Join AER on February 17, 2022 for the next session in our new series: “Question the Authorities!” This interview will be with Dr. Rachel Schles, the Coordinator of the Program in Visual Disabilities and Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Department of Special Education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. Dr. Schles has recently authored two articles: Population Data for Students with Visual Impairments in the United States in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness and A Mixed-Methods Analysis of State-Level Population Data for Students with Visual Impairment and Blindness in Exceptional Children. This moderated question and answer session will dig deeper into new population data for students with visual impairments, issues around Child Count and reporting of student population data, and implications for practitioners in the field. Questions from the audience, as well as prepared questions, will be included in this session.

Attendees will:

• Learn about the critical difference between the reporting of child count numbers and the total population numbers of school-age BVI students; 
• Understand the profound impact that sizable discrepancies in child count and population data have on SEA and LEA resource deployment and on federal investment in teacher preparation and other issues of national significance to BVI students' education; and 
• Leave with practical steps to take to promote appropriate understanding of, and appreciation for, accurate data reporting, along with suggestions for individual and systems advocacy.