Teacher study to obtain Ph. D. to follow her dreams...and teach the visually impaired

For Julie Durando, the thing she loved -- daily, one-on-one interaction with blind and visually impaired students in Volusia County schools -- conflicted with two truths:

· There aren't enough teachers like her to go around,

· And in order to do something about it, her educational specialty needs more leadership.

Durando, 30, is now enrolled as a doctoral student at the University of Northern Colorado, with a goal of someday recruiting and preparing more teachers of blind and visually impaired children.

She is one of 14 teachers to earn a fellowship from a program at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Elkins Park, Pa. The fellowship is partly funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and provides her full tuition and a minimum $20,000 annual living stipend during four years of full-time study.

That allows her to live at the university, in Greeley, Colo., and occasionally travel back to Florida to see her husband at their Edgewater home. But no matter where she is these days, she's not far from a book or her laptop.

"I have piles and piles of research," she said.

She came to see a need for more education in the field through both her experience and at the urging of one of her professors from her undergraduate years.

Sandra Lewis, associate professor of education and coordinator of the visual impairment program at Florida State University, said the field desperately needs new leaders to replace a large number of baby-boom generation leaders who are approaching retirement.

In recent years an average of four students nationwide were annually earning doctoral degrees in the specialty.

Blind and visual impairment is considered to be a low-incidence condition. About 90 students are in the Volusia County schools program. Still, more children are surviving premature deliveries, creating a growing need for more teachers, said Kathleen Huebner, co-director of the National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment, the organization that awarded Durando's fellowship.
Today, schools nationwide need 5,000 more teachers in the specialty and another 10,000 orientation and mobility instructors, said Missy Garber, project coordinator for the center.

Volusia County schools have no vacancies for teachers in the visually impaired program, said Sharon Voorhees, exceptional student education administrator for Volusia County schools. But she acknowledged qualified candidates are few. When she was teaching in Volusia, Durando usually had between 10 and 15 students at five or six different schools. She taught several for eight years.

"I was able to teach the same kids year after year," she said. "I became quite attached to my students."

As a teacher, she could only help her students. With a doctoral degree, she can reach more.