Special Education Eligibility Criteria and Professional Certification Requirements in the United States Related to Students with Visual Impairments and Deafblindness

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) established federal definitions for 14 disability categories under which students may be found eligible for special education services in the United States. Although states must abide by this federal law that broadly defines each disability category, states may also develop their own unique definitions and eligibility criteria to identify students. In addition, states have flexibility in determining the requirements for professional licensure for the educators and professionals who work with students with disabilities. <br><br>For this project, we reviewed state regulatory and policy documents to explore the variability in eligibility requirements for students with sensory impairments (i.e., visual impairment, including blindness; hearing impairment; deafness; deafblindness) and licensure requirements for professionals who work with students with visual impairments, teachers of the visually impaired (TVIs) and orientation &amp; mobility (O&amp;M) specialists across the US. Specifically, these data represent a state-by-state (including Washington DC and US territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands)) snapshot of variability in eligibility and licensure requirements. <br><br>Data for this project were collected between January and October 2021. At the time data were collected, measures were taken to ensure reliability (i.e., high inter-rater agreement across states and variables). However, changes in state regulations or policy documents may impact the accuracy of the data at the time of download. Individuals using this data set to locate information for a specific state should consult the state’s most up-to-date documents. <br><br><br>