[nagdu] schools

[mhingson]

All,

The most definitive standards come from the International Federation of
Guide Dog Schools.  All certified schools are subjected to rigorous
certification examinations on a regular basis.  Each school is visited and a
determination is made whether or not the school continues to adhere to the
standards of the federation.

The Michael Hingson Group
     “Speaking with Vision”
                 Michael Hingson, President
                         (415) 827-4084
                   info at michaelhingson.com
                   www.michaelhingson.com


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-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:33 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] schools

Hi Bob.
I think the Council of Guide Dog Schools has some kind of standards its
members are supposed to adhere to, but, within that, I think there is a
wide variance.  Like, Princeton and Montana State are both accredited
universities, but they're very different.  But people can attend one or
the other, and be very happy.  Or attend the one that's supposed to be
better, and be very unhappy, I suppose.

The Eames's book A Guide to Guide Dog Schools, in the edition I read 20
years ago, tried to give statistics about dogs returned and such, but I
don't know how successful their attempt as objective assessment was.  I do
remember that it made schools I think are bad look good, and schools I
think are good look bad.

It would be nice to have some kind of objective assessment of schools'
quality, but, as with colleges, maybe it's a hard thing to do.  I guess
the best way to assess a school is still to talk to graduates, decide for
yourself if their dogs do what you think a guide dog should, and talk to
the school staff, and decide if you feel they are treating you as you wish
to be treated.  All highly subjective.
But it would be nice if one could get some idea of how successful School X
is.  Like, what percentage of their dogs are returned, or retire young,
due to work or health reasons?  That might be a fairly useful statistic,
if one could get it.

Tracy

> Good Morning:
>
> I believe that there are approximately 10 certified schools in the United
> States.  Is anyone aware of any qualitative assessment of these various
> schools?
>
> Thank you in advance for your input.
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