Effective Teaching Strategies: Case Studies from the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study

Lizbeth Barclay, Stephanie A. Herlich, and Sharon Zeil Sacks

Abstract: This article discusses some of the qualitative data that were documented during the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study. Two case studies of students are described, highlighting many effective teaching strategies used by their teachers of students with visual impairments that resulted in the students' successful academic progress.
During the five years of the Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study (ABC Braille Study), researchers observed the participants as they received literacy instruction from teachers of students with visual impairments, classroom teachers, and paraeducators. The researchers noted that the participants encountered an array of teaching styles and strategies as they worked with their various teachers. The results of the study have been documented in other articles and presentations (Emerson, Holbrook, & D'Andrea, 2009); this article describes some of the effective teaching strategies that were successfully used in two specific case studies. The teacher-student dyads were chosen because the students demonstrated progress in their literacy skills throughout the study. An analysis of the observational protocols revealed that the teachers of students with visual impairments used many effective teaching strategies. When viewed within the context of research that identifies highquality literacy instruction through a "balanced" approach, many of the documented strategies reflected the teachers' competence and resulted in the students' progress.

Effective strategies for teaching reading

What makes a teaching strategy effective? Within the realm of literacy, the goal of an effective teaching strategy is to implement high-quality literacy instruction that teaches students to read and write. Teacher training and skills are essential ingredients of this effort, as is an understanding of what comprises such literacy instruction. High-quality literacy instruction has been described by educators and researchers in the fields of both general and braille literacy instruction. A

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position statement from the International Reading Association (2000) stated that excellent reading teachers understand the definition of reading as a complex system of deriving the meaning from print that requires all the following: development and maintenance of a motivation to read, development of appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print, sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension, ability to read fluently, ability to decode unfamiliar words, and skills and knowledge to understand how phonemes or speech sounds are connected to print (International Reading Association, 2000, p. 2). This description emphasizes motivation and comprehension in addition to learning the code of reading. It embraces a balanced approach to literacy instruction that includes both the teaching of specific skills (such as phonics) and providing experiences in holistic reading and writing (Pressley, 2002). Studies on effective classrooms in which all students learn to read and write have concluded that exceptional teachers provide balance by teaching skills and strategies and by giving children ample time each day to read and write (see, for example, Cunningham & Allington, 2007). When children read, they become better readers. As Routman (2003, p. 187) noted, "Readers who enjoy reading and are motivated to read do read more. . . . Interest plays an important role in engaging readers."
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Effective strategies for teaching reading to students with visual impairments

The balanced approach to literacy instruction has also been described by educators in the field of visual impairment. Braille literacy instruction includes specific and deliberate individual instruction in the braille code, combined with the components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, placing special emphasis on the development of comprehension (Koenig & Holbrook, 2000). In Beginning with Braille, Swenson (1999) noted that by using a balanced approach, educators will be able to offer a broad continuum of possibilities for meeting individual needs. She discussed the following essential components of early braille literacy instruction: immersing students in braille; integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing; focusing on meaning; modeling literacy behaviors; emphasizing process as well as product; and encouraging students' participation in decision making. These components again emphasize the development and maintenance of motivation and meaning that are necessary in effective braille literacy instruction. The effective teaching strategies that were observed in the following case studies illustrate many of these aspects of a balanced approach to literacy instruction. An additional component of effective literacy strategies for students who are
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visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) is the collaboration that must take place between teachers of students with visual impairments and classroom teachers. Wormsley (2008) articulated this point in her article, "Literacy Instruction for Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired," writing that teachers of students with visual impairments have experience with braille and low vision devices, but may not be well versed in providing instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fiuency building, comprehension and vocabulary development. Regular . classroom teachers may know how to teach these areas of reading but may not have expertise in teaching those who use braille or low vision devices, (p. 83) She concluded that both types of teachers need to work together to ensure that students who are visually impaired receive instruction in all aspects of learning how to read. The teachers who are described in the case studies presented here demonstrated this important aspect of literacy instruction. to be "effective teaching strategies," as described previously in the literature, and selected two students with teachers who applied many noteworthy strategies. One case study illustrates a student who was not taught contractions during his first three years of literacy instruction, and the other case study describes a student who was introduced to contractions from the beginning of her braille instruction. The study design and consent documents for the ABC Braille Study were approved by the Human Subjects Review Boards of the institutions of all the participating researchers.
CASE STUDY 1

Methods
PROCEDURE

A case study approach was used to describe effective teaching strategies that were observed during the ABC Braille Study. The students and teachers who are described in these case studies were selected after we reviewed all the observational notes taken by the observers. We identified what the observers considered
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The first case study highlights Marco and Ms. Wilson, his teacher of students with visual impairments. Ms. Wilson explained that she was not going to teach contractions until Marco had started reading alphabetic braille. Marco was a student with many challenges, yet he demonstrated steady growth throughout the study and was considered to be performing at grade level. Marco entered the study as a student in kindergarten, at age 7, having missed much school during his early education because of a serious medical condition. He was blind owing to a retinal condition. His parents were primarily Spanish speakers at home, although they were comfortable with conversational English. Marco spoke English at school and Spanish at home. Marco's parents graduated from high school in Mexico and were able to read and write only a little English. Ms. Wilson provided in-home beginning braille instruction in English to Marco as a preschooler, giving him many beginning

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braille materials for Marco to use with his family. Marco had an older sister who frequently read with him. Throughout the study, Ms. Wilson worked directly with Marco for 75 minutes each day. She also consulted with his classroom teacher three to four times per week and spent one to two hours a day preparing his materials in braille. All Marco's braille literacy instruction took place in a resource room. Ms. Wilson's background in general literacy instruction was apparent from the first year of observations, when Marco was in kindergarten. A seasoned teacher, Ms. Wilson had been teaching students who are visually impaired for 15 years; before that time, she was a reading teacher. Ms. Wilson closely followed the school's reading curriculum, producing all the materials in uncontracted braille. She worked with Marco individually in a resource room each morning while his classmates had reading and writing activities. In addition, Marco participated in other aspects of the class's literacy instruction.
CASE STUDY 2

Lin attended an elementary school with a resource program for students with visual impairments. In kindergarten, Mrs. Goodman saw Lin 45 minutes per day. By the time Lin was in the fourth grade, her time had been reduced to 90 minutes of direct work per week with Mrs. Goodman. At the beginning of the study, Lin received help from a paraeducator for 2 hours each day. By the end of the study, she did not receive any support from a paraeducator. Throughout the study Mrs. Goodman spent between 45 minutes to 2 hours per week consulting with the classroom teacher. Both of Lin's parents had graduate degrees. Lin's father was an engineer and her mother stayed at home. Lin's mother had been taking classes to learn braille. At the time of the interview, she knew the alphabet and some contractions. At home, Lin had access to a braillewriter and a braille library. Her parents labeled objects in their home with braille. Mrs. Goodman, who had been teaching students with visual impairments for 20 years, stated that she did not remember being taught how to teach reading. When she came to her current elementary school, she was introduced to the Reading Recovery Program, subsequently enrolling in a one-year college program about it and strengthening her background in reading instruction (Reading Recovery Council of North America, 2010). She had been the primary teacher of the resource room for 13 years, teaching many students to read and write braille. In addition to Patterns (Caton, Pestor, & Bradley, 1980), which guided the order in which contractions were introduced to Lin, Mrs. Goodman used the school's leveled reading program.
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The second case study highlights Lin and Mrs. Goodman, her teacher of students with visual impairments. Lin was taught contractions from the beginning of her reading instruction. Throughout the study, she performed at or above grade level, as shown in her assessment data. Lin entered the ABC Braille Study as a kindergarten student, and at the conclusion of the study, she was in the fourth grade. Lin had retinopathy of prematurity with light perception only. She was the only child of Asian American parents who spoke English as their primary language.

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Table 1 Results of assessments for Marco and Lin (2004-07). Grade 2 (2004-05) Assessment Speiiing (grade levis; Brigance, 1991) Vocabuiary (grade ievels; Brigance, 1991) Basic Reading Inventory passages (Joiins, 2005) Words per minute Contractions (number introduced; Koenig & Farrenl<opf, 1995) Marco Lin Grade 3 (2005-06) Marco 5.00 4.00 4.00 40
113

Grade 4 (2006-07) Marco Lin

Lin 6.00 4.00 5.00 86 188

2.00 2.00 1.00 52

32

4.00 2.00 2.00 83

189

4.00 3.00 6.00 48

188

12.00 5.00 8.00 83

187

Assessments
The ABC Braille Study used a variety of assessments and protocols to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Interviews were designed and administered to gain information from the teachers and family members about their attitudes and involvement in the children's braille literacy instruction. The teachers of students with visual impairments and the students were interviewed each year of the study, the families were interviewed at least once, and the paraeducators and classroom teachers were interviewed once during the course of the study. Twice each year, the students were observed for an entire school day. All their literacy instruction and involvement in literacy activities were documented. The observational protocols contained detailed accounts of the students' instruction in and use of braille throughout the school day. They were evaluated by the researchers with regard to the qualitative aspects of the study. For the purpose of this article, the observational protocols were studied to identify teacher-student dyads in which effective teaching strategies were being used. The two case studies presented in this article were selected during that process.
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STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT

