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Determining Type and Amount of Itinerant TVI Service Using the VISSIT

Rona Pogrund, Ph.D.Perkins Webinar

November 17, 2015

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Polling Question 1

Have any of you already used the VISSIT for your students with visual impairments?

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Polling Question 2

What method or tool do you currently use in determining the recommended type and amount of service with your students?

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Members of Service Intensity Subcommittee

• Rona Pogrund, TTU, Chair• Cyral Miller, TSBVI Outreach• Frankie Swift, SFASU• Kitra Gray, Region 10 ESC• Mary Ann Siller, Richardson ISD• Chrissy Cowan, TSBVI Outreach• Michael Munro, SFASU • Tracy Hallak, SFASU• Cecilia Robinson, Region 4 ESC• Shannon Darst, TTU

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What is the VISSIT ?What is the VISSIT?

• Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas (VISSIT)

• Quantifiable way to determine type and amount of TVI service to recommend

• Type of service: direct intervention and collaborative consultation

• Based upon student need in the ECC areas

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• Creation of the VISSIT

• Piloted various iterations of scale

• Field trials of revised version

• June 2013 retreat of the Service Intensity Subcommittee of the Texas Action Committee for the Education of Students with Visual Impairments

History of the VISSIT

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History of the VISSIT (continued)

• Study IRB approval and participant selection

• Initial validation study implementation- Texas- September 2013- March 2014

• Broader validation study- national- January 2015- May 2015

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VISSIT Website Walk-Through

Allow me to guide you through the VISSIT website!

http://www.tsbvi.edu/vissit

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Frequently Asked Questions

The following are some of the more commonly-asked questions I’ve heard regarding the VISSIT.

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Frequently Asked Questions

PURPOSE

Q: Can the VISSIT be used for all students on my caseload, including those with multiple impairments and/or those with deafblindness? How about infants?

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Frequently Asked Questions

PURPOSE

A: The VISSIT is designed to determine the appropriate type and amount of services needed for ALL students with visual impairments on the TVI caseload.

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Frequently Asked Questions

PURPOSE

Q: Is the VISSIT to be used as a caseload analysis?

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Frequently Asked Questions

PURPOSE

A: The VISSIT is not a caseload analysis tool but can be used as part of a process to determine appropriate caseload size. The VISSIT does not take into account issues related to workload (e.g., planning, travel, and material preparation).

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Frequently Asked Questions

HOW TO USE THE VISSIT Q: Can professionals who are not teachers of students with visual impairments fill out the VISSIT?

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Frequently Asked Questions

HOW TO USE THE VISSIT

A: The VISSIT must be completed by a TVI who has the vision-specific knowledge to quantify the levels of service intensity.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How often should the VISSIT be completed? When might I complete the VISSIT?

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Frequently Asked Questions

A: The VISSIT should be completed prior to any determination of service type and amount.

It should be completed prior to any IEP or IFSP meeting, so that the TVI can have data to determine and support recommended type and amount of services for students.

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Additional FAQs

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Initial Validation Study in Texas

- 38 responded and consented to participate- 25 actual participants - 81 actual VISSITs completed and returned- Electronic survey

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# QuestionCompletely did not translate to recommendation

Mostly did not translate to recommend-ation

Somewhat translated to recommend-ation

Mostly translated to recommend-ation

Completely translated to recommendation

Total Responses Mean

1 Translated to recommendation?

0 1 5 10 8 24 4.04

Did your VISSIT results directly translate into the type and amount of service you recommended for your student's IEP?

(n=24)

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# Answer Response %2 Yes 22 96%1 No 1 4%

Total 23 100%

Do you feel you would use the VISSIT in the future for determining the type and amount of service you recommend for your students?

(n=23)

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# Answer Response %2 Yes 18 78%1 No 5 22%

Total 23 100%

Do you feel that the VISSIT is a better tool to use for determining the type and amount of service than other available tools or methods you are currently using?

(n=23)

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Validity and Reliability of VISSIT

• The results of the initial study indicated that the current version of the VISSIT is moderately valid and reliable

• “Initial Validation Study for a Scale Used to Determine Service Intensity for Itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments” (results of Texas study done on VISSIT in 2013-2014) (Pogrund, Darst, & Munro)

• Accepted by Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness- will be published in November/December 2015 Critical Issues edition of JVIB

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National VISSIT Validation Study

• Sent out emails January 2015 all over the country to State Departments of Education, Schools for the Blind, Outreach Directors, and any other visual impairment email lists that could distribute requests for participation in the study to further validate the VISSIT with a larger audience

• 259 TVIs from 33 states (and 1 in Canada) indicated their interest in trying out the VISSIT

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National VISSIT Validation Study Preliminary Results

• Of the 259 TVIs who expressed interest, 90 actually returned at least one VISSIT that they had completed on a student (some sent in multiple VISSITs)

• They were then sent a survey link to complete regarding their use and opinions about the VISSIT as a tool to determine type and amount of service

• Out of the 90 who returned a scale, 86 surveys were started and 77 were completed.

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Preliminary Results (continued)

Used:• in urban (25%), suburban (58%), and rural (44%) service

delivery areas• with students from 9 months - 20 years old• with students who were totally blind, with low vision, and

with CVI• with students with a wide range of multiple impairments

(intellectual disability the highest)• with students who were braille readers, print readers, dual

media users, tactile and object symbol users, large print users, auditory learners, etc.

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Overall, was the VISSIT easy to use?

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Did the results of the VISSIT match your professional judgment regarding student need & recommended type & amount of service?

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Do you feel you would use the VISSIT in the future for determining the type and amount of service you recommend

for your students?

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Comments

• “I will use this with all of my students. It is an invaluable tool that provides information that an IEP committee can easily understand.”

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Comments (continued)

• “After I completed the VISSIT, the 4 of us TVIs in my district completed a VISSIT on each of our students. We as a department are hoping to use the VISSIT as data to show our need for more staff.

We also realized that we can take the information from each ECC area and see where the intense needs are in order to choose what assessment areas to focus on using the EVALS kit.”

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Comments (cont.)

• “I found the tool very useful. It helped me reflect with more objectivity. It helped assure me I was looking at the whole child and his needs for TVI service.”

• “I plan to use the VISSIT from here on as my primary tool for determining and justifying service times. I especially like that direct and consultative services are separated and given individual consideration.”

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Do you feel that the VISSIT is a better tool to use for determining the type and amount of service than other

available tools or methods you are currently using?

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Next Steps

• The electronic version has been completed. • A website for accessing the electronic and paper versions has

been developed: http://www.tsbvi.edu/vissit • Continuing evaluation of VISSIT and data analysis to gather

more information about various aspects of the validity and reliability of the tool.

• O&M VISSIT in development.

Recent and Next Steps for VISSIT

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Filling Out the VISSIT Sample Student - “Bud”

(MS Word Document)

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Q&A Session with

Rona Pogrund

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Contact Information

Rona Pogrund, Ph.D., Texas Tech University – rona.pogrund@ttu.edu

VISSIT website: http://www.tsbvi.edu/vissit

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Thank You for attending!