Blind Task Force Agenda



Task Force on Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance Blind Task Force (BTF)MinutesRegular Meeting of Committee RepresentativesMay 2, 2017For information on the BTF, visit in Attendance:Pam AlbertiGeoffrey BarneyStephen BarrDarla ButcherLinda CoccovizzoJoy FrazierJune LenkBonnie LenzAdrian MarcosShari ScottIan ShadrickBrent SharpLouise WhitworthAngie YorkGuests:John Coccovizzo, Driver for Linda CoccovizzoLinda Patterson, Driver for Adrian MarcosMembers Not in Attendance:Anthony BladesSusan BonnerDonna BorgmeyerJulie Anderson-ItuarteDiana LawsonReeda RippeeCall to Order/Roll Call/Introductions – L. WhitworthApproval of May 2, 2017 Agenda – B. LenzMotion – J. Lenk; Seconded – L. CoccovizzoApproval of February 7, 2017 Minutes – B. LenzMotion – I. Shadrick; Seconded – L. WhitworthSignificant Disproportionality PowerPoint Presentation – Presenter, Dr. Stephen Barr, Assistant Commissioner, DESE, Office of Special EducationNo handouts provided. The recorded webinar and Presentation Handout are available at federal regulations will increase the probability of identifying districts for over identification of subpopulations of students for eligibility and/or for discipline. Our office will be having conversations with stakeholder groups to determine the appropriate formulas to be used in MO. The process was started with the Special Education Advisory Panel and the Mo Council for Administrators of Special Education. DESE Update – Dr. Stephen Barr, Assistant Commissioner, DESE, Office of Special EducationBudget:State: The House and Senate have passed their budget recommendations for 17-18. There will need to be a conference committee established to reconcile the differences. Special Education is not greatly affected by the differences. HB 14 included some supplemental funding requests that included additional funds for Early Childhood Special Education and the Excess cost fund. Federal: We are still operating under a continuing resolution (CR) which is a stop gap measure to keep the government running for the short term. The current CR was extended last Friday and will take us through the end of this week. We understand an agreement to extend the CR with some revisions through Sept. 30 is likely to get the nod from both houses of Congress. There are no particulars re: IDEA funding at this time.Every Student Succeeds Act—ESSA—reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The President and Congress eliminated regulations relating to assessments and accountability. While making life a little awkward, plans for implementation are moving forward. We presented some of the main ideas of ESSA to the MO Senate Education committee yesterday. Our intent is to get the state plan sent to the US Department of Education in September. Following are items related to special education we are tackling in partnership with the Office of Quality Schools and others:ESSA places a 1% cap on participation of students statewide taking an alternative assessment. MO currently has about 1.3% to 1.5% of students taking the test. All school districts were notified of the numbers and percent of students taking an alternate test in the 15-16 school-year. They were provided a webinar to help them go through the process of determining which students should take an alternate assessment. We will run numbers again in October/November and notify districts exceeding the 1% that they might want to review their numbers. This notice will give them time to make changes if appropriate.ESSA requires districts to report building level expenditures for federal, state, and local funds. Local expenditures for special education tend to skew these numbers considerably—especially if you are trying to establish equitable funding. The clearest model is to remove state and local funds expended on students with disabilities from the building report data related to equitable funding.Part C State Application: Submitted to request funding for 17-18 school year.Part B State Application: To be submitted by May 12 for funding the 17-18 school year.Phase III, State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP): The Office of Special Education submitted Phase III of the SSIP on April 6. The focus of this plan is the evaluation of the Collaborative Work initiative. At this point, students with disabilities attending schools participating in the collaborative work appear to be increasing proficiency rates faster than students in non-participating schools. These comparative data influenced our decision to move the collaborative work to the district level and to apply for a competitive State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) from OSEP to continue the work.Deafblind Grant: We will send the Deafblind grant report to OSEP this week. State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR):We had discussions with OSEP regarding things they wanted clarified in the SPP/APR last week. We sent the changes for Part C last week and forwarded