Review of special education services in ACT public schools

Comments on the discussion paper

Submission to:
Dr Tony Shaddock,
"Special Education Review"
13 Chiswick Street
CHISWICK NSW 2046
tonyshaddock@internode.on.net

Submitted by: Vision Australia
On: 5 June 2009

Authors:
Renee Williamson B.A, B.T and Sue Craine B.A. (Hon.)
Vision Australia

1. Introduction

Vision Australia appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Review of Special Education Services in ACT Public Schools discussion paper. We congratulate the committee for a well written and considered report.

Vision Australia is Australia's largest provider of services to people who are blind or have low vision. It has been formed over the past several years through the merger of several of Australia's oldest, most respected and experienced blindness and low vision agencies.

Our vision is that people who are blind or have low vision will increasingly have the choice to participate fully in every facet of life in the community.

To help realise this goal, we are committed to providing high-quality services to the community of people who are blind or have low vision, and their families, in areas that include early childhood, orientation and mobility, employment, information, recreation and independent living.

We also work collaboratively with Government, business and the community to eliminate the barriers people who are blind or have low vision face in accessing the community or in exercising their rights as Australian citizens.

Our services to children start at birth, and continue through a child's formative years into adulthood. Our specialist staff have expertise in assisting children who are blind or have low vision to ensure their development progresses normally.

Vision Australia will comment on the specific issues raised in the review paper. However initially we have a few comments we wish to make in relation to our clients who are blind or have low vision.

Vision Australia has heard positive comments from parents living in the ACT as to the quality of the vision support team in the school system.

We are also aware, as mentioned in the review document, of families who have moved to the ACT from other states/territories because of their understanding that the schooling system was better for children who are blind or have low vision.

It is difficult for Vision Australia to comment further on this without having access to concrete data, however anecdotal evidence does reflect that the ACT public school system provides a good educational service for children with disability.

It is important that Special Education Services are careful not to become too broad in their approach to education. It is appreciated that many submissions were received and that some may have been quite specific.

However Vision Australia is concerned that by trying to "take into account the needs of all students" there is a danger that individual students, who may not fit into the average, may be overlooked.

This is a particular issue for our clients, who are blind or have low vision. Blindness is not homogenous; therefore what may work for one child who has a particular eye condition may not work for another even though they have the same diagnosed condition.

We would like the committee to ensure that safeguards are put in place so that the specific needs of individual children are protected.

Vision Australia also urges the committee to take into account that for many individuals the primary mechanism for learning is through visual means.

Children who are blind or have low vision therefore have an additional disadvantage to other children with disabilities not related to their vision.

2. Fundamental groundings for children

Vision Australia would like to draw the committee's attention to the development of the National Unified Life Skills Model (NULM). Information about the goals and aims of NULM can be found at www.nulm.org. In particular, the goal of NULM, is "maximising the independence and potential of every child" who is blind or has low vision.

In order for a child who is blind or has low vision to reach this goal, they and their families must have access to, as expressed by NULM:

"appropriate interventions, which develop skills, strategies and social literacy throughout childhood and adolescence, with particular focus on key developmental and transitional milestones".

Once a child reaches school age, it is the education system which has one of the biggest impacts on whether a child who is blind or has low vision becomes a successful adult.

NULM sets out an 'expanded core curriculum' which covers the sorts of skills which a child should obtain in order to reach maximum potential in adult life. These skills should develop along a continuum, with skills mastered at each stage of their development contributing to learning new skills in the next stage.

These include:

3. Questions from the reivew

2. Contextual issues

2.1 The legal bases

1. What lessons might be learned from other jurisdictions that are either more or less prescriptive of education services for students with disabilities?
2. What could the provision of educational services to students with disabilities with ACT public schools look like in the future if the ACT rigorously adopted the 'on the same basis' orientation of the Disability Standards for Education 2005?

It is prudent that public schools within the ACT draw upon the raft of experience within the community in order to bring about the best outcomes for students with diverse learning requirements.

Specialist organisation such as Vision Australia should be consulted in order to ensure that a student's Individual Learning Plan is well tailored, realistic, contains short term and long range goals and is focused upon transition.

