VKC member Rachel Schles, Ph.D., serves as assistant professor of the Practice in the Department of Special Education and serves as coordinator of the department’s new Visual Disabilities Track. Her research centers around the identification and eligibility process for students with visual impairments for special education services, as well as the variations between state educational policies in determining which students with visual impairments receive special education services and why.
In the interview below, Schles shares what inspires her research, what she has learned through her work, and how membership with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center helps her achieve her goals.
Tell us about your attraction to developmental disabilities research.
Like most people in the field, I discovered the possibility of working with students with visual impairments (VI) and deafblindness (DB) by happenstance. I thought I was going to be a high school history teacher until I had the opportunity to work with a group of teens with VI during a fellowship in a museum education program. Working to adapt an old history building to be engaging and accessible was my “a-ha” moment, and I haven’t looked back since! As a licensed teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI), and now a teacher-educator preparing the next generation of TVIs, I enjoy how much creativity, problem solving skills, and collaboration is required to be successful in the field. Unfortunately, too much of our education system is not meaningfully accessible to students with VI/DB. Our students represent a very low incidence disability, not usually discussed in teacher training programs, so most educators aren’t aware of simple accommodations or modifications that can make their instruction more inclusive. I enjoy the ongoing opportunities to for dialogues with others to explain the basics of our profession and of ways they can learn more.
What are your current research interests and what challenges do they address?
I have two main focuses of my research, plus a side project that I’m currently finding fascinating. The first focus is the national shortage of TVIs and the need to increase recruitment by building awareness of the profession. Through my research lab, we’ve run the first two studies in almost two decades looking into why and how someone decides to become a TVI. We’ve found that most professionals randomly come into the field, but only after meeting a TVI, or knowing a child or adult with visual impairment themselves. From this, we’re working on how we can build awareness of the field from an earlier age. I currently give multiple guest lectures at colleges and universities each semester, and we’re in the early stages of working with K-12 teachers to connect with school-age students to explain the job of a TVI. After all, you can’t grow up wanting to be a TVI if you don’t know it’s a career path.
My second main research focus is understanding the number of students with visual impairments in the U.S. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has set a general definition for who can qualify as a student with VI for the purposes of special education services. However, each state can set their own criteria to determine eligibility, which has led to significant variations across states. Through an analysis of state factors and eligibility criteria variations, I was able to identify specific factors that correlated to population differences of students with VI across states. This means students with VI are being identified for special education services based on where they live, not necessarily the severity or educational impact of their disability. This issue is difficult to explore, however, because the majority of students with VI have multiple disabilities and are not considered as having a visual impairment in the Annual Child Count overseen by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Through this line of research, I’ve found that, on average, states are supporting about four times the number of students with VI reported in Child Count (the range is about 1.5-14 times). However, almost half of U.S. states do not know how many students with VI are in their state at all.
Lastly (and a bit unplanned), I’ve been exploring the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) bots in online social science surveys. After having an experience with dozens of bots responding to an online survey I was conducting, I’ve learned a lot about strategies to prevent and identify bots in surveys. This has led my team to one of our current projects, a survey of researchers in special education and disability fields on their own experiences conducting online surveys. More to come on this topic.
Do you have a story about a research participant or a breakthrough that illustrates the impact of your work?
I’ve been humbled by the response to my work on the population data and eligibility criteria variations. It’s surprising and frustrating that all states don’t collect and report on the total number of students with VI. To put this in real terms, a state might report 500 students in the Annual Child Count but have an actual population of students of just over 2,000. The number of TVIs, funding for assistive technology, adapted materials, etc., is significantly different for 500 students compared to 2,000.
This, combined with the work I’ve been doing over the last seven years on eligibility criteria variations, has allowed me to collaborate and connect with different groups in my field and beyond. Many stakeholders see the value in developing a more inclusive definition of who qualifies as a student with a visual impairment, along with having a more consistent definition across states.
What are your reasons for becoming a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) Member? How does the VKC enhance the work you do?
I appreciate being a part of the VKC community to connect with other professionals looking to improve systems and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. I am the only faculty member in visual impairments in our department, so being able to access the network of VKC members and supports has increased the ease of collaboration within Vanderbilt.
Furthermore, the VKC has played a key role in the expansion of the Tennessee Visual Impairments Virtual Academy (TN VIVA), which provides free, online twice-monthly professional development throughout the school year to educational vision professionals and other educational stakeholders. TN VIVA began in 2020 as an initiative I started with a colleague at the Tennessee School for the Blind (TSB) and has since become a collaborative effort between the Peabody Visual Disabilities Program, the TSB, and the VKC. This 2023-24 school year will be our fourth year of the program, so keep an eye out for our lineup on VKC’s website, likely available in August.
