Training, Developing, and Sustaining Effective Personnel to Work with Children with Disabilities in Remote Areas OSEP Project Directors’ Conference August 2016

Presenters Heidi San Nicolas, Ph.D. Glinda Hill June De Leon Principal Investigator, Pacific VIP Director, Guam CEDDERS Glinda Hill Project Officer, Research to Practice Division Office of Special Education Programs, USDOE   June De Leon Project Director, Pacific VIP Associate Director, Guam CEDDERS Robert McCulley Liaison, Pacific VIP NERCVE Director, UMass Boston Laura Bozeman, Ph.D. Program Director, Vision Studies School of Global Inclusion and Social Development, UMass Boston

Purpose Developing and implementing effective training programs for personnel in rural and remote communities challenges the traditional and technology-advanced training programs to ensure that personnel competencies have meaningful application in these communities. This session will offer design considerations to ensure that personnel trained under personnel preparation grants are able to translate effective practices within rural and remote communities.

Discussion Questions How effectively would the training needs of professionals in remote areas be addressed through distance education delivery? How may the regional approach to the delivery of training programs maximize resources to effectively address the needs of rural and remote communities?

Our Community Six (6) Pacific Entities: 3 Outlying Areas: American Samoa Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Guam 3 Freely Associated States: Federated States of Micronesia (FSM – Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap) Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Republic of Palau (ROP) From the U.S. national perspective, the 6 Pacific entities are viewed by USDOE as “unique states” – six unique states, similar to the Virgin Islands and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We receive IDEA funds – not the same as states, but we do get funding. We are required to follow IDEA – to provide FAPE for ALL children with disabilities, including children with VI.

Our Community (2) Over 100 island communities Area greater than mainland U.S. Travel by airplane, car, boat, & ship Over 469,000 total population (2005/2006 est) Approx 100,000 preschool-12th grade Over 6,600 children ages 3-21 with IEPs Majority Asian/Pacific Islanders For the December 1, 2009 618 Child Count: The 6 Pacific Entities reported over 6,600 children with disabilities ages 3-21. Of the total served in the Pacific entities, 117 were reported under the visual impairments category and 19 were reported under the deaf/blind category. This means that the total of the 2 categories = 136 represented 2% (136/6621) of the total children with disabilities ages 3-21 served. The 2% does not account for children with IEPs identified in another disability category, such as multiple disabilities, who have some kind of visual impairment. 2% is also significantly higher than the US national average of about .5% of the total children with IEPs identified under the disability categories of visual impairments and dead/blind. So, in our community, you can see that there is a significant NEED for supports and services for children with visual impairments . . . A need that requires effective and meaningful partnerships. Entity #VI Kids #VI Personnel % Fully Credentialed in VI as of Dec2010 American Samoa 17 4 25% (1/4) CNMI 11 3 33% (1/3) Guam 16 5 0 FSM 62 12 0 RMI 29 7 0 ROP 1 1 0 TOTAL 136 32 6% (2/32)

2010 Pacific Training Needs Two (2) fully credentialed Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) in the six Pacific entities. No fully credentialed Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Specialists in the six Pacific entities. No TVI training program at the University of Guam. How effectively would the training needs of professionals in remote areas be addressed through distance education delivery?

Pacific Vision Instruction Project Pacific VIP Pacific Vision Instruction Project To increase the pool of fully credentialed effective personnel educating students who are blind or have visual impairments in the Pacific. OSEP Personnel Preparation grant awarded to Guam CEDDERS, in partnership with the Northeast Regional Center for Vision Education (NERCVE) academically affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston), School for Global Inclusion and Social Development.

Pacific VIP (2) Possibilities through Partnerships! Regional Approach to … Accessing National Expertise to Build Local Capacity in … Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural Island Communities with … 4 rectangle shapes. Arrows guide the reader to read down the ladder. Varying Infrastructure Capacities for Educational Development.

Pacific VIP (3) How may the regional approach to the delivery of training programs maximize resources to effectively address the needs of rural and remote communities?

Pacific VIP (4) Goal 1: Implement an active recruitment strategy for 20 scholars, to include under- represented populations of scholars, including students with disabilities and individuals of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds from the six Pacific entities.

Active Recruitment Information dissemination through local Special Education Program, flyers, on-site informational meetings, and the media, including a TV interview and on- line advertisement; Required participation of all perspective candidates in the introduction course as part of the selection criteria; and Collaborative partnership with the Pacific entity Special Education Program that included funding support for selected entity scholars.

20 Pacific VIP Scholars Representing: 67% (4/6) Pacific Entities: 67% (6/9) Island Communities: 5 from American Samoa 2 from CNMI 6 from Guam 3 from Chuuk, FSM 3 from Pohnpei, FSM 1 from Kosrae in FSM

Pacific VIP (5) Goal 2: Offer a high quality regionally accessible Master’s level training program for dual credentials in TVI and O&M enhanced by integrated field experiences coordinated throughout the academic program. Goal 3: Increase the likelihood of participant retention and completion by providing individual and cohort support in addition to technology support by project staff, consultants, and other participants.

Retention Efforts UMass Boston designing an on-line and on-site blended approach for delivering the training program; Technology and content supports incorporated into the delivery methods to ensure successful completion of the coursework; and On-site component of the delivery system focused on entity-specific visits to ensure application of course knowledge and skills within each scholar’s island community.

Results: Recruitment & Retention 100% (20/20) recruitment goal met with 20 regional scholars entering the program. 95% (19/20) remained in the program after the first year of coursework. 95% (18/19) who remained after one academic year earned their Master’s in Education degree in Vision Studies in TVI from UMass Boston. 78% (14/18) attained their O&M credentials from UMass Boston.

Results: Student Outcomes Increased number of children with visual impairments identified and served in the Pacific entities comprised of remote island communities!

Results: Sustainability UMass Boston demonstrated commitment to the Pacific by making available their on-line Master’s level TVI training program to qualifying Pacific entity candidates beyond the Pacific VIP. Guam CEDDERS demonstrated commitment by continuing to represent the regional needs, recruit, support and serve as the regional liaison beyond the Pacific VIP.

Results: Sustainability (2) OSEP demonstrated commitment to continue to offer tuition scholarship to the region through UMass Boston. Today, there are three regional scholars enrolled in the UMass Boston TVI training program. Graduates of Pacific VIP continue to receive leadership and induction support through the shared cost of the TVI consultant: Donna McNear.

Goals for the Future Established leadership to support the future generation of scholars. Student exchange opportunities between New England and the Pacific Region. Expansion of impact to additional island communities. Sustainable presence.

For more information Heidi San Nicolas, Ph.D. Glinda Hill June De Leon Principal Investigator, Pacific VIP; Director, Guam CEDDERS Email: heidi.sannicolas@guamcedders.org   Glinda Hill Project Officer, Research to Practice Division, OSEP, USDOE Email: glinda.hill@ed.gov June De Leon Project Director, Pacific VIP; Associate Director, Guam CEDDERS Email: june.deleon@guamcedders.org Robert McCulley Liaison, Pacific VIP; NERCVE Director, UMass Boston Email: Robert.Mcculley@umb.edu Laura Bozeman, Ph.D. Program Director, Vision Studies, School of Global Inclusion and Social Development, UMass Boston Email: Laura.Bozeman@umb.edu