Calls for Papers

Special Issue on Service Delivery Models in Education: Special Schools, Itinerant Programs 2014
Practice Perspectives
Celebrating 100 Years . . . and Beyond!
General Call for Papers

JVIB 2014 Special Issue on Service Delivery Models in Education: Special Schools, Itinerant Programs

Guest editors: Eugene McMahon, Ed.D., executive director, Council of Schools & Services for the Blind; and Sharon Z. Sacks, Ph.D., director, Curriculum, Assessment, & Staff Development, California School for the Blind.

Deadline for submissions: February 28, 2014

Projected publication date: November-December 2014

For the past several decades, educational services for students with visual impairments have moved from geographically separate special schools outward, into the heart of local communities. During this time, every year has seemingly brought new challenges to professionals seeking to provide students with an effective education and promote their success throughout life. Innumerable forces have strongly influenced educational service delivery in the past decade, from government mandates to the price of gas. As the field of visual impairment seeks to build its evidence base of best practices, the effectiveness of professionals who work with students who are blind or visually impaired is being challenged today as never before, by everything from budget cutbacks, to an ever-increasing emphasis on high-stakes testing, to the rise of the Common Core Curriculum. The 2014 special issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) invites papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

The role of the specialized school in today's educational landscape and beyond, and connections between specialized schools and programs around the world
Reports of effective transition planning for secondary school–aged students, which seek to identify key components of such planning.
Outcome measurement: Best practices in producing accurate and meaningful outcome data, and using such data to improve programmatic and administrative operations
Descriptions and outcomes of innovation in pedagogy, assistive technology, and distance learning at specialized schools
The role of partnerships or initiatives between specialized schools and local educational and outreach programs in providing quality education to all students
The changing roles of itinerant teachers in urban, suburban, and rural settings
Organizing principles and supportive strategies of effective itinerant teachers
Meeting the needs of students with multiple disabilities who require specialized services and direct instruction and support
Innovative instructional strategies for students with additional needs, such as English language learners or those with learning or multiple disabilities
Coping with the critical shortage of teachers, as well as a lack of access to services
The Expanded Core Curriculum
Providing services to infants and their families
The role of paraeducators, occupational therapists, and other members of the educational team
The team approach: Pooling resources and managing relationships, responsibilities, and rights in schools
Effective models of assessment for visually impaired students, including those with additional disabilities
Universal design in action: How portable electronic devices, like the iPad and Surface Pro, are revolutionizing service delivery in the modern classroom
Personnel training needs and solutions for braille proficiency, assistive technology skills, and working with students with severe multiple disabilities
Knowledge-management systems and testing: How data can be created and transformed into information and ultimately into knowledge

Guidelines for contributors are generally printed in each issue of JVIB, and are also available from AFB Press, American Foundation for the Blind: website: <www.afb.org/jvib_guidelines.asp>; phone: 212-502-7651; e-mail: <press@afb.net>.

E-mail submissions should be sent to: <jvib@nccu.edu>.

Questions should be sent to the editor in chief at the following e-mail address: <jvibeditor@afb.net>.

JVIB Practice Perspectives

Many professionals in visual impairment like you have developed considerable skills, expertise, and insights related to the work they do. You, like them, may not consider yourself an expert, but you have valuable information to share. Do your colleagues call you when they need help with assistive technology? Are you the O&M specialist that others consult when they are encouraging a child with physical disabilities to travel? Have you been successful in teaching visually impaired adults to cook? Can you convince teenagers that low vision devices are useful and will interest their friends? "Practice Perspectives," Jane Erin's featured section in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) for professionals in practice, needs experts like you, who can share effective ways of meeting practice challenges. "Practice Perspectives" frequently includes contributions from several individuals on one topic to offer an exchange of ideas and information that practitioners can use in their daily work.

In the coming months, "Practice Perspectives" will explore topics of ongoing interest. Please tell us about your successful work in assisting children and adults in areas such as these:

Finding a job
Accepting and using low vision devices effectively
Providing services to children or adults with multiple disabilities
Documenting practice: showing how careful data collection can shape effective services

You don't need to be an experienced author to share your expertise. If you can describe how your efforts have supported the work and life successes of your students and clients, you have knowledge that is valuable to others in your field. Visit www.jvib.org and click on the link "For JVIB Authors" for suggestions on how to get started! Then submit your completed essays to Diane P. Wormsley, Ph.D., Editor in Chief, JVIB Practice Perspectives; e-mail: <jvib@nccu.edu>.

Celebrating 100 Years...and Beyond!

For well over 100 years, the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) has been the primary journal of record for the field of visual impairment and is a critical forum for the discussion of significant research, practice, and trends. The journal seeks to provide readers with essential information to support and inform their professional thinking and practice. In addition to articles and reports on all aspects of the work of the field, from educational practice to low vision service delivery to rehabilitation issues, JVIB welcomes submissions on the following topics of great current concern:

Practice reports from teachers of students with visual impairments, including students with multiple disabilities
Discussions of low vision service delivery, focusing on models of team collaboration and service provider roles, funding and reimbursement issues, and patient need and service outcomes
Perspectives on the impact of federal No Child Left Behind legislation on programs for students with visual impairments and on teacher effectiveness
Experiences of participants in the national Medicare demonstration project examining reimbursement of services by certified orientation and mobility specialists, low vision therapists, and vision rehabilitation therapists
Examinations of different certification models and approaches in such areas as orientation and mobility

Guidelines for contributors are generally printed in each issue of JVIB, and are also available from AFB Press, American Foundation for the Blind: website: <www.afb.org/jvib_guidelines.asp>; phone: 212-502-7651; e-mail: <jvib@afb.net>.

E-mail submissions should be sent to: <jvib@nccu.edu>.

Questions should be sent to the editor in chief at the following e-mail address: jvibeditor@afb.net.

General Call for Papers

The Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) seeks research and practice articles for the peer-reviewed research and professional journal. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: