FIELD                        EDUCATION

 

Change of responsibility for, revision and rollover, and reclassification of Vision Impairment in Special Education unit standards

 

Subfield

Domain

Id

Special Education

Vision Impairment in Special Education

8576, 8584

 

Responsibility for the unit standards referred to above, which were registered in April 1997, has been transferred from NZQA National Qualifications Services (NQS) to the Community Support Services Industry Training Organisation (CSSITO).

 

NQS has revised the unit standards in consultation with CSSITO and the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind (RNZFB).  The unit standards have also had their period of registration extended.  The reason for the rollover is the unit standards have not been used sufficiently to warrant a review at this stage.

 

The review of these unit standards is planned to take place during 2008.

 

Date new versions published                        April 2006

 

Planned review date                        December 2008

 

Reason for revision and change of responsibility

 

During discussions related to the review of unit standards in subfield Special Education, it was noted that these two unit standards from the domain Vision Impairment in Special Education had the most use.  Stakeholders involved with that review considered that these unit standards belonged with other unit standards that were being used in training programmes for specialist instructors who support people with vision impairment.

 

In December 2005, representatives from NZQA, the RNZFB, and the CSSITO met to discuss the possibility of a transfer of standard setting responsibility.  NQS had no objections to the transfer as these unit standards had been used exclusively for training purposes by the RNZFB.  The RNZFB trains people, some of whom are not teachers, to work as specialist instructors to support vision impaired children and would like to change the entry requirement of unit standard 8584 to open entry.

 

The change of responsibility has been actioned because the RNZFB, has reassessed their training programme and considers that the unit standards would fit with other unit standards dealing with visual impairment that are already under the responsibility of the CSSITO.

 

Main changes resulting from the revision

 

·    Amendments to improve format, consistency of language and concepts, punctuation, and to update references.

·    Open entry for unit standard 8584.

 

Impact on existing provider accreditations

 

Current Accreditation for

Accreditation extended to

Nature of accreditation

Classification or Id

Level

Nature of accreditation

Classification or Id

Level

Subfield

Special Education

7

Standards

8576, 8584

7

 

Impact on Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP)

 

AMAP 0024 has been updated to reflect the change of responsibility.

 

AMAP 0100 has been updated to exclude the standards as a result of the change of responsibility.

 

Impact on existing qualifications

 

None.

 

Summary of main changes to standards' Ids, classification, titles, levels, and credits

 

The following summary shows the changes made to the standards.  All changes are in bold.

 

Field               Education

Subfield            Special Education

Domain            Vision Impairment in Special Education

Field               Community and Social Services

Subfield            Human Services

Domain            Rehabilitation and Habilitation of the Visually Impaired

Id

Title

Level

Credit

8576

Develop and implement programmes in orientation and mobility for young people with vision impairment

7

15

8584

Develop education programmes for daily living skills with young people who have vision impairment

7

8