vb960316.htm

Improving the Braille Competence of Teaching Staff: A State Agency Model

L. Jones, K. Wolffe

Abstract: The Texas Commission for the Blind's (TCB's) braille literacy initiative is an agency-based program designed to enhance the braille skills of teaching staff and hence to improve braille instruction to and the braille literacy of clients. In addition, TCB has established dedicated braille-production stations in 30 of its district offices and offers technical assistance to regional rehabilitation personnel.

Braille literacy has received increased attention in the fields of education and rehabilitation in the 1990s. The passage of the Texas Braille Bill (H.B. 2277) in 1991 was just the first of many bills passed in the United States that ensured access to braille materials for youngsters with visual impairments in school settings. However, the need for a literate population of adults with visual impairments was not ignored.

Spungin (1989, p. 6) highlighted the connection between braille and employment for adults who are blind: "The American Foundation for the Blind's Careers and Technology Information Bank (CTIB), which lists 1,000 different jobs held by blind and visually impaired people, indicates that 85 percent of those who use braille as their primary method of reading are employed."

In 1992, the Texas Commission for the Blind (TCB) started an ongoing initiative to raise and maintain the braille competence of teaching staff (which refers to both rehabilitation teachers and independent living caseworkers) in its employ and, in turn, to increase braille literacy among the rehabilitation clients they served. In addition to this primary component, TCB's initiative included two other components: 1) training agency support personnel to produce high-quality braille materials for TCB clients and staff at dedicated brailling stations and 2) training regional rehabilitation agency personnel. These three components are described in this article.

Component 1

This component focused on providing training to teaching staff in reading, writing, and teaching braille. To determine which skills the teaching staff needed, a statewide assessment test was conducted in 1992. The 1992 test was followed in successive years with periodic evaluations of teachers' skills. TCB teaching staff were required to pass the competence test to remain employed, and the training interventions described here were designed to support their efforts to acquire the skills necessary to do so.

BRAILLE COMPETENCE TEST

A braille competence test was developed by TCB trainers and field-tested at the agency's independent living skills teaching facility, Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center (CCRC). The final testing instrument was also reviewed by university faculty at a regional rehabilitation teacher preparation program. The test consists of three parts that were designed to evaluate reading, writing, and teaching skills. Although the content of the instrument has varied throughout the TCB assessment process, depending on whether the tool is used as a pretest or a posttest, the format remains the same and evaluates the same skills.

Teachers are allowed 45 minutes to complete the Grade 1 assessment and 90 minutes to complete the Grade 2 assessment. A passing grade on the examination requires fewer than 10 errors in reading and writing and 70 percent correct responses for teaching skills. To be exempt from taking the annual competence test for three years, a teacher is allowed only five errors in reading and writing and has to score 90 percent or higher on teaching skills. As can be seen in Table 1, the number of teaching staff who passed the test from 1992 to 1994 increased steadily. (In 1995, 57 people passed the test or were exempt.)

TRAINING METHODS

Following the initial statewide assessment, four training methods were instituted to meet the staff's needs. The first method is to provide agency-produced training materials in basic braille reading, writing, and teaching skills to newly hired staff. The second method is to enroll staff in correspondence courses in braille reading and writing through an Affiliate Memorandum of Understanding with the Hadley School for the Blind (HSB) in Winnetka, Illinois. The third method is to offer a statewide training program: an annual, three-day braille teaching-skills program presented by TCB training specialists, consultants, and other TCB staff who are proficient in braille, The fourth method is mentoring--coupling learners with staff who are skilled in reading, writing, and teaching braille.

Table 1 Results of the TCB braille-competence test: 1992-94 (n=60).
| Number of passing scores
Braille skills tested | 1992 | 1993 | 1994
Part 1 (reading) | 31 | 48 | 56
Part 2 (writing) | 17 | 38 | 56
Part 3 (teaching | 15 | 44 | 56

First method

The provision of agency-produced materials enables newly hired rehabilitation teachers to prepare for the more intensive preservice training sessions that follow. The materials package contains purely introductory information: articles on the importance of braille literacy for adults, the braille alphabet, and information related to reading and writing Grade 1 braille and basic teaching strategies. All newly hired teachers participate in a four-week preservice training seminar that includes classes designed to improve their braille reading and writing skills, sharpen their ability to assess clients' braille readiness, hone their instructional techniques for developing prebraille skills, and teach them specific methods for teaching braille writing with a state and stylus, as well as with a brailiewriter. After the preservice seminar, teachers are given the option of enrolling in HSB's braille course to continue developing their skills.