Partnership Consultation with specialist organisations who have established knowledge in specific disability areas and links to best practice internationally are a strong community resource.

Adaptive Technology Consultants located at Vision Australia's Canberra office noted that Vision Australia or other blindness agencies were not always consulted in the Individual Learning Plan (ILP) process for students with vision impairments and that there was regularly conflict between parents and educators on the decisions made around a child's ILP.

Consultation with third parties such as Vision Australia or other specialist providers would ensure that greater educational consistency was reached across the ACT and that children had access to the most up to date advice especially with regard to their technology needs.

For a child with a vision disability, technology allows greater independent access to information and independent communication tools.

Vision Australia's Technology consultants have also noted disparities around the abilities of students making the transition from secondary school to the tertiary education environment in terms of their independent technology use.

Staff consulted on this issue at Vision Australia note that even when an assessment is requested by a school in the ACT by an independent organisation, the child's progress is not routinely monitored by specialists outside the school staff.

Consultations encouraged by the school can be years apart and the rate of inclusion of technology in the classroom from school to school are vastly different. Staff from Vision Australia have noted that teachers need to be trained in how to incorporate the technologies utilised by children with low vision or blindness into their lesson planning, assessment and teaching methodologies.

Although Vision Australia supports the Disability Standards for Education 2005, and the idea of "on the same basis", it has to be clear that in order for a child who is blind or has low vision to access the curriculum "on the same basis" as a child who is not there needs to be flexibility in arrangements.

For example, although on the surface it may not seem equitable (or "on the same basis") to give a child who is blind more time to complete an examination the reality is that in order for that child to be "on the same basis" as a sighted child they need that extra time.

2.2 Education, Special Education and the ACT

1. How effective is the policy framework around the provision of educational service to students with a disability in ACT public schools? What, if any, are the implications, e.g. for policy development/refinement?
2. What other policy-practice issues are relevant?

Vision Australia understands that there is a small and dedicated team of vision teachers in the ACT. The ideology behind the framework is sound; however it is recommended that a greater emphasis on partnership with specialist organisations, such as Vision Australia be developed.

It is important that the support hours needed for the child are utilised in the best way for that child's educational progress.

Vision Australia acknowledges that all states and territories are committed to installing standards and systems to monitor performance and improve teaching outcomes for students.

For example, the Victorian Governments publication titled 'Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development' sets out its objective of "strengthening the school accountability and improvement framework for Government schools.

This will focus on embedding a performance culture, through clear standards, strong accountabilities and a collective commitment to take action where needed".

As all states will adopt measurement systems by the end of 2009 in line with the national standards it is important the measurements systems for children with specialist learning needs are considered in order to capture the relevant data which will serve to support their learning needs.

2.3 Students with a disability in a diverse society

1. How might decision-making about the most appropriate programs for individual students in schools be improved?
2. What opportunities are provided by current circumstances and this Review for the ACT to improve education services for all students while improving education services for students with a disability?

It is appreciated that the ACT have a small and dedicated team of vision support teachers. Although VA has heard good reports about the quality of these teachers, there remains a poor understanding of vision impairment in the general school system and the community.

The report identifies that "children who share the same diagnostic category may be very different". However this does not specify that it is not only the personality of the child which makes them individual.

In the case of vision impairment the same diagnosis may not necessarily result in the same level of vision loss. There is a very poor understanding of the range of vision impairment in the community generally.

Total blindness is not an easy concept for many people to comprehend. Equally, it is difficult to understand how a child with low vision uses that vision functionally. For example, a child may be able to read the black board from the front of the class with a magnification aid, however cannot participate in a sport requiring tracking of a moving ball.

It is also difficult to understand the impact of differences in lighting conditions on the way a child with low vision functions with their level of vision.

At the other extreme, it is difficult for those who are sighted to understand that children, who are blind, are, with appropriate adjustments, able to participate in main stream activities with their peers.

Children who are totally blind may be excluded from sport and other recreational activities, and side lined from their peers. It is crucial that children with blindness or low vision are fostered to become self- advocates and develop independent communication, social skills and learning strategies.

