This resource guide provides a basic orientation to outcomes assessment for optometric educators and provides resource tools that may be useful in an assessment program. (EV)

Outlines eight steps that will help optometry schools transition a faculty from "denial" of the need for assessment to "institutionalization": establish a collaborative environment, establish an infrastructure that makes assessment an integral activity, recruit a leader for full implementation of outcomes assessment, conduct a needs assessment,…

This fact sheet defines vision, outlines the visual skills needed for school achievement (ocular motility, binocularity, eye-hand coordination skills, and visual form perception), and describes how visual problems are evaluated and treated. The fact sheet also lists clues to look for when a visual problem is suspected, including the appearance of…

A curriculum model for various schools and colleges to use in assessing the scope of their individual pharmacology programs is presented. The Council on Academic Affairs of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry prepared this model because of modifications in state laws to allow the use of pharmaceutical agents in the practice of…

A practical clinical examination model for use by state board examiners in optometry is described including purpose, format, examination design, procedures, evaluation examples and administration. (JMF)

Elements and considerations in the provision of effective remediation for optometry students not achieving in clinical competence are discussed. Remediation of technical, cognitive, and noncognitive skills are included. A course in professional communication offered by the Pennsylvania College of Optometry is described. (MSE)

The benefits and concerns of optometry school affiliation with a medical school are discussed, and essential elements of an affiliation agreement are outlined. (MSE)

Guidelines for proposed residencies in optometry are presented for pediatric, rehabilitative, and hospital optometry. Their significance in terms of costs, patient population, faculty expertise, and critical mass are discussed. (JMF)

The need for programs to update faculty training in ocular disease treatment is discussed, with emphasis placed on clinical experience and continuing education. (MSE)

The role of optometry in the study of learning difficulties and the problems of interpreting research results in the fields of optometry and ophthalmology are discussed. Limitations of school visual screening are described, and it is suggested that many children with learning difficulties should be referred for a full clinical visual examination.…

Aside from essential managerial information realized from faculty load studies, there exist two underlying fundamental principles: that equity is important (among individual faculty members, departments, and institutions); and there is a relationship between workload and the quality of education. (MLW)

Two aspects of optometric preceptorships (off-campus field experience supervision programs) are discussed: the process of defining goals (long-term, specific learning, and general attitudinal and value); and the process of developing the program (initiation, site selection, preceptor selection and recruitment, participant selection, program…

A discussion of innovation in optometry instruction emphasizes the need for careful consideration of new methods and technologies and for a strategy for measuring the innovation's effect. The process of curriculum reform, role of pedagogy and technology in that process, and use of outcomes assessment to monitor change are examined. (MSE)

Explanations are provided about Maine's special education, vocational education, vocational rehabilitation, and eye care programs and services, to assist teachers and counselors to understand better the mission, eligibility requirements, and service resources each brings to the planning process for students with handicaps. The guidelines were…

A technique used to teach removal of foreign bodies from eyes uses freshly slaughtered calves' eyes in which metal particles are embedded at different depths. The approach develops both mechanical skills and problem-oriented evaluation and management of patients. Preparation and presentation of workshops using the technique are also discussed.…