changes to Part B yesterday.We applied for a new five-year grant to expand the Collaborative Work to the district level statewide. The application was forwarded last week.We will forward the annual report of the implementation of the current SPDG by Friday of this week. This grant focused on developing materials, resources and training to implement the Collaborative Work in about 282 building statewide.Part B, State Plan: This week we will post changes to the Part B State Plan that will focus only on reorganizing the content to make it easier to access. WORKING LUNCH – B. Lenz, Chairperson, opened the floor for continued discussion and Q&A related to the Significant Disproportionality and DESE Update given by S. Barr.WIOA and Transition – I. Shadrick, DSS representative, RSBWorkforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to TransitionAcross the board and throughout the process of the student’s growth (not just 16 and up).New Staff member serving Mid Missouri area/North Kansas City showing a lot of initiative as they work to catch up with the cases in that area. Share responsibility in the planning and coordination of interagency agreements required by IDEA between RSB & DESETransportation is currently one of the greatest barriers to successful employment, but is not allowed under Pre-Employment Transition Services.Five Required AreasJob Exploration Counseling Instruction in Self-Advocacy (including Peer Mentoring individually and groups)Workplace readiness training (including independent living skills)Work Based Learning Experiences (Majority of funding offering work- based learning experiences, internships providing work experience in an integrated competitive environment)Counseling on Opportunities for Post-Secondary Education: (Financial Aid, Disability services, etc.)Things we are doing as an agencyLooking at ways to increase opportunities for students with intellectual disabilitiesSupporting the Vision SummitWorking with career centers and employers in the community for opportunities for work-based learning experiences.? Working with Job Centers regarding accessibility Working with schools to carry out activities relative to transition. (IEP meetings; post-secondary transition assistance, workplace readiness, work based learning experience opportunities)Finalizing a contract to expand opportunity for workplace readiness training and work-based learning experiences to take place throughout the yearWorking on additional Summer based opportunities and trainingsBuilding a group for Mid Missouri areaTVI Video Update – B. Lenz, Chairperson, Teacher of Visually Impaired and L. Whitworth, Teacher of Visually ImpairedCurrently 20 photos – would like to have 90-100 using various forms of technology and non-technology tools and rehabilitation-based environments doing O&M, rehab lessons, etc. Reach out to TVI’s, O&M’s, and Blind Skills Specialists throughout Missouri.Work with other organizations (Lighthouse for the Blind)BTF New Members/Updates/VacanciesNew members: Joy Frazier Boyle, Parent representative; Brent Sharp, Public School SpEd Administrator representative; Angie Yorke, Lighthouse for the Blind, Employer RepresentativeCurrent vacancies: (1) Consumer Organization: National Federation of the Blind; (1) Parent of blind or visually impaired students attending public school in Missouri; (1) Employer; (2) Students2017 Sub Committees: Membership and Chairpersons Academic and Vocational Services – L. Whitworth, Committee ChairmanPlease add Angie Yorke to this committee. Nothing to report at this time.Children’s Vision Summit – I. Shadrick, Committee ChairmanPlease add Joy Frasier Boyle to this committee.Currently waiting for confirmation from Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia, MO to confirm availability for the first Saturday in November.See meeting notes in your packet for Children’s Vision Summit Subcommittee meeting on April 26, 2017. See list of vendors provided by Donna Borgmeyer in your meeting packet.Other suggestions given during this meeting were providing coloring books for a drawing or having a book swap.Rules – L. Coccovizzo, Committee ChairmanNothing to report at this time.Student Achievement – B. Lenz, Committee ChairmanAdd Brent SharpNothing to report at this time.Current Workshops/Events 2017-18May 3New and Little Used APH Products and Resources, Alphapointe, Kansas City, Yvonne Ali, MIRC Supervisor and Annette Miller, Vision Supervisor June 9-11INSITE, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, Jessica Hall, Lead Parent Advisor, MoSPINJune 19-21Transition Training Institute, Holiday Inn Executive Center, Columbia, Missouri, Department of Elementary and Secondary EducationJuly 25-26New Special Education Directors Academy, Capital Plaza Hotel, Jefferson City, Department of Elementary and Secondary EducationSept 24-26MO-CASE 40th Annual Special Education Administrators’ Fall Conference, Tan Tar A Resort, Osage Beach, 12-14American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. (APH), Hyatt