Data on assessments using the Revised Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development (Brigance, 1991) and the Basic Reading Inventory (Johns, 2005) were collected for all four years of the study. The results for reading fluency and words per minute are available for the last three years (2004-07) of the study. Marco's grade-level scores in spelling and vocabulary decreased in Grade 4, while his grade-level scores in oral reading of continuous text increased each year of the study. On the Basic Reading Inventory (Johns, 2005) in Grades 3 and 4, Marco read at the Independent Level, which is the level at which a student reads fluently with excellent comprehension. As Table 1 shows, Marco was reading at the fourth- and sixth-grade levels, respectively, indicating a marked increase. As his ability to read grade-level passages with comprehension increased, his reading speed decreased. Contractions were first introduced to Marco at the end of Grade 2, his third year in the study. By Grade 2, Lin had been introduced to all the contractions. She made steady gains throughout all grade levels in spelling, vocabulary, and reading. By Grade 4, Lin was spelling at the 12th-grade level
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and reading at the 8th-grade level. She maintained a fairly consistent reading speed throughout Grades 2-4. him, Ms. Wilson had him explore the book as she described and explained what the illustrations represented. In this particular book, there were tactile representations of a badge, jacket, baseball player, pirate, and policeman. Marco excitedly explored each "picture" as Ms. Wilson explained what it was and then guided him to the new words that were represented. During the first read through, Marco read slowly and hesitantly. On each page, he first explored the picture before reading. This exploration and his knowledge of initial consonants helped him read the new words. It was apparent that the illustrations helped Marco remember his new words in a similar way that pictures support new print readers as they learn new vocabulary. By the end of the second grade, Ms. Wilson had put together a box of materials so that Marco could illustrate the stories that he was writing, both in the resource room and in his classroom. The collection included foam, pipe cleaners, feathers, materials, buttons, trims, and glue. The illustration box was a source of excitement not only for Marco, but for his classmates, who sometimes shared his materials as they collaborated while writing. Integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing Throughout the study, Marco became a writer. In kindergarten, Ms. Wilson and Marco composed a story together, entitled Ratty, about an imaginary rat that they had begun writing about during his preschool home instruction. Together, Marco and Ms. Wilson contrived Ratty's adventures, each one wilder and sillier than the last. The stories were then brailled and
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Results
EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES, CASE STUDY 1

Maintaining motivation and focusing on meaning Ms. Wilson strongly believed that an important support for emergent readers was the information provided by illustrations in children's literature. A tremendous amount of time and effort went into creating illustrations and providing experiences with objects; time and care were given to the exploration process at the beginning of each literacy activity. There were many examples of tactile illustrations noted throughout the observations; Ms. Wilson's creative and thoughtful use of materials was a constant source of excitement and wonder for Marco. In kindergarten, at the beginning of the lesson, Ms. Wilson presented Marco with cloth bags that contained objects that began with his new initial consonants. For example, one bag had rice, rocks, feathers, a fork, a napkin, a nail, and a nickel. When Marco took out an object, after tactilely exploring it, he named it and said the initial sound of the word and its corresponding letter. The objects were changed frequently, which helped to maintain his anticipation and interest. By the first grade, Ms. Wilson began to illustrate Marco's books with textures and objects that were more abstract and representational. For example, a story entitled The Costume Party had illustrations made of pipe cleaners, felt, foam forms, and feathers. Each time Marco encountered a new book, before reading it with

