Strategy

Quality Indicators for Effective Educational Programs

Help educational programs conduct self-assessments as a means of ensuring that their program is effective.

Self-evaluation is an important tool for assessing effectiveness. In this webcast, Marianne Riggio talks about the process of helping educational programs conduct self-assessments as a means of ensuring that their program is effective. She describes the process used in some of the developing countries that have embraced the process.

In addition, Marianne talks about some of the quality indicators including: importance of family involvement, trusting relationships, communication and literacy, and meaningful content. Finally, Marianne emphasizes the need for educating government agencies as a means to ensuring that the necessary supports are in place to maintain quality programs.

Read full transcript »

Presented by Marianne Riggio

Length of time to complete: approximately 30 minutes

Attached File(s)

https://www.perkins.org/sites/elearning.perkinsdev1.org/files/Quality%20Indicators%20-%20B%20-%20VI%20-%20DB.pdf

Chapters:

  1. Introduction
  2. Assessment
  3. From Assessment to Educational Plan: Factors to Consider
  4. Building Family Support
  5. The Critical Role of Communication
  6. Creating a Meaningful Curriculum
  7. Accessibility and Accountability

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

Quality Indicators for Effective Educational Programs with Marianne Riggio.RIGGIO: In our field, the prevalence of children born with multiple disabilities is relatively few. And children are often served in programs where they might be in a very small group in a unit for children with multiple disabilities. And a lot of times, the school itself is really not equipped to serve this population of children.

They don’t have the training or the background in the field. And because it’s a low incidence disability, we often rely… schools often rely on consultants to come in and support their efforts. And oftentimes, we go in, we look at the program, and we say, “Well, we think you need to improve in this area, or that area.”

NARRATOR: In a photograph, we see a Chinese woman supporting a very young boy as he stands at a small table. The boy wears thick glasses and peers at some keys on the table. Nearby, a woman with short blonde hair observes the boy. A video camera records the scene.

RIGGIO: In the year 2007, Perkins International underwent a evaluation. We work around the world in many programs, and after almost 20 years in the business, we wanted someone to come in and tell us, you know, how we’re doing. And it was really an… conducted by a private consultant who interviewed different programs that we work in to get feedback on how we were doing. And in one of the programs, the staff there said, “You know, we’re really happy with the services, we like the training, but, you know, it would be really nice if we had a way that we could evaluate ourselves, that we could, you know, see what we should be doing.

And it really made us think about that. And I think it’s a kind of a thought process that was good for us as an international agency, but I think it’s also a thought process that’s good for anyone who’s providing technical assistance to schools. So we got together and we developed what we call program quality indicators. And they’re looking at kind of the breadth of aspects of a program that we want people to think about. And we came up with some items to help give clarity to the major aspects.

CHAPTER 2: Assessment

RIGGIO:Assessment is a critical aspect. It’s really the jumping off point for developing quality programs for individual children. And oftentimes, the assessment process is not very well coordinated. So some of the things that we look at when we’re evaluating an assessment process is, first of all, we look at the quality of the people doing the assessment.

You know, children who have multiple disabilities there are no standardized tests to assess them because there is no typical child with a visual impairment and a multiple disability. We also want to make sure that students receive the clinical evaluations that they need prior to an educational assessment. So we want to know if they’ve been to the ophthalmologist.

A teenage girl in Central America is getting an eye exam. NARRATOR: A teenage girl in Central America is getting an eye exam. She gazes up towards the ceiling while a technician observes her retina through an ophthalmoscope.

RIGGIO: We want to know if, you know, they’ve been to the audiologist. We want to know any clinical assessments… about any clinical assessments, you know, that have been done. And those are going to provide us valuable input before we start the educational piece of it all. So we look at the quality of the evaluator. Do they know about the impact of sensory losses on a child’s development? Do they have the ability to interact with the child? Do they have the communication skills? Can they build a rapport with the student? These are all really important aspects.

NARRATOR: We see in a photograph a young boy who is blind grasping a yellow plastic hoop with his two hands. A woman sits directly behind the boy and reaches around him, placing her own hands just to the outside of his on the hoop. Her thumbs are extended and touch the back of the boy’s hands.

RIGGIO: In the assessment process too we want to make sure that, you know, evaluators are assessing kids in as natural an environment as possible so the children are really set up to succeed and to really show their abilities and not be set up kind of to fail. And when we’re assessing children with multiple disabilities, families should be playing a very critical role in that process.

A young Bangladeshi boy sits in a chair at a table in a school classroom. NARRATOR: A young Bangladeshi boy sits in a chair at a table in a school classroom. Behind the boy, who is blind and multiply disabled, is his mother. She helps to support him and turns him toward the camera as his picture is taken.

