DB Summit Summary 9/1/2016

1. Please rate each item below

Strongly Agree / Agree / Neutral/
Mixed / Disagree / Strongly Disagree / NA
The intent and outcomes for the Deaf-Blind Summit were clear / 58.3 %
21 / 30.6 %
11 / 11.1 %
4 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0
I have a better sense of the technology and resources available to the network. / 44.4 %
16 / 50.0 %
18 / 5.6 %
2 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0
I shared specific ideas for making the technology and resources more useful and usable for me. / 38.9 %
14 / 33.3 %
12 / 19.4 %
7 / 0.0 %
0 / 2.8 %
1 / 5.6 %
2
I have a better sense of how I can use the resources available through the national initiatives to support my state TA. / 50.0 %
18 / 27.8 %
10 / 19.4 %
7 / 0.0 %
0 / 2.8 %
1 / 0.0 %
0
I see that my project has skills and resources that can contribute to national initiative work. / 61.1 %
22 / 30.6 %
11 / 5.6 %
2 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0 / 2.8 %
1
I came away from Summit with a plan of action around my state TA. / 36.1 %
13 / 30.6 %
11 / 19.4 %
7 / 2.8 %
1 / 2.8 %
1 / 8.3 %
3
I came away from Summit with a plan of action around collaborating with other states and/or NCDB. / 41.7 %
15 / 41.7 %
15 / 8.3 %
3 / 5.6 %
2 / 2.8 %
1 / 0.0 %
0
I came away from Summit with a plan of action around collaborative work within an initiative. / 41.7 %
15 / 41.7 %
15 / 8.3 %
3 / 5.6 %
2 / 2.8 %
1 / 0.0 %
0
Overall I found the content and discussions to have relevance to my project. / 58.3 %
21 / 33.3 %
12 / 2.8 %
1 / 5.6 %
2 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0
Overall I came away from Summit with useful information, ideas or plans for the future. / 60.0 %
21 / 31.4 %
11 / 2.9 %
1 / 5.7 %
2 / 0.0 %
0 / 0.0 %
0
Overall I found this year’s Deaf-Blind Summit to be high quality / 61.1 %
22 / 30.6 %
11 / 2.8 %
1 / 2.8 %
1 / 2.8 %
1 / 0.0 %
0