Vision Australia recommend that strategies be developed to increase the level of awareness amongst educational personnel, the wider school community and parents of all children regarding the range of vision impairments (from total blindness through to some functional low vision); and the differences in functional vision resulting from different eye conditions (such as Albinism, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Cataracts or Glaucoma).

3 Curriculum and Pedagogical Issues

3.1 Curriculum

1. Would a more detailed differentiation of Every Chance to Learn, with the needs of all learners in mind, be desirable? The process of further articulating the curriculum, and linking it to the functional outcomes that many students must achieve, may be educative for teachers and parents, ultimately efficient of teacher time and effort, and benefit a wide range of students.
2. How can a better integration of the class curriculum and the student's ILP (Individual Learning Plan) be achieved in effective, efficient and feasible ways?

The development of a National Curriculum will make standards across the country uniform. However if a teacher is to be remunerated on the ability of their class, care has to be taken that the measurement system of that teacher's performance does not have a negative effect on a student with disability.

That is, that whatever measurement systems are used to gather data ensure that teachers remain encouraged to work with all students, not just those who may be high achievers who require no adaptive technology in order to progress academically.

Professional Development of teachers, particularly in the areas of blindness and low vision would help ensure that children who are blind or have low vision receive comparable teaching to other children in their class and that teachers interpret the curricula materials in a flexible way while balancing the wider requirements of the class.

Teachers are expected to interpret the curriculum; therefore it is essential that they are given the skills to do this. Further more, teachers charged with the responsibility of constructing ILPs, also require specific training in this area and assistance from specialists should be sought where required in order to establish and review ILPs in a periodic and systematic way.

3.2 Individual Learning Plans

1. the development and implementation of ILPs is time-consuming, resource intensive, and time-demanding. What could be done to make the ILP a more effective, efficient, accountable, and feasible support for student learning?
2. Might there be advantages in aligning general policies and procedures for all ILP processes in ACT public schools, e.g. for Indigenous students, gifted and talented students and for students with a disability?

Vision Australia refers the committee back to NULM, and the goal of "maximising the independence and potential of every child" who is blind or has low vision. In order for education to be truly inclusive, it is essential that a teacher is educated and practised in how to accommodate children with differing learning needs in the same class room and lesson plan.

For example, A reading exercise which included one child reading a book in braille and another reading the same text in standard print.

It is not clear in the review document as to which students are given Individual Learning Plans. The document states that they "are mandatory for specified students in ACT public schools". Vision Australia understands it to be any child with a disability, however we feel it needs to be more clearly defined.

That is, at what level is it determined that a child does not get an ILP and what are the criteria used to determine this?

Vision Australia has heard from clients that the development of their child's ILP was a satisfying process. However, we have also heard from staff that the development of an ILP is not always a smooth process, and that there has been known to be disagreements between parents and the educators as to what the child needs.

This could be addressed by the involvement of specialist organisations as third parties in the discussions. It needs to be noted that the specific needs of children who are blind or have low vision are different from the needs of other disability groups.

However, Vision Australia feels that similar processes can be adopted as long as specialists within the field, or up to date data on the teaching of children with vision impairment, are considered.

It is important that a child who is blind or has low vision has a regular review of their needs. Particularly in regards to their use of adaptive technology, such as synthetic speech screen reader software, or enlargement software.

Vision Australia is aware of cases where a child has not had an "adaptive technology review" from early primary school through to their final school years.

Technology assessments particularly in transition years assist children with low vision to be equipped with the tools and abilities to learn in an independent and meaningful way.

Vision Australia Children's Services staff have also observed that children who are blind or have low vision often have much lower levels of literacy than that of their sighted peers.

Nationally, and internationally, there are disturbing trends currently apparent in the education of students who are blind or have low vision in relation to providing literacy through Braille.

We are aware of situations where Braille is taught for only a limited number of hours a week (possibly dependent on the visiting schedule of itinerant teachers). However sighted children are constantly immersed in reading and writing.

Children who are blind are therefore not being exposed to the same standards of literacy skills development.

There are teachers charged with providing support to children who are blind or have low vision who are neither specialized in blindness and low vision, nor competent in Braille.

This suggests a lack of recognition of the importance of Braille as a key to literacy both for blind students and those whose vision is too low to efficiently read print.