RIGGIO: Because oftentimes kids’ communication is not clear, they communicate in very unique ways. And oftentimes the family knows a lot more about their child’s abilities and communication than a professional might.

So it’s kind of a big leap for professionals to take to say, “We don’t have all the answers, we can’t just come in “and be the expert evaluators.

“But we need to rely on families and we need to be open to having families’ input in the evaluation process.” So that’s a real important part of the process.

CHAPTER 3: From Assessment to Educational Plan: Factors to Consider

RIGGIO: What we want to help programs to understand and to build their competencies in is not only the methods of doing an assessment, but what do you do with that information after you get it? So you do — many people can do a beautiful assessment and then we say, “Well, what’s next?”

So we want the assessment to really become a foundation for the development of the individual education program, or as it’s known, the IEP. And again, the team should be comprised of the family members and the relevant people who work with that child. Once we develop the IEP, again, we… through that process we’re setting priorities, we’re talking about what are the curricular needs, the methods. But we want to also look at the school’s ability to meet the needs of this child.

In a classroom in Africa, a young boy points to a diagram that describes how to sign the letter J. NARRATOR: In a classroom in Africa, a young boy stands at the front of the room near a chalkboard. The boy, who is visually impaired, points to a diagram that describes how to sign the letter J. His other hand imitates the positioning on the diagram.

Behind him on the wall, some student names are spelled out in print and in Braille.

RIGGIO: There are some really foundational things that need to be in place to run a quality program. And I think one of those things is, you know, a most basic aspect is does school run every day, you know?

And it’s not always a given in many places. So we want to make sure the children, just like any other child, can go to school every day, there’s a consistent teacher in place every day, there’s consistent services in places every day. Oftentimes when we’re looking at a school, you know, we want to make sure that it’s conducive to the education of children who are blind and visually impaired or deafblind.

NARRATOR: We see in a photograph two young students at a school in Africa seated at adjacent desks. Both students are visually impaired. The boy is working on a slant board, and the girl is selecting from a box tangible symbol cards that contain both objects and printed words.

RIGGIO: So we want to look at the sensory environment in the classroom, and indeed, throughout the school. So I think oftentimes, you know, if we walk into a typical elementary school here in the United States, we are bombarded with visual decoration. And for students who are visually impaired or have multiple disabilities, this may be too confusing. So we want to make sure that we have organized areas in the classroom, we want to make sure the children have access to the materials.

Some of the things we might, you know, help people with in going through the quality indicators is thinking about, you know, the acoustic environment. For example, you know, if you have a concrete building and there’s a lot of echo, you know, we may want to just put some straw mats down on the floor and those straw mats are great. Or carpet squares, depending on where you are.

They’re great both for defining an area of work where a specific activity might happen, but it’s also a great sound absorber. We also help people think about color and paint and contrast. So, again, even in a poor country, paint is cheap. You know, we can paint a doorway. So we try to help people think about easy-to-do adaptations.

The student and teacher are placing tangible symbols into the baskets of the object calendar. NARRATOR: In a photograph taken in a classroom in the Philippines, a teacher kneels on a carpeted floor in front of a pink wall. Standing next to her is a young girl who is visually impaired. A thick black stripe at the bottom of the wall delineates where it meets the floor. The student and teacher are placing tangible symbols into the baskets of the object calendar that outlines her schedule for the day.

RIGGIO: We also want to make sure when we look at the school, we want to make sure the children aren’t just kind of trapped in a classroom all day, that they have access to other learning opportunities within the environment because one of the foundations of educating children with multiple disabilities is that they need to learn in the most natural environments possible. So we want to make sure that they can access the playground, that they have access to other areas where events happen, or where they might be able to do jobs, or be involved with other students as well.

NARRATOR: In a photograph, two boys, both of whom are blind, are working together to use a hand pump to draw water from a well outside their school in Africa. A teacher stands nearby to supervise.

CHAPTER 4: Building Family Support

RIGGIO: We really believe that family support is, again, a real critical area of a program. Families are the common thread within the life of their child. And we want families to be their child’s best advocate. We want families to be able to interact effectively and include their child within the flow of everyday family life and not to feel that their child is something that should be an embarrassment or hidden away.

So we want to help schools and programs to understand that value of parents and family members. And so we want to look at, you know, are families welcomed? We talked earlier about are they welcome into the assessment process? Are they welcome into the IEP development? Are they encouraged to come to school and observe their child? And are they encouraged to give feedback?

In a classroom, for students who are visually impaired or multiply disabled, the students' mothers are taking part in a musical activity with their children. NARRATOR: In a classroom, for students who are visually impaired or multiply disabled, several of the students’ mothers are taking part in a musical activity with their children. The students appear to be clapping as their mothers shake instruments rhythmically.

