THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAILLE READING AND MATH STANDARDS

By Dr. Dennis Kelleher

State Vision Consultant for the California Department of Education

Editor’s Note: Dr. Kelleher provided insightful guidance to the Braille Task Force committee members. He is a strong Braille advocate and realized the importance of this project. His knowledge and expertise are truly appreciated by this organization.

On October 5, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 897 authored by Assembly Member Joe Coto and sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind of California. This landmark legislation for blind students required the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to appoint a task force to develop Braille Reading and Mathematics Standards and the California State Board of Education to adopt these standards by June 1, 2006.

The Task Force was co-chaired by Nancy Burns, President of NFBC and Dr. Sharon Sacks, Professor of Special Education at California State University, Sacramento. The eleven-member task force included Braille experts who are consumers, teachers, parents and administrators. In addition to President Burns and Dr Sacks, other members of the task force were Dr. Stuart Wittenstein, Superintendent of the California School for the Blind, Dr. Joy Efron, retired principal of the Visually Impaired program for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Annee Hartzell and Sue Douglass, Braille teachers, Donna Sexton and Leslie Thom, parents of children who are blind, Catherine Skivers, a blind consumer, Rod Brawley, manager of the California Department of Education Clearinghouse for Specialized Media and Technology and Maureen Burness, Chair of the Special Education Local Plan Area Administrators. Special thanks to Wanda Penner, teacher of the visually impaired for the Los Angeles Unified School district, for her contribution.

The National Federation of the Blind of California identified the importance of Braille literacy and the direct positive correlation between Braille competency and employment rates of blind people. Recognizing the importance of establishing Braille standards in both reading and mathematics, NFBC sponsored Assembly Bill (AB) 2326 authored by Dario Frommer in 2002 to begin the process of establishing Braille standards. California is the first state in the nation to take this important step. The task force developed Braille reading standards by June 2004 and Braille math standards by March 2006.

On February 28, 2006, the Braille task force met with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell to formally present him with their recommendations. Superintendent O’Connell said, “These standards will help our blind and visually impaired students to acquire the skills they need for future education, employment, and independent living and to become successful members of our society and I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the task force members for their dedication and assistance in producing these Braille standards.”

The Braille standards are carefully aligned with the California English-language arts and mathematics content standards for students who use print. The Braille mathematics and reading standards do not establish separate content standards. Including instructional principles and prerequisites appropriate for students who learn through the sense of touch does not change nor conflict with what the Board previously adopted for students who use print. It merely provides additional technical information pertaining to Braille learners.

In adopting Braille reading and mathematics standards, the board members of the California Department of Education reaffirmed their commitment and understanding that Braille is essential for literacy skills among blind students just as print is for sighted students.

Learning without sight takes more time. Blind and visually impaired children need the time to explore objects physically that sighted children can take in at a glance. Blind and visually impaired children will need help integrating what they experience tactually with what they hear, smell, and taste. One-on-one time will be needed with an adult for the blind or visually impaired child to learn the names of objects, understand terms for movements, and acquire other labels for the world that sighted children might acquire incidentally. Teaching mathematics and reading using Braille is more similar than it is different to teaching these subjects using print.

Having Braille standards will help to provide blind students with more immersion in a “Braille rich world,” as sighted children are immersed in a “print rich world.” The significant impact of adopting Braille standards in California will become evident immediately as a greater number of blind students achieve greater success.

In future years, this will be one of the great legacies established through the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind of California.