There is research, such as that conducted by The Centre for Non-invasive Brain Stimulation in Boston Massachusetts, suggesting that for a blind person, the area of the brain utilized in processing visual information including print, is utilized in the process of reading and processing Braille.

Further, these parts of the brain are not involved in processing auditory information.

Thus, Braille is the closest equivalent to reading print.

Further, arbitrary decisions are being made in many instances not to teach a child Braille, despite the possibility, if not the likelihood of their eye condition leading to further loss of vision.

Such examples would include Glaucoma, Retinitis Pigmentosa and Ushers Syndrome (where an existing hearing impairment invariably is accompanied by later vision loss).

Vision Australia recommend that in conjunction with all stakeholders, a review of the ILP development processes be conducted to ensure that the long term prognosis of the child's vision condition is taken into account, to avoid inappropriate decisions against teaching Braille and thus condemning a child to poor or no literacy.

Another contributing factor in the observed low levels of literacy amongst children who are blind or have low vision is that they are excluded from regular basic skills tests.

Thus, these children are not being regularly assessed for literacy and numeracy, in order to institute remedial programs.

This continuation of poor literacy and numeracy ultimately has implications for employment. It also negatively impacts on self esteem, and leads to further alienation from peers who are at higher levels of competency.

Vision Australia recommends that appropriately adapted literacy and numeracy skill tests be developed and implemented to accurately measure the progress of a student who is blind or has low vision against sighted peers.

It is not uncommon, that children who are blind or have low vision are subject to lower expectations in relation to academic performance and required home work than that expected of their sighted peers.

Provided that these children have the necessary support services, equipment and reasonable adjustments to place them on an equal academic plain with their peers, they should be subject to the same standards and expectations from both parents and teachers.

Clearly, any child is unique in their response to the pressure of expectation and the challenge of achieving and competing academically; and in some cases needs a more delicate approach from parents and teachers or remedial attention.

The same applies to children who are blind or have low vision. However, to subject any child to lower standards and expectations, based purely on their level of vision, is a gross disservice to them.

Further more, if students with vision impairments do not sit the Prime Ministers bench mark testing or the NAPLIN testing in an independent fashion (with appropriate flexible arrangements for time etc), student's academic performance cannot be adequately measured. teaching staff and schools cannot be made accountable for the learning needs of these children as they are for students without disabilities.

Over-compensating and expecting unreasonably more of a child than is expected of sighted peers can have equally damaging results to the development of self esteem.

Vision Australia staff have also noted instances of children being set up to fail long term by well meaning people not providing them with realistic feedback through their education years. In particular, we see students in middle and late high school with Kindergarten level literacy believing they will enter university.

Vision Australia staff are aware of children who have experienced exclusion from excursions, work experience placements and other school activities based on their blindness or low vision. This is doing these children a disservice. It increases their sense of isolation from their peers, and if imposed by the school amounts to discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (the DDA).

This exclusion may be due to a misconception, either from school staff or parents, that the child is unable to participate in an activity due to their blindness or low vision. It may also be due to the child being scheduled for additional programs such as Orientation and Mobility training in those time slots.

However, given the critical role of physical activity on physical development and fitness, as well as on the sense of well being and achievement, it is unacceptable that a child who is blind or has low vision be deprived of the benefits of sport or physical activity.

School excursions also provide opportunities for extending experience of the world beyond school, and can provide opportunities for socialization and life skills equally important for children who are blind or have low vision.

Vision Australia recommends that an Education Department policy be developed, to ensure that individual schools not be permitted to exclude children who are blind or have low vision from sporting and physical activities or school excursions and other activities except in the most extenuating circumstances.

Further, where additional programs specific to a child's blindness or low vision are conducted, that resources be made available to enable these to occur at times which do not conflict with other activities beneficial to the child's physical or social education.

Vision Australia also recommends that in instances where a sporting activity is genuinely not accessible to a child, other parallel programs be provided for example organizing activities such as Goalball in which sighted peers can also participate.

The promotion of lesson plans which include all children and promote the abilities of children with disabilities provides learning opportunities for non- disabled children regarding the acceptance of difference within society.