2. Please comment on any aspect of the Deaf-Blind Summit or ideas for the future.

  • I liked to hear about all the national initiatives
  • I strongly suggest two days for the Summit instead of one.
  • Would be nice to have a few minutes break in between
  • I think it would be helpful to integrate latest research or relevant topic within the initiative areas.
  • This was the best Summit I have attended. Enjoyed the different work groups, learned something from every discussion. There was also time to collaborate. Liked that the meeting covered all of the initiatives. It seemed like the last meeting was very focused on OHOA, which is awesome, but it didn't leave a lot of time for other initiatives and discussion. Great transparency, I appreciated knowing what was happening nationally and thinking of how I could fit our state into the projects more. Hoping to do that after this very inspiring meeting.
  • This summit was particularly productive as the agenda was designed in a way that was directly applicable to our work and the collective work we do with the national project. Thanks and great job!
  • Please bring back topical workshops. All we've heard about for the past few years are the NCDB initiatives. What would be useful is a nice mix of initiative updates and topics of real substance from national presenters.
  • Continue to have regional or small states/large state type of working opportunities. It was very helpful in making connections and finding out what other states are doing.
  • Ideas for the future: Professional Development in new areas from professionals outside our field, some ideas are: -Zika information -Social Media strategies and how to use more effectively -Apps & Strategies that are trending to use for access to general curriculum -Funding sources that States are leveraging we may not be aware of -Impact of Policy changes on personnel and teaching practices
  • This was a terrific, productive and valuable Summit! Any statements marked as "Agree" rather than "Strongly Agree" were simply because I wish we had more time for concrete action planning, particularly around next steps for national, region, and cross-state collaboration -- there is never enough time.
  • As a State Project Coordinator, I find the DB Summit to be a valuable meeting each year in order for face to face time with other State projects and the National Center. The information and collaborative networks gained through this meeting could not be obtained without this format. It is always the highlight of my year and where "work" is done.
  • I like the idea of dividing up in various ways for the discussion. It forced us to interact with different people, while still having us grouped with relevant people. If the expectation from OSEP is increased collaboration, then we need more of these discussions.
  • I loved the way you had us move into different groups during the day (DOE group had more commonalities for us). Thanks for having a "no agenda" social. We really got some connections there and shared some ideas. Well done! Thanks much! Ruth Ann King WV
  • I loved this format. I appreciated the opportunity to be able to go to all of the sessions, and not having to pick and choose.
  • I really took away a lot of information during the EI&R Webinar Series run by Megan Cote this year. I really enjoyed listening to other states share information on their initiatives. I would really like it if NCDB could do a webinar series on Transition so states can share their ideas too. I am fairly new to the DB project and I would really love to get a sense of what other states are doing in the world of transition.
  • I was able to participate remotely through the closed captioning live feed which was great! I felt that I participated all but about 1/2 hour when the WIFI dropped my connection! Thanks to Robbin Bull for making that possible! I greatly appreciated that! That should be an option for those who are unable to attend the Summit! Hearing about all the initiatives was very helpful! Great presentations by all staff! Sherri Nelson
  • I really appreciated the groupings and that the groupings changed throughout the day. Still could use less time on presentations and more on the small group discussions. I made good connections with some new project staff that I had not collaborated with previously. In one of the groups we came up with a good idea that could have used a little more time to brainstorm. An idea for next time would be that after a few small group discussion, the final group time be structured to revisit and explore more deeply any ideas that a group came up with. If during the de-brief after each small group, a topic or idea that folks want to explore more later is shared with the group so that others will have the opportunity to join a deep discussion.
  • As always, more time to discuss these items with other states would be good, but I know that's hard to do. In thinking about this and how our group addressed the pre-determined questions, we usually didn't get past the first or second question before we were out of time. Also, I was very pleased to see that Larry Wexler had a specific time slot rather than just wondering in as he has in past years!
  • I requested a bit of time to finalize our state plan of action. Being in a larger state, with more than one person as staff, it is nice to let ALL state staff know what I learned about national resources and possible collaborations and get all staff opinions BEFORE finalizing the state plan (within a reasonable amount of time after DB Summit!) The state action plan will be completed and submitted by the end of the month, and be better for the time allowed : )
  • I really liked so many aspects of the Summit - Especially appreciated that the interactive activities at the tables were a good way to have discussions around the initiative areas. It gave me a chance to get to talk to others, and the variety of ways we were divided helped to spread those conversations across projects/people I wasn't as familiar with before. That was excellent! It is a good use of our face-to-face time to have dynamic conversations around joint endeavors. I didn't save the agenda, but remember thinking that the 'speaking TO us' sections on some topics could have been shorter, given the limited time available to cover so many topics. Of course, there's never enough time. I know that NCDB is keenly aware of the fact that we all wrote separate grants that overlap in confusing ways, and appreciate that some of NCDB's work is geared at aligning us better. Even though Linda, in her introductory comments at the start of this Summit, directly addressed those issues I feel there is still an undercurrent of concern about this tension between priorities. It is getting clearer on what kinds of interactions from states will help propel the NCDB initiatives. Perhaps less clear is how autonomous state projects can be to address local needs. Thank you for this opportunity to come together. I made some new connections that will directly impact this upcoming year's activities. The knowledge and passion of this field is legendary and continues to feed our work!
  • I appreciated the time spent in smaller discussion groups. Found them to be informative and productive. Was better able to share my information and discuss how it could be incorporated into each projects' plans.