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illustrated for Marco, who took great delight in them. In the first grade, Ms. Wilson made up a sentence writing game in which she had Marco choose his own favorite words for the day and make word cards. Marco brailled the words Max, Tigger, chickies, and cat, asking for some assistance with spelling. Ms. Wilson had four labeled cans that contained subjects, verbs, adjectives, and objects. She then asked Marco to pick a word from each can and make a sentence. His sentence was, "I see icky chickies," which, of course, caused much laughter. After reading the sentence, Ms. Wilson taped the cards to the table, which made it easier for Marco to read while brailling it himself. By the second grade, Marco was involved with classroom writing experiences, which necessitated more of Ms. Wilson's support during classroom activities. Mr. Moreno, Marco's classroom teacher, regularly encouraged the students to participate by using "partner responses" that required each student to think and collaborate with a partner. He would pose a question during instruction, tell the children to discuss it with a partner, and then ask them to form a response together that would be shared with the larger group. This time, Mr. Moreno asked the students, "Think of a time that was really spooky and dark, and you were afraid. Share what happened with your partner." All the students, including Marco and his desk partner. Marguerite, began talking excitedly. After a few minutes of discussion, Mr. Moreno began to collect the students' "spooky words" for the story word bank. Marco's contribution to the word bank was "spooky night," which Mr. Moreno added to the word bank on the white board as Ms. Wilson brailled the word bank for Marco's later use as he participated in the discussion. While Mr. Moreno began illustrating a story map on the white board, Ms. Wilson also created it in braille for Marco. When it was time for all the students to begin writing, Ms. Wilson gave Marco his story map and the word bank, and he independently began working on his story. Mr. Moreno eventually made his way over to Marco's desk and had Marco read what he had written so far to give him editorial feedback. By the spring observation in the second grade, Marco's enthusiasm as a writer was evident. As Marco worked on one writing assignment in the resource room, a story about a family camping trip, he and Ms. Wilson brailled nouns {boat, trees, water, and wind) and adjectives {wet, roaring, cool, lapping, swooshing, whirling, rushing, purring, and rustling) on cards to create a word bank. With these cards, Marco experimented with the vocabulary that he would eventually use in his writing, combining adjectives with nouns. Before he began the next installment of his story, he read his previous chapter and then exclaimed, "When I close my eyes, it's really quiet. I can imagine it!" Marco then combined a few of his adjective-noun combinations, such as lapping water and roaring wind, before he began to write. Once he started, he brailled with great concentration for several minutes. Later he mentioned, "I'm editing as I write." He was being encouraged to use a braille eraser. Active strategies to construct meaning from print Ms. Wilson was particularly creative in the way that she adapted early literacy activities, such as word-family worksheets. In one activity, Marco followed a
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path of puffy paint as he read ag words, such as lag, sag, rag, wag, gag, and tag. In another one, when working on short o and e, using poker chips and two cans marked with o or e, Marco was to place a chip into the correct can when Ms. Wilson said a word with these medial vowels. Ms. Wilson used word cards for many types of activities. As soon as Marco was able, she had him make many of his cards at the beginning of the activity. New story vocabulary was often brailled on cards, and a variety of games were played with them, including "Go Eish." Eventually, word cards were used to learn the meaning of new vocabulary from content areas like science and social studies. By the third grade, Marco was leaming contractions, and Ms. Wilson designed many games and activities to make practice more interesting and fun. In one activity, Ms. Wilson dropped a paper clip into a can each time Marco correctly read his new contractions on fiash cards. When Marco reached 100 paper clips, she gave him a small prize.
EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES, CASE STUDY 2

point, Lin asked Mrs. Goodman about her prediction about the next part of the story. Continuing in the first and second grades, Mrs. Goodman and Lin's classroom teacher emphasized Lin's reading fiuency, process, and product. By the third grade, Lin received the majority of her reading instruction with her classmates. The students were in leveled reading groups for guided reading with the classroom teacher, focusing on comprehension and vocabulary. Lin was in the highest reading group. Integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing Writing was an important part of each school day for all the students at the school. Using the Writer's Workshop (2003) model, students are taught the process of planning, drafting, and editing written pieces involving peer feedback and the eventual publication of their product. At every grade level, including kindergarten, Lin took part in the Writer's Workshop and was expected to participate in the same writing program as her peers. Mrs. Goodman introduced her to the four types of writing: functional, narrative, research, and informational. During a kindergarten observation, Lin was given a choice to write about the "earth" (a kindergarten topic) or the story she had just read. Lin chose to write about her story. Mrs. Goodman explained to Lin that she was going to sit at her own desk while Lin was writing. Lin was able to sit and independently write for 15 minutes using invenfive spelling. Throughout her braille sessions with Mrs. Goodman, Lin was taught a variety of tools she could use to improve her writing. During several observations, Lin
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Modeling literacy behaviors Throughout the ABC Braille Study, Mrs. Goodman stated her desire to "teach the love of reading" to her students. During each observation, it was evident that she was teaching not only the braille code, but how to make reading fun and enjoyable by demonstrating and explaining how to read with meaning and fiuency. During a kindergarten observation, Lin read one of the Patterns booklets. Throughout the story, Mrs. Goodman and Lin discussed the meaning of new vocabulary. At one