3.3 Transition

1. Transition to school is very important and it builds upon the work done in early intervention services. How might students with a disability and their families be supported in making this transition?
2. A key transition for students with a disability is the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Options are available in ACT Department of Education schools targeting this period. How might services be better deployed to improve transition outcomes?

Vision Australia agrees with the need for ongoing support for a child who has a disability. However, care must be taken that the importance of early intervention is not downplayed.

It is not uncommon, where children are in over-protective families, for them to grow up with poor domestic skills; low academic performance; no expectations of further education or a job; and no plan for independent living away from home.

This is possibly due to a lack of blind or low vision adult role models for both children and families which serve to raise expectations.

Clearly the ability of a young person who is blind or has low vision to access goods and services, transport, premises and government programs as provided for by the DDA has an impact on the range of life experiences they gain in their childhood years.

Thus, participation in community activities such as the Guides and Scouts, church activities, movies with audio description (the describing of action and other visual aspects of a movie) are important for a feeling of inclusion in family and community.

There is also a need for the provision of recreational facilities which are fun and accessible for children who are blind or have low vision. These need to incorporate safety features such as changes in surface textures, the use of tactile ground surface indicators (TGSIs) or barriers to indicate hazards such as bodies of water, swings or the underneath of slides which may not be detectable for a child who is blind or has low vision.

Students with blindness or low vision may not be granted the same opportunities to work experience or part time jobs during their secondary schooling. Where leadership opportunities can be included in ILPs or in the school experience, a young person with blindness or low vision is placed on a more even footing with that of their sighted peers promoting future access to work or transition to further study.

The importance of early career guidance and training, as well as access to work experience, cannot be understated for a child who is blind or has low vision.

Vision Australia feels that realistic guidance in post secondary and employment options throughout a child's schooling does provide a greater chance of a person with blindness or low vision going on to have greater access to the community and employment.

The over-all education of a child with blindness or low vision or indeed other disabilities does require a whole of school approach to understanding of disability, not simply the child's classroom teacher or teacher's aide.

In March 2007, Vision Australia completed research into the employment levels of adults who are blind or have low vision. In broad terms, the results of this research indicated "63% of the potential labour force with a vision impairment are unemployed".

The survey confirmed the lack of appropriate career advice in that "35% of survey respondents aged under 25 years indicated that they did not receive career guidance at schools appropriate to their level of vision impairment".

We feel that it is essential that the ILP incorporates, as early as possible in primary school years, career guidance appropriate to their level of vision impairment. This includes access to a range of programs to facilitate the child's preparation for transition to either further education or employment.

While there are clearly many factors which contribute to difficulty in finding employment for a person who is blind or has low vision, Vision Australia believes that in adequately addressing the educational, psychological and social needs of young people and their families, this situation could be improved for people who are blind or have low vision as they become adults.

3.4 Pedagogy

1. Do some students require particular pedagogy? What are the implications?
2. Is there a balance to be achieved between mainstream and specialised pedagogies? Does the Quality Teaching Model provide a language and unifying conceptual framework?

Vision Australia does believe that some students do require particular pedagogy in order to learn to the best of their abilities. For example, a child who is blind or has low vision may need to learn braille, or synthetic speech computer software, so that they can be integrated effectively into the mainstream curriculum and flourish in that environment.

It is important that a balance be maintained. Teachers need to be given professional development in how to construct lesson plans to be inclusive of children who are blind or have low vision. This includes the understanding of the need for that student to have additional support such as alternative formats, technical needs and orientation and mobility needs.

3.5 Providing support for classroom-based personnel

1. What options might be considered to improve students' access to specialist services provided by outside agencies (such as Speech Pathology, Mental Health Services)?
2. What might be done to ensure the integration of support and therapy services with students' educational programs?

Vision Australia appreciates that in the ACT the dedicated vision team is small. We feel that this team would be better supported with mandatory training programs for all teaching staff on vision/sensory disabilities.

We also feel that specialist organisations, such as Vision Australia, should be invited to assist in the development of ILPs, or in the review of the plans, for children who are blind or have low vision. This would be of benefit to the student, the family and the school.