RIGGIO: Teachers are only with students for a few hours a day, really, when you think about 24 hours a day. Students are with their teachers maybe five or six hours. And, really, it’s at home where they’re going to be able to generalize the concepts and skills that they learn in school. And so there really needs to be that close connection between the family and the school. So the family can build the confidence in helping their child to do things for themselves and to become more independent and to interact in the family life, and daily life. Also we think about, you know, are we helping as a school develop family networks?

NARRATOR: A group of four mothers whose children are multiply disabled pose for a picture with two of their children’s teachers. This particular program in Brazil holds many workshops for parents of children with disabilities.

RIGGIO: Because we all know that families in our country in the United States, you know, they push the legislation that mandated special education. And so we want to make sure that families in countries are connected. So, you know, we would think about it at the school level. We may have a countrywide family organization. But we want to make sure that the families’ voices are heard and are encouraged.

CHAPTER 5: The Critical Role of Communication

RIGGIO: When we were thinking about the communication environment for a student with multiple disabilities, of course the most important aspect is the teacher’s ability to build a relationship with the child. That they are able to interpret behavior, that they’re able to communicate in modes of communication that are most natural for that student. And that they can build that trusting relationship that is going to be the foundation for all of that child’s learning.

The teacher and the girl using three-dimensional models of arrows constructed of pipe cleaners. NARRATOR: In a series of two photographs taken at a school in Turkey, a teacher works with an adolescent girl who is blind and multiply disabled. In the first photo, they are practicing signing. They stand in front of a board that has hand-shaped cutouts that display the correct positioning of fingers to sign each letter of the alphabet.

The next photo shows the teacher and the girl using three-dimensional models of arrows constructed of pipe cleaners. The teacher is working on the concepts of direction and spatial relationship, critical to orientation and mobility.

RIGGIO: We want to make sure that teachers or staff are acknowledging kids’ communication, that they’re responding appropriately, and they are giving kids models of a next higher level of communication so they can up the ante a bit. We want to make sure that programs are addressing literacy at any level in their program, any level that’s appropriate. A young infant is exposed to literacy. So we want to make sure that things are labeled, even if a child is not yet reading Braille. We want to make sure that they’re offered Braille.

NARRATOR: We see in a photograph a page from a child’s spiral-bound object calendar. The bright pink page is laminated in plastic, and a large white square with a number one printed in black is at the bottom. A tangible symbol card with the the words “circle time” written in print and on Braille tape has been Velcroed to the page. A swatch of red fabric represents circle time for the student.

RIGGIO: So even in their calendars they may be at the level where they’re using an object, but what we want to see is the next more abstract level of symbolism available to them. So we can think about phasing out the object and into the next higher level with that student. So we want to make sure that literacy is included. Again, it can be objects, it can be partial objects, it can be pictures, but those are all considered in the realm of literacy.

One thing we always want to make sure is that throughout a child’s day, there is opportunities for them to feel empowered, and choice making is the easiest way to build communication skills, to build independence, self-advocacy, which is critical for anybody with a disability or without a disability. So throughout activities we want to say, you know, maybe you want to do this activity or this within the same time. Give a choice of for free time if you want to go outside, would you like to stay in here and listen to music?

A young girl who is visually impaired and multiply disabled smiles broadly as she stands behind a large orange exercise ball.NARRATOR: A young girl who is visually impaired and multiply disabled smiles broadly as she stands behind a large orange exercise ball. Her physical therapist sits behind her and supports her. After completing her physical therapy session, the young girl was given a choice of what equipment she would like to play with to end the session.

RIGGIO: I know oftentimes people look at mealtime as a great choice-making time. That’s not always the case. In many countries, we don’t always have choices. You eat or you don’t eat. Maybe do you have your drink first or do you have your meal first? You take that choice. But we try to make the choices as natural as possible. The issue of challenging behaviors is a big one across all programs serving kids with multiple disabilities. And we believed that staff must be savvy in being able to understand what that behavior is telling us.

NARRATOR: In a photograph taken in a classroom in Costa Rica, a young boy who is multiply disabled and non-verbal is having difficulty transitioning from one activity to the next. His teacher is seated cross-legged on the floor directly in front of the boy. She offers him her hands and encourages him gently to stand and move to a different location.

RIGGIO: They have to know that the behavior is communication. And so… and because it is communication, the staff need to know how to respond appropriately. And not just try to extinguish a behavior, but to give a child a more appropriate way of expressing themselves. So it really does… behavior and communication are intrinsically linked.

CHAPTER 6: Creating a Meaningful Curriculum

RIGGIO: When we’re thinking about curriculum, it’s kind of a complex topic because as in the United States, many countries require that all students follow a national curriculum. And how we adapt that curriculum will vary from child to child. But what we tried to keep in mind is the learning needs of that individual child. And for students with multiple disabilities, it’s really important as much as possible that we’re teaching children through meaningful activity, that our activities that are going to have a purpose in their life.

