A Survey of Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments: Responsibilities, Satisfactions, and Needs

For all children with visual impairments to receive services from qualified teachers is important. The roles of teachers of students with visual impairments change, influenced by such factors as the changing demographics of children with visual impairments, the types of services needed by the students on their caseloads, caseload sizes and work environments of the teachers, and administrators' knowledge of the unique needs of students with visual impairments. This article describes a study during the 1999-2000 school year, in which 871 surveys were mailed to members of the itinerant teaching division of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). Three months later, a second mailing was sent, with a reminder to complete the survey. Data collection continued into the 2000-2001 school year. 510 surveys were received, a return rate of 59%. The majority of the respondents (96%) were Caucasian; the other 4% were Hispanic, African American, Asian American, or of unidentified ethnicity. Eighty-four percent of the respondents were employed full time, and 15% were employed part time. The findings of this survey demonstrate that the participants, mostly itinerant teachers of students with visual impairments, perform extraordinarily complex jobs with many responsibilities.