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was observed while proofreading a piece of writing. During a first-grade observation, Lin continued to work on a story in her general education class that she had been writing in the resource room. As she began to rewrite her story, she was prompted by one of the instructional assistants to make her writing more detailed. Later that day, Lin continued to work on the same story during her oneon-one session with Mrs. Goodman. Mrs. Goodman prompted Lin to take notes on what she wanted to say so that her story would be in chronological order. She reminded Lin not to use full sentences when taking notes, once again teaching Lin how to become a good writer. At the end of the second grade, Lin was observed taking part in the districtwide assessment writing sample. Students had one hour to write. Lin's one question to her teacher was, "Are we going to publish the story?" She independently took out her paper and braillewriter, doublespacing her work and reading aloud as she typed. It took her approximately 45 minutes to complete it. Lin's story contained 207 words in 17 sentences. All Lin's words were recognizable, and there were no punctuation errors. It was evident that Lin had much practice writing as she confidently sat with her peers writing her story. The following is an excerpt from Lin's writing sample. The parentheses indicate the contractions that she used. The sentences are spaced exactly how they were spaced in the writing sample. All (About) Baseball My favorite (th)(ing) (to)(do) is baseball. (It) is a t(ea)m sport (so) (you) re(ally) (have) to
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(work) (together). (It) takes a lot (of) practice (to)(do) (this) sport. Eat(ing) h(ea)l(th)y foods (will) help (you) play bett(er). (Before) a game I (try) (to)eat fruits (and) (some) ve(st)a(of)s. I (also) ne(ed) vitam(in)s (to)help me play. (The). . . In the fourth grade, Lin's ability to sustain independent writing continued to develop. Lin was observed working on a computer with speech output as she spent approximately 30 minutes independently reviewing a report that she had written on the computer. Encouraging students ' participation in decision making Mrs. Goodman was always mindful of Lin's interests and, whenever possible, allowed her to be part of the decisionmaking process. In kindergarten, Lin demonstrated an affinity for nonfiction books. In addition to the materials in the Patterns series, Mrs. Goodman brailled a variety of trade books that reflected Lin's interests, such as books about the earth, insect life cycles, and weather. At every grade level, Lin had access to leveled braille books in her classroom. On several occasions, she was observed going to her book bag or box to select a book that she could read independently. Immersing students in braille Lin had access to braille both in her home environment and throughout her school, whether in the library, the resource room for students with visual impairments, or her classroom. Mrs. Goodman was able to

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provide appropriate braille materials for Lin because of her continual collaboration with the classroom teachers. She made sure, as best she could, that either she or an instructional assistant was in the classroom whenever Lin was going to need assistance. During a first-grade observation, Mrs. Goodman was in the general classroom during a quick lesson on the words their, they're, and there. She sat with Lin and explained the braille equivalent of these words, so that when instructed, Lin was able to take part in the peer activity that went with the lesson. classroom instruction with their classmates from their classroom teachers. In addition, both students demonstrated enthusiasm for reading, as was indicated by their comments that were recorded in the observational protocols. For instance, Marco demonstrated enthusiasm when he exclaimed, "Oh! How many books do we have here? Oh, man!" Lin's interest and enthusiasm in a wide variety of topics were satiated by her teacher's ability to expose her to a wide range of books that were available to her in the resource room, general education classroom, school library, and home. Both teachers in these case studies reported that they had training and instruction in general literacy skills that supported their efforts to provide effective teaching strategies to their students. That they did not regard braille instruction separately from general literacy instruction resulted in a holistic and balanced approach to their teaching. In addition, the teachers demonstrated strong collaboration with the classroom teachers, supporting a consistent approach and follow-through in the development of literacy skills. The effective teaching strategies the teachers used included many of the essential components of early braille literacy instruction described by Swenson (1999), including immersing students in braille; modeling literacy behaviors; focusing on meaning; integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing; and encouraging students' participation in decision making. The strategies supported the development and maintenance of the motivation to read, made it possible for the students to construct meaning from text, provided sufficient background information and vocabulary to foster reading comprehension, and
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Discussion
In this article, we used case studies of two participants in the ABC Braille Study to illustrate effective teaching strategies that were observed. We chose the teacherstudent dyads after we analyzed the data from the students' assessments and observational reports. We highlighted highquality instruction resulting in the students' progress. Both students made consistent progress in their literacy skills throughout the study, which demonstrates that the strategies that their teachers of students with visual impairments used were effective for teaching students to be successful readers and writers of braille. Both teachers used many aspects of a "balanced" approach to literacy to teach their students successfully. Although the students were different and their teachers' styles and strategies of teaching varied, there were also some strong similarities. The students made steady progress in their literacy skills, as was evident in the results of the assessments. They were both in programs that provided the opportunity for literacy instruction that included individual instruction from their teachers of students with visual impairments, as well as

