• Communication via e-mail
• Interdisziplinary cooperation with outside
  agencies

7
Site Visit May 2007
Key Question Developing Multi-Professional
Assessment Procedures in Cooperation with
Mainstream Schools, Students, and their
Families
8
Site Visit May 2007

• Program
• Visiting five sites with mainstream situation
• Visiting a course (Norderlück)?
• Talk about psychological assessment (Heinz Gr)?
• Talk about functional vision assessment (Anne Hk)?

9
Site Visit May 2007

• Three Main Reflections
• Strengthen the involvement of students and
  parents in the assessment process
• Strengthen inclusion in the way of promoting the
  positive structure of the SfS
• Formalize informal procedures and processes with
  the purpose of strengthening ongoing assessment
  in the mainstream setting setting standards for
  the procedure usable for all teams at SfS

10
Site Visit May 2007

• Further Process
• Finding a group of colleagues working on these
  goals (80 staff members)?
• Transfering the reflections into the daily and
  present processes to be valuable for SfS
• Finding practical goals to work on(Working Group
  Europe)?

11
SfS Actions

• 1. Reflection of Visitors
• Strengthen the involvement of students and
  parents in the assessment process
• Teachers conference on the question of IEPs and
  how students and parents (teachers) are involved
  see summary

12
SfS Actions

• 2. Reflection of Visitors
• How can the SfS be active in demonstrating
• successful inclusion that provides as good an
  educationas special placements? How can SfS
  promote a positive image of inclusion to people
  who may be in doubt?
• Continuing to provide information to outside
  agencies, schools, professionals through various
  structure see summary of activities

13
SfS Actions

• 3. Reflection of Visitors
• Formalize informal procedures and processes with
  the purpose of strengthening ongoing assessment
  in mainstream settings setting standards for the
  
• procedure usable for all teams at SfS
• Developing a tool based on subjects of the
  Expanded Core Curriculum for Visually Impaired
  with the goals of
• developing more transparency
• providing common understanding about the areas
  assessed at SfS
• providing a transparent tool to support
  cooperation with parents and teachers

14
SfS Actions
3. Reflection of Visitors Dual Curriculum /
Expanded Core Curriculum Compensatory, Assistive
Technology, Orientation and Mobility,
Independent Living, Recreation and Leisure,
Career Education, Social Skills, Self
Determination, Visual Efficiency
15
SfS Actions
Working Group Europe 3. Reflection of
Visitors Goal to develop a tool based on
subjects of the Expanded Core Curriculum
for Visually Impaired as a basis for
assessment for learning in mainstream
settings Step 1 How are these subjects
implemented in the Quality
Program developed by SfS? Step 2 chose two
areas exemplary to develop an
assessment tool usuable for all teams
16
SfS Actions

• Working Group Europe
• Step 1
• Reviewing the Quality Program (ref. EVIT)
  developed by SfS
• A tool which develops evaluation standards and
  structures at SfS based on team input and the
  specific structures of SfS

17
SfS Actions

• Working Group Europe
• Step 2
• Chosing two areas exemplary to develop an
  assessment tool usuable for all teams
• Mobility and Orientation (OM)?
• Social Concept / Self Determination

18
SfS Actions
Working Group Europe Development of an
Orientation and Mobility (OM) Assessment Tool
for SfS Teachers Karin Edigkaufer Dagmar Hetzke
19
SfS Actions
Working Group Europe Development of an
Assessment Tool for SfS Teachersin terms
ofSocial Skills / Self Determination Petra
Florian Hilgers
20
SfS Actions
Survey on assessment tools already used by
colleagues of the SfS led to no
results. Therefore we look for assessement tools
designed by other organizations or institutions
especially assesment tools in terms of social
skills or self determination.
21
SfS Actions
We found a good basis for our work in theIowa
Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) Resource Guide
2006. The ECC defines learning expectations
for all parts of the Dual Curriculum. Learning
expactations are finley organized and correlate
with different age groups (5-7, 8-10, 11-13,
14-18 years).
22
SfS Actions
Additional performance indicators are listed
subsequent to each learning expectation to give
teachers a chance to evaluate the achievement of
each learning expectation.
23
SfS Actions

• Example
• Self Determinations Skills are divided into
• Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills
• Self-Knowledge Applications
• Acquire Personal Safety Skills

24
SfS Actions
Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills are divided
into learning expectations referring to the
different age groups in this example grade 6-8
(12-14 years old children) The student
will... 7.1 Discover personal interests,
abilities and skills 7.2 Identify and express
feelings in an appropiate manner 7.3 Examine
behavior and demonstrate self-control.
25
SfS Actions

• To check the achievments of this learning
  expactions many performance indicators are given
  like
• The student will...
• Correctly interpret non-verbal expressions of
  feelings.
• Deal with relationships in a positiv, respectful
  manner.
• Describe situations in which one's actions and
  behaviors affected others.
• Value individual differences in self and others
• ...

26
SfS Actions
Our next steps Review of our translation of the
ECC and incorporate German or European conditions
into our translation Authoring a table out of our
version of the ECC to get an assessment tool in
terms of social skills and self determination
like the table for OM.
27
Site Visit March 2008

• Input from the Countries
• Do the other countries work with a Dual
  Curriculum / Expanded Core Curriculum for
  students with SEN and what is the procedure?
• How are social skills and autonomy /
  decision-making abilities in students with SEN
  assessed in the other countries?

28
Site Visit March 2008

• Input from the Countries
• Goal for SfS and the European Agency
• Supports developing professionalism in the area
  of assessments of visual impaired students as a
  basis for assessment for learning
• Points out the importance of specific
  professional viewpoints and skills which help
  completing the picture in the process of
  assessment for learning

29
Site Visit March 2008
Thank you for your Attention