Specialist organisations can provide a range of services for a child with a vision impairment. These include adaptive technology, occupation therapy, orientation and mobility, orthoptist assessment, counselling, peer support, mentors and role models.

Funding schemes for adaptive technology need to be easy to access and nationally uniform.

4. Organisational Issues

4.1 General models of service delivery

1. Is there any problem/advantage in having multiple service delivery models? What are the implications?
2. Increased accountability for the learning outcomes of all students is mentioned frequently in the literature. Is it desirable? For students? For teachers? What would need to happen to ensure that the task was fair and feasible for schools and teachers and that it benefitted students?

It is difficult for Vision Australia to comment on the problems/advantages in multiple service delivery models. However, better data on disability and student performance in schools will assist in formed decision making around this.

We do believe it is desirable that there is accountability. However, for this to be a fair system comparison has to be made across other states and regions. This is particularly the case for literacy and numeracy.

Vision Australia however remains concerned that if teachers are remunerated on outcomes, then it is essential that teachers are rewarded for their innovation, creativity and skill in teaching children with diverse learning needs.

Care must be taken that these teachers are not penalised for including children in their classroom with diverse learning needs even if this results in lower classroom averages. The idea of capturing accurate data on the learning outcomes and averages of children with blindness or low vision is desirable so educators and agencies can compare with other states.

If the literacy of blind and vision impaired students is not measured it is impossible to see how the curriculum could be improved to promote better results and inclusion rates.

4.2 Resourcing student learning

1. The SCAN process is a resource intensive procedure that focuses mainly on student variables. However, theories of learning, and practical experience in classrooms, indicate that learning is dependent not just on student characteristics but on a range of contextual variables.

How might the SCAN take these into account and, for instance, become a LOCAN (Learning Outcomes Centered Assessment of Need)?


2. If schools were allocated resources and supported to use them flexibly to meet the needs of each student, what might need to happen to ensure appropriate allocation of resources and accountability for the learning outcomes of students with a disability?

Could a future be envisaged in which SCAN-like processes were no longer necessary?

Students with blindness or low vision require a coordinated approach to their education. A strong relationship between the student's classroom teachers, year level coordinator, visiting teacher, outside blindness specialist agencies and principal are all factors in the accountability of learning outcomes for children with blindness or low vision.

Academic factors such as literacy and numeracy levels as well as other academic averages could provide some accountability that student's learning needs were being met, however it is essential that non core curriculum aspects of the 'school experience' are also measurable.

These averages would need to be compared across schools and other regions outside the ACT in accordance with the federal government's commitment to install standards and systems to monitor performance and improve teaching outcomes for students.

Discussion with other departments of education and the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Association around a fair and equitable arrangement for measuring student, teacher and school performance taking disability into account is important as we move toward a national curriculum and online measurement system by the end of 2009.

Any accountability system with regard to the learning outcomes of children with disabilities would need to be cognisant of the child's individual learning achievements as well as that of means and averages and take into account the innovation and creativity of the classroom teacher in the full inclusion of a child with disability into the curriculum.

While resourcing schools based upon student outcomes in such areas as professional development of teaching staff is important, resourcing must also be based upon initial assessment, the ILP process, individual achievement and improvement in core and non core curriculum.

4.3 Staffing

1. What actions need to be taken to ensure the supply of appropriately skilled staff - teachers, Learning Support Assistants, visiting 'specialist' teachers, counsellors and others?
2. What other staffing issues should be considered in the Review of Special Education?

There is a widely shared view throughout the Education Community of the need for courses to equip teachers for the task of teaching students with special learning needs.

While a small amount of generalist study is undertaken by all pre-service teachers in the ACT (as occurs in some other states), teachers throughout Australia feel unskilled in meeting the specific learning needs of students with disabilities in there schools. In an article published in the Age newspaper on 27 April 2009 entitled Inside teaching's new master class' Professor Rickards from the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne noted that 'The quality of the learning experience was dependant on the quality of the supervising teacher."

The article sites a recent survey conducted by the Australian Education Union who have found that as many as 70% of teachers do not feel equipped with the pedagogical skill to meet the learning needs of children with disabilities. "70% of new teachers felt their training did not prepare them to teach difficult students, those with disabilities, and those from migrant families."