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successfully supported decoding and encoding skills leading to reading fluency.
LIMITATIONS

References
Brigance, A. (1991). Revised Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development. North Billerica, MA: Curriculum Associates. Caton, H., Pestor, E., & Bradley, E. J. (1980). Patterns: The primary braille reading program. Louisville, KY: American Printing House for the Blind. Cunningham, F., & Allington, R. (2007). Classrooms that work: They can all read and write (4th ed.). Boston: Fearson, Allyn & Bacon. Emerson, R. W., Holbrook, M. C , & D'Andrea, F. M. (2009). Acquisition of literacy skills by young children who are blind: Results from the ABC Braille Study. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 103, 610-624. International Reading Association. (2000). Excellent reading teachers: A position statement of the International Reading Association. Newark, DE. Author. Johns, J. (2005). Basic reading inventory. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. Koenig, A. J., & Farrenkopf, C. (1995). Assessment of braille literacy skills. Houston, TX: Region IV Education Service Center, Special Education Department. Koenig, A. J., & Holbrook, M. C. (2000). Literacy skills. In A. J. Koenig & M. C. Holbrook (Eds.), Foundations of education, second edition: Vol. II. Instructional strategies for teaching children and youths with visual impairments (Chap. 8). New York: AFB Fress. Fressley, M. (2002). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Fress. Reading Recovery Council of North America (2010). Reading recovery: Basic facts. Worthington, OH: Author. Available: http://www.readingrecovery.org/reading_ recovery/facts/index.asp Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials: The specifics you need to teach reading well. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Swenson, A. (1999). Beginning with braille. New York: AFB Fress.

The use of case studies to describe effective teaching strategies had limitations because it relied on our and the observers' accurate depictions of the intent of the participants. Using this approach, we sought to select from what was observed the aspects of effective teaching strategies that have been described by educators in the fields of literacy for sighted children and those with visual impairments. It was limited, in that it highlighted only two cases, barely scratching the surface of what was observed in the entire study and of effective teaching strategies in general. However, case studies offer opportunities to explore and draw attention to many facets of literacy instruction for children who are visually impaired.

Conclusion
Although these observations provide just a snapshot of literacy instruction for two students with visual impairments, they give a glimpse at what can be accomplished when teachers of students with visual impairments provide rich literacy experiences for their students. Both teachers knew that they needed to look at the whole picture of braille literacy, providing reading and writing instruction that was integrated with the aspects of high-quality literacy instruction, emphasizing motivation and comprehension in tandem with learning the code of reading. This approach, in turn, contributed to the successful academic progress of their students.

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Texas Education Agency. (2004). Texas Primary Reading Inventory. Austin: Author. Wormsley, D. (2008) Literacy instruction for children who are blind or visually impaired. Journal of Balanced Reading Instruction, 75(2), 69-87. Writer's Workshop. (2003). Introduction. Retrieved from http://www.teachersfirst.com/ lessons/writers/index.html

How to Contact JVIB

SUBMIT

Lizbeth Barelay, M.Ed., coordinator. Assessment Program, California School for the Blind, 500 Walnut Avenue, Fremont, CA 94536; e-mail: <lbarclay@csb-cde.ca.gov>. Stephanie A. Herlich, M.Ed., teacher of visually impaired students, orientation and mobility specialist, and private consultant, Northern California East Bay, 3839 Stratford Court, Pleasanton, CA 94588; e-mail; <sleigh01@gmail.com>. Sharon Zeil Saeks, Ph.D., director of curriculum, assessment, and staff development, California School for the Blind; e-mail; <szsacks@aol.com>.

To submit an article, Research Report, or Practice Report for peer review, e-mail it to Dr. Duane R. Geruschat, editor in chief, JVIB: <jvib@ jhmi.edu>; or mail it to Lions Vision Center, 550 North Broadway, 6th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21205. Inquiries should be sent to: <jvibeditor@afb.net>.
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