NARRATOR: A teacher in the Philippines stands behind two young boys, one of whom is blind, as they prepare food at a table. The boy who is blind wears an apron, and the teacher is helping him spoon some thick liquid from a can into a bowl of flour on the table.

RIGGIO: And it doesn’t mean that we’re just teaching daily living skills, but there are many things that have meaning, such as holidays, family gatherings, school events. So we want to make sure that we are teaching in that way. So even though we may be addressing a national curriculum academic area, we can do it through meaningful activities. Math is a good example of how we can teach academics in a functional way.

So, for example, you know, if there’s a group of children and they’re going to be preparing snack or lunch, we can have one child count the number of people in the room that will be eating lunch. They can count the plates, they can count the silverware, they can count the napkins and pass them around. So they’re getting number concepts in a real way.

A boy who is in a wheelchair handing a drink to his classmate. NARRATOR: It is lunchtime at a school in Indonesia. We see a boy who is in a wheelchair handing a drink to his classmate. A desktop is fitted to the arms of the wheelchair, and on the desktop is a tray of drinks in pink plastic cups.

RIGGIO: What does, you know, five plates look like?

So it’s a real concrete way of building those concepts. One thing, you know, we want our students to be looked upon as people of their age. And so we want to make sure that in our teaching, we’re not teaching a 16-year-old using pre-school materials. Even though they may be a young thinker, it looks very strange for a 16-year-old to be playing with a baby toy.

So what we want to have programs think about is the materials they are using. Are there more age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate materials that they could be using with their students? Routines are really important for students with multiple disabilities. They really… and we all need routine. We all need to know what we’re going to do today.

We see one example of a calendar system consisting of a box with a handle on which the name Connor is taped. NARRATOR: We see one example of a calendar system consisting of a box with a handle on which the name Connor is taped.

Velcroed to the outside of the box are three tangible symbol cards denoting bathroom, circle time and snack time.

Each card has a print and a Braille label, as well as a tactile representation for the activity. Small ceramic tiles for the bathroom, a red cardboard disk for circle time, and a plastic cup that has been cut in half vertically for snack time.

RIGGIO: Calendar systems are a really important part of a program serving children with multiple disabilities. And, for the most part, students will need individualized calendars using symbols that they understand. And we need to make sure we follow those calendars as well. Because even though we always know there are hiccups in the schedule, it helps calm students to know what to anticipate in their day.

We want to make sure there is a clear beginning to the activity, the activity happens, and then there’s a clear end to the activity so that the child knows when they’re finished, and that the teacher doesn’t just pick up the materials and walk away, but the activity is finished, okay, now we’re going to go onto the next activity.

CHAPTER 7: Accessibility and Accountability

RIGGIO: However implementing the law is a whole other challenge. And so what we want to do is to make sure there’s linkages with government at all levels. Oftentimes programs for children with multiple disabilities, just as they were in this country, started by private, non-government organizations. And so we want to make sure that those organizations or any public school with a unit has some connection to either the local district office, the central ministry of education.

NARRATOR: A large group of teachers, many wearing headscarves, is meeting in a conference room of a hotel in Indonesia to learn more about the recent development of a national curriculum for students who are blind, visually impaired, or multiply disabled.

A second photo shows a smaller group involved in a training.

RIGGIO: And that as experts or as providers of services, we want to help educate people at the upper levels about the needs of students with multiple disabilities. So we want them to be able to implement realistic practices, we have evaluators — they call it school monitors — who go in and evaluate programs. And oftentimes they’re not really sure about what they should be looking for when a program serves students with multiple disabilities.

So we want to make sure that the programs are helping the ministries to learn about what are these indicators. So really taking a document like this and educating people, using it as a foundation to educate people about what they should be looking for.

Just like people who are not familiar with disability oftentimes kind of shy away from a child with a disability because they’re not quite sure how to interact. We don’t want to create a situation where the person that’s supposed to be evaluating and supporting schools is shying away because they don’t know exactly what they’re supposed to be looking for or at. So we want to make sure they’re comfortable coming in and building that conversation with the schools.

I think we’ve seen is that it really makes for a very open dialogue because people can look at this in advance, think about some aspects of their program themselves, and so it, you know, just as we always say, you know we want to have a partnership with our students. We want to share, we want to draw out of them, you know, as consultants oftentimes we go in and we’re telling people what to do because we know. And so this is really making it a conversation where both sides feel invested in what we’re planning.

NARRATOR: The document Quality Indicators for Programs Serving Students Who are Blind and Visually Impaired with Additional Disabilities or Deaf/Blindness is available for download on the Perkins website.

Quality Indicators for Effective Educational Programs with Marianne Riggio.

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