Assessment Report 2008
Progress Report: Year 4: Aug. 1, 2008-July, 31, 2009 O&M (73a):
Project Objectives: The goal of the project, to increase the supply and quality of rehabilitation teachers and O&M specialists, will be addressed through the following four objectives:
1. To increase the supply and quality service of practicing RT’s and O&M’ers in vocational rehabilitation settings by ensuring that eighteen (18) part-time, degree-/certification-seeking rehabilitation scholars, with particular emphasis on persons with disabilities and/or from minority backgrounds, are enrolled in project courses each year with 60 students (30 O&M) completing the program by the end of the project. After year one, therefore, it is anticipated that 10-15 new-to-the-program students will complete the project each year thereafter.
Accomplished:
RSA O&M Scholars:
6 scholars: 4 female, 2 male; 0 over the age of 60
43 Agency or self-funded: 7 Males, 36 Females; 28 Caucasian; 2 African-Americans; 1 Age 60 and over; 3 visually impaired students; 24 Graduate Certificate students and 19 masters degree students.
Program Completers:
10 Graduates (as of summer 2009)
2. To continue to revise and refine the curriculum of the program to ensure current federal and state vocational rehabilitation guidelines are taught, and reflect state-of-the-art rehabilitation theory and practice, including multicultural information and perspectives.
Accomplished:
The curriculum continues to be revised and updated to reflect current VR practices and theory, including multi-cultural perspectives. For example, COUN 7360 Foundations of Rehabilitation continues to be updated and taught by Rehabilitation Counseling faculty who adhere to CORE requirements. All counseling courses in the curriculum follow CORE guidelines. These courses are taught by multi-cultural faculty who bring the latest perspectives to their courses.
3. To create a cadre of mentor/supervisors within the vocational rehabilitation agencies who can assist the students throughout the learning process with transitioning information from the class to the practical application on the job.
Accomplished:
The O&M Program continues to draw upon certified O&M specialists (COMS) to teach the methods classes as adjunct faculty and to supervise practicums (student teaching) and internships from various VR agencies like The Hines V.A. (IL), The Conway (AR) Human Development Center, the Alaska Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Missouri Department of Rehabilitation. A handbook was developed for interns, internship sites and supervisors and is emailed to each before the experience begins. The handbook sets out rules and responsibilities for all parties, and includes all reporting forms.
4. To assess student learning outcomes and employers’ and consumers’ satisfaction to ensure that the online delivery process and curriculum content continues to achieve challenging academic standards that result in quality graduates meeting the needs of the vocational rehabilitation system.
Accomplishments:
Internet courses. The O&M Program continued delivering the didactic courses via the Internet to part-time students (rather than full-time, campus-based students). A new group of RSA scholars and other O&M students will come to Little Rock this summer to attend the O&M Summer Institute.
O&M program assessment this year included assessing student outcomes in the methods and student teaching classes this past summer to determine if what they had learned online during the academic year can be applied in the summer courses (content validity). Students were assessed using the O&M rubrick at the midpoint and at the end of their methods and practicum courses. Dr. Jacobson conducted the assessments during the practicum phase of the student teaching. All students performed well during their practica. Dr. Jacobson and Sharon Niemczyk, an adjunct instructor with the School for the Blind, conducted the assessments during the O&M methods classes. All students performed quite well in the teaching portions of their methods class.
Both methods courses, and the practicum and internship courses continue to be web-enhanced. Course syllabi, handouts, exams and discussion sessions continue to be administered online to enhance the student learning experiences. Students still come to Little Rock in the summers for simulation and teaching experiences.
Summer O&M Institutes. In the summer of 2008 the O&M Program reached out to the state of Wisconsin to a cohort of students being sponsored by the Wisconsin Office for the Blind and Visually Impaired. These three students had been taking courses online; one student from Missouri and one from S. Dakota joined these three students for the first of two summer institutes. Dr. Jacobson taught the class in Wisconsin, and will teach it again this summer (2009). This collaboration was one direct result from the Program Advisory Board meeting in which Dr. Michael Nelipovich, then the Director of the Wisconsin Office for the Blind (and who has since retired), was a member and met with Dr. Jacobson to discuss educating some of his staff in O&M training. In addition, 9 returning and 10 new-to-the-program students will be participating in the summer program in Little Rock in 2009. Dr. Jacobson will be teaching the advanced methods class to the returning students and Ms. Sharon Niemczyk (COMS) will be teaching the introductory class as an adjunct faculty member.
National O&M examination. Students, who complete the core O&M courses, are eligible to sit for the national O&M examination, which is administered by the Academy for Certification of Vision, Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP). ACVREP has not consistently offered information on the student success in pass/fail rates and, unfortunately, did not provide this information this past year. The O&M Program would like to see discrete scores on various parts of the exam to better ensure reliable data in which to make curricular modifications.
Program Advisory Board meeting. The overall restructuring of the O&M Program was a direct result of feedback from program applicants, current students, alumni and employers from the past several years. The Rehabilitation of the Blind Programs’ Program Advisory Board usually meets annually in Little Rock to hear from the faculty about programmatic concerns and updates and to offer advice and counsel to the Program. The advisory board is composed of current in-town students, alumni, and employers (current and potential) from surrounding states. This past year the local members of the PAB met once in December. Composition of the PAB may change slightly from year to year as it is made up of members who comprise the Lions World Services for the Blind’s advisory board. LWSB pays the expenses of the board members. Both boards meet consecutively over a two-day period in Little Rock. This year LWSB postponed its meeting due to economic travel constraints placed upon its members, so only local members attended our PAB. Feedback from previous advisory board meetings applauded the implementation of the Internet courses as a way of reaching students who could not come to Little Rock so that the Program could help alleviate the personnel shortage of O&M specialists nationwide. Members were encouraged that a way was found to offer the courses and increase the student population — without sacrificing student learning outcomes. This year’s members praised the training our graduates have received and showed interest in the effectiveness of the online component.
Graduate Certificate in O&M. The O&M Program has attracted more students into the Graduate Certificate Program than into the masters degree program in the past year (see above). It is believed that some of those students will continue on to seek the masters degree, as well, as has been the case for several students this past year. On the reverse side, several students have moved from degree-seeking to seeking the graduate certificate due to personal and professional reasons. Each program seem to be a feeder for the other.