Implementing QPVI for Public Schools in your State

In the years since the QPVI process for public schools was first started in Texas, individuals from many states have become curious about it and come to the Texas School for the Blind in Austin for our annual training to learn more about it. They were intrigued with its promise to effect programmatic change and by the fact that it was developed specifically for a population that is largely overlooked in the literature addressing program improvement for special programs: children with visual and multiple disabilities.

Twenty years later, a number of trained QPVI facilitators in Texas and in several states continue to implement the process, as it has been revised to meet growing needs and current law. QP continues to be a one-of-a-kind process effecting program improvement that results in change for students.

In my role as developer and constant reviser of the QPVI process, I've participated in many, though not all, efforts by other states to implement QP. I've learned the following about implementing the process in other states, once someone from that state has been trained as a facilitator:

There must be someone at the state level (usually department of education or school for the blind) who is committed to making the arrangements necessary to establish and maintain one or more pilot sites.

One person must act as coordinator of QP activities for the state, including maintaining contact with all sites and, most often, being involved in implementing QP in at least one site.

I've learned that it is essential for me to maintain ongoing involvement until the state has gone through a full cycle of Phases One and Two and has identified an in-state person to both coordinate QP efforts and to monitor the integrity of implementation of all sites. My involvement usually consists of 3-4 visits a year until Phase Two is complete. It may include facilitator training, if necessary.

The only cost to participants who come for the annual training at TSBVI is the $50 cost to reproduce and assemble the QPVI PS Guide. For those who choose to implement QP in their states, I charge a daily fee and travel expenses for each visit.

QPVI Public Schools has generated a great deal of interest and enthusiasm among those people who have seen it work to improve programs. If you have already read the Introduction and taken a look at the Brochure and would like more information on how QP works within the context of a Public School, please feel free to contact Nancy Toelle directly.