SACRAMENTO (Press Release)– To improve literacy rates among children, the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, April 30, supported a measure by California Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg to improve vision-screening at elementary schools on a bipartisan vote of 6 – 0, with the roll still open for additional votes from three committee members. Senate Bill 1172 will ensure that near-vision screening in schools happens early enough to identify vision impairments that interfere with a child’s ability to read and learn. Currently, districts only provide screening for long-distance vision and color blindness in boys.
“Literacy is a crucial indicator of future academic success and a simple thing like identifying the need for a pair of glasses shouldn’t stand in the way,” Senator Steinberg (D – Sacramento) said. “My bill is a straightforward solution to a basic problem, which has many long-term ramifications for our kids’ futures. We can and we must take appropriate action so that California’s kids can see words on the page or a screen.”
A recent UCLA study showed that over 20 percent of students have a vision problem that can be identified by screening and up to 90 percent of those problems can be corrected with glasses.Research also indicated that students with vision problems tend to have lower academic performance. A 2011 study shows that students who are not reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade are four times less likely to graduate high school on time.[3]
Supporters of the measure include the American Civil Liberties Union of California. “Students who can’t see will struggle to learn how to read and write,” said David Sapp, Director of Education Advocacy for the ACLU of Southern California. “Literacy is the gateway to educational opportunity, so adding near vision screening to the existing screening requirements is a modest, common-sense step to give all students an equal chance to succeed.”
Currently, California school districts allow school nurses and approved teachers to provide screening for long-distance vision, and color blindness in boys at the time of enrollment and every third year after enrollment until 8th grade. SB 1172 will add screening for near-vision and require all vision assessments upon enrollment, and again in 2nd, 5th and 7th grades. In most cases, this will provide an additional assessment opportunity during K-8 on the three existing assessments under current practice.
SB 1172 now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Another screening that parents / Advocates must sometimes fight for is the need for VISION THERAPY (controversial more due to budgets than necessity). This has nothing to do with needing glasses, yet addresses Developmental needs. Kudos to Darrell Steinberg and his advocacy. I hope his bill understands this too:
Problems Vision Therapy Can Correct
Vision problems being treated with vision therapy include:
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Amblyopia. Also called “lazy eye,” amblyopia is a vision development problem where an eye fails to attain normal visual acuity, usually due to strabismus or other problems of eye teaming.
Strabismus. The success of vision therapy for strabismus depends on the direction, magnitude and frequency of the eye turn. VT has been proven effective for treating an intermittent form of strabismus called convergence insufficiency, which is an inability to keep the eyes properly aligned when reading despite good eye alignment when looking at distant objects.
Other binocular vision problems. Subtle eye alignment problems called phorias that may not produce a visible eye turn but still can cause eye strain and eye fatigue when reading also can be minimized or corrected with vision therapy.
Eye movement disorders. Studies have shown vision therapy can improve the accuracy of eye movements used during reading and other close-up work.
Accommodative (focusing) disorders. Other research shows near-far focusing skills can be improved with vision training.
Other problems. Other vision problems for which vision therapy may be effective include visual-perceptual disorders, vision problems associated with developmental disabilities and vision problems associated with acquired brain injury (such as from a stroke).