Further more, the Australian Education Union survey indicated that "21 % rated their pre service training as poor or very poor in preparing them for the realities for teaching".

it is essential that teachers who may have qualifications in 'Special Needs Education' maintain there skills through participation in professional development on a regular basis.

This professional development needs to be meaningful, ongoing and collegiate by its nature to ensure that the training is of value to the teacher, school and student. For those teachers working with children who experience blindness or low vision, it is crucial that their training is targeted at the child's specific learning and communication needs.

It is important that teachers both working within the 'Special and mainstream' School' contexts are mandated to make professional development part of their professional practice.

This professional development ensures that teachers are cognisant of up to date teaching practices and best practice from a state, national and international perspective.

Consideration as to how to measure student outcomes and the teacher performance which drives such outcomes needs to be clear.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority has noted in recent communications its objective of developing a schools data and school reporting system by the end of 2009. (www.acara.edu.au).

Given the speed in which a reporting system will be developed it is essential that the children with disabilities are considered in this pursuit.

4.4 Special schools

1. How might the level of integration of special schools into educational planning and provision in the ACT Department of Education and Training be further developed?
2. What might be some of the elements in a desirable vision for special schools in the ACT? How might special schools be best configured to be coherent with the primary - high school - college structure?

Vision Australia believes that there are circumstances where specialist focus needs to be applied to achieve the best outcome for a child with a disability. In relation to children who are blind or have low vision, skills such as orientation and mobility, braille, use of adaptive technology, keyboard skills and even living skills may be better delivered in a specialist setting.

Our preference is that children are educated in mainstream settings but this is dependent on adequate resources being provided in that mainstream setting for the child to reach his/her full potential.

There could be a place for some of the blindness related skills to be delivered outside of the mainstream system in a specialist setting, where a focus can be placed on blindness skills and the value of bringing blind children together for peer support and social interaction can also be achieved.

An unfortunate consequence of the move from specialist school to public school education has been the reduction in the opportunity for the kind of peer support which aids in children mixing with others.

This peer support serves to raise the general level of expectation by fostering a genuine sense of equality and healthy competition with peers who are blind or have low vision.

Vision Australia recommends that more opportunities be available as part of school activities, after school programs, and during school breaks for children who are blind or have low vision to network, form binding friendships, gain confidence by participation in recreational activities on an equal bases, and learn a range of life skills with peers.

4.5 Planning

1. What information needs to be collected to ensure that ACT schools are able to provide programs to meet the needs of all students with disabilities in the next planning cycle?
2. Would more regionally-based planning improve collaboration, networking, and the provision of complementary services?

In an article featured in the Age newspaper on 4 June 2009 entitled 'School Progress to Appear Online', Victorian Education Minister Bronwyn Pike discussed the national report card. It was considered that:

The national report card would not be enough, and there was also a need for "contextualised" measures of student performance that went beyond raw academic scores to show how a school had helped each child progress.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is working on a new system to somehow demonstrate how schools "add value" to their students. Vision Australia believes that shared teacher approaches, professional development and network opportunities across regional areas could only serve to improve teaching outcomes.

There is a clear need for the collection of statistics on disability, education and employment, throughout Australia. Without accurate statistics it is impossible to measure how the programs are currently working and what needs to be improved for the future.

Vision Australia feels that the data to be collected could include information about the built environment, access to adaptive technology within schools and academic progress within schools (utilising basic skill tests).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Vision Australia would like to thank the Special Education Services Committee for the opportunity to comment on their draft discussion paper. We feel that with the consideration and inclusion of our abovementioned comments the education services in the ACT for children with disability, which are already of a high standard, would be further improved to better assist children who are blind or have low vision. Vision Australia encourages the collaboration of educational institutions and associations across the state of the ACT including regional centers. Professional development, teacher mentoring, the value of shared approaches to the education of students with sight disabilities is seen as an important way to support teachers, encourage innovation and creative pedagogical approaches and ensure that children attending schools in any part of the ACT have access to best practice teaching methods and resources.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss any aspect of this submission with you. We invite you to contact:

Renee Williamson
National Advocacy Manager
Policy and Advocacy
International and Stakeholder Relations

 

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