Second method

The HSB and the TCB have an agreement that allows any TCB employee, sighted or blind, to enroll in HSB's braille courses. (Typically, only individuals with visual impairments are eligible to take these courses.) The courses are taken by correspondence and enable teachers to continue to develop their braille skills in a self-study process with guidance from school personnel. Distance learning with HSB materials has proved highly effective in maintaining newly developed skills and encouraging the further development of skills. (For information about the HSB program, phone 800-323-4238, or write HSB at 700 Elm Street, Winnetka, IL 60093).

Third and fourth methods

The annual, three-day training seminars devoted to enhancing braille competence are designed by TCB's human resource development staff to address needs evidenced on teachers' pretests. They are taught by TCB staff and consultants who are proficient in braille. With regard to mentors for teachers who are learning or improving their braille skills, they may be other TCB staff with braille proficiency, agency clients with outstanding braille skills who have offered to mentor staff, or individuals with visual impairments who have volunteered to help.

Component 2

To support the efforts of rehabilitation teachers and independent living caseworkers and to promote the use of braille, TCB established dedicated braille stations in the agency's 30 district offices. A dedicated braille station is a desktop computer loaded with Duxbury Braille Translator for WordPerfect software and connected to a braille embosser. A staff support person in each office was trained to operate the dedicated system and then became the lead person in the office's braille production effort and was expected to train at least one additional staff person.

Through grant funding from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), TCB was able to purchase 15 new braille embossers that were placed in 13 district offices and at CCRC. In addition, Duxbury software was purchased for the designated braille stations in the agency. The uniformity of the software allowed staff in these offices to exchange computer-generated information and to reproduce it in braille. It also provided a means for interoffice assistance with large or complex braille-production projects.

In seven braille-production training programs that were held in different locations throughout Texas, 36 support staff learned the following techniques:

- how to format a print document for braille production
- how to load and use the Duxbury translation software
- how to translate a document in either Grade 1 or Grade 2 braille
- how to set up and operate a braille embosser.

In addition to the classroom training program, the participants received a copy of an agency-produced manual for producing braille using Duxbury software (Hill, 1994). The manual detailed the four techniques just outlined and served as a tool both in class and for future reference. The training seminars and the manual were envisioned as a way to standardize braille materials produced by TCB. In addition, 27 of the 36 training participants have demonstrated sufficient competence in formatting and producing various types of documents to train an additional staff person in each of their offices.

Component 3

To meet the third objective, TCB offered the training just described to staff of other agencies for blind persons in its region (RSA Region 6). Staff from Visual Services of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services received training for the department's rehabilitation teachers and support staff. Braille-production training was provided to staff of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, and TCB staff presented an overview of the TCB braille initiative at a well-attended regional conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Finally, training information was requested by and sent to agencies for the blind in New Mexico and Colorado.

Conclusion

Continuous learning opportunities are essential for personnel who provide direct services in braille literacy, so they can meet their clients' needs (Mangold, 1993). Therefore, TCB has made a commitment to provide ongoing training for its teaching staff. The training methods described in this article will be available to assist staff in maintaining their braille skills. In addition, TCB is developing a statewide Braille Data Bank to help staff locate braille mentors for clients and staff and to provide information about braille training resources and products.

In summary, the TCB braille initiative has produced excellent results in the three targeted areas: improved, standardized training to rehabilitation teachers in braille reading, writing, and teaching skills

- the establishment of dedicated braille-production stations with trained support staff to operate them
- collaboration with other agencies for the blind in RSA Region 6 to train their personnel to teach braille skills and to produce braille materials.

Functional braille reading and writing skills are essential for adults who are visually impaired. For individuals to achieve independence at home and at work, they must be literate. For rehabilitation clients who are blind, braille skills may be the determining factor in helping them obtain or retain their jobs (Johnson, 1989; Schroeder, 1989). By implementing and maintaining its braille initiative, TCB strives to provide its clients with the literacy skills that are essential for success in life.

References

Hill, A. (1994). Duxbury braille translator for WordPerfect (DUXWP) [manual for teaching clerical staff]. (Available from the Texas Commission for the Blind, 4800 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78756.)

Johnson, L. (1989). The importance of braille for adults. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 83,285-286.

Mangold, S. (1993). Braille full option literacy kit project. San Francisco: San Francisco State University Press.

Schroeder, F. (1989). Literacy: The key to opportunity. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 83,290-293.

Spungin, S.J. (1989). Braille literacy. New York: American Foundation for the Blind.

Lynda Jones, M.A., human resource development specialist, Texas Commission for the Blind, 4800 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78756; E-mail: lyndaj@tcb.state.tx.us.; Karen Wolffe, Ph.D., private counselor, Career Counseling & Consultation, PO. Box 341, Manchaca, TX 78652; E-mail: 752.54.2250@compuserv.com.