Regency, Louisville, KYOct 13-15INSITE, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, Jessica Hall, Lead Parent Advisor, MoSPINOct 17-19Hand In Hand Session I: Understanding Deafblindness, Blue Springs School District, Susan Bonner, Outreach Coordinator, Missouri Deafblind Technical Assistance Project, 314-633-1553 or susan.bonner@msb.dese.NovemberVIISA Course I, Session I; Serving Infants (Birth-2) with Vision Impairments in Center-based Settings, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, MO, Contact Annette Miller, Vision Supervisor, 314-633-1589, or annette.miller@msb.dese.Jan 23-24Hand In Hand Session II: Understanding Deafblindness, Blue Springs School District, Susan Bonner, Outreach Coordinator, Missouri Deafblind Technical Assistance Project, 314-633-1553 or susan.bonner@msb.dese.MarchVIISA Course I, Session II; Serving Infants (Birth-2) with Vision Impairments in Center-based Settings, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, MO, Contact Annette Miller, Vision Supervisor, 314-633-1589, or annette.miller@msb.dese.Apr 11-12Hand In Hand Session III: Understanding Deafblindness, Blue Springs School District, Susan Bonner, Outreach Coordinator, Missouri Deafblind Technical Assistance Project, 314-633-1553 or susan.bonner@msb.dese.Contact: Annette Miller, 314-633-1589, or annette.miller@msb.dese. regarding this additional opportunity:Vision Education Professionals Group, meeting via Adobe ConnectContact: Julie Anderson-Ituarte, 417-836-5490 or jituarte@missouristate.edu or DJ Butcher, 417-836-8872 or butcher2@missouristate.edu regarding these additional opportunities: Fall focus: Google Chrome ExtensionsVI PRO Group Springfield 1st or 2nd Friday of each month at VRC 2:00 VI PRO Group Kansas City 1st Wednesday of each month at Alphapointe1:30 VI PRO Group Jefferson City 2nd Tuesday of each month at Lewis & Clark Middle 4:30Blindness Skills Specialist Upcoming Events – School Year 2017-2018Community of Vision Educator (CoVE) SeminarsThis monthly Seminar provides vision professionals with information about educational practices, teaching techniques, updates in the field and assistive technology. The focus of the seminars during this season is Assistive Technology and Accessibility. To attend Register through My Learning Plan. Seminars are held in three locations: Springfield: Meets the 2nd Friday of each month, Perkins 729 W Sunshine Street, Springfield, MO 65807. 2:00-4:00Kansas City:Meets the 1st Thursday of each month, Alphapointe 7501 Prospect Ave, Kansas City MO, 1:00-3:30Columbia:Meets 2nd Tuesday of each month, Anne Hawkins Gentry Middle School, 3:30-5:30. Meeting the Needs of Students with Visual Impairment and Additional DisabilitiesThis is a series of four interactive workshops on instructional strategies when working with students who have significant or severe disabilities and a visual impairment. The topics in this 4 part series includes: Building Tactual Calendars Systems, Building Active Learning Space, Creating Tactual and Auditory Literacy and Using Switches for Commination. Please register through My Learning Plan. This series will be held in two locations: Springfield: (8/16/17; 11/15/17; 1/10/18; 3/6/18)Missouri State University, Park Central Office Building #112, Springfield, MO 65897. 9:00-12:00Kansas City: (8/24/17; 11/16/17; 1/18/18; 5/3/18)Alphapointe 7501 Prospect Ave, Kansas City MO, 9:30-12:30Summer 2017 EventsMissouri Assistive Technology Demo Day: June 9th, 2017, SW Center for Independent Living, 9:00-2:00, 2864 S. Nettleton Ave, Springfield, MO. For more information go to: Moat1501@Missouri School for the Blind: Offers Missouri students who are blind or visually impaired six (6) summer sessions focused on developing abilities in Sports, Travel, Culinary Arts, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Performing Arts and Activities of Daily Living. For more information click on the following link: or contact Joy Waddell, Assistant Superintendent, at 314-776-4320 or joyce.waddell@msb.dese..Vision Rehab Center of the Ozarks of Springfield Missouri: Offers InSight Day Camp for students who are blind or visually impaired. May 24-26th and May 30-June 1st. Contact Wendy Jackson at wjackson@.Alphapointe of Kansas City Missouri: Offers students who are blind or visually impaired two summer Day Camp opportunities. Adventure Camp: July 24-28 and Technology Camp August 7-11th. Contact: Jake McLaughlin at jmclaughlin@ Lighthouse of St. Louis Missouri: Offers students who are blind or visually impaired a summer Sports Camp held June 16-18, 2017. Application deadline is May 20, 2017. Contact Angie Yorke at ayorke@ Agenda items for next scheduled meetingFurther discussion for best date to hold Children’s Vision Summit – May – Spring TestingETS – New Teacher Certification testingMotion to adjourn – G. Barney motioned – Seconded – Meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. ................
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