Dr. Sandra Lewis is a Professor and Coordinator of the Visual Disabilities program in the School of Teacher Education. In these positions, her responsibilities include coordinating the B.S. and M.S. Visual Disabilities Education and Visual Disabilities Study Programs, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, managing grants, and conducting research. Dr. Lewis’ research interests focus on the current status and efficacy of services to students who are blind or who have low vision. Recent refereed journal articles include The Development Of Accepted Performance Items To Demonstrate Competency In Literary Braille; General Education Teachers’ Ratings Of The Engagement Level Of Students Who Read Braille: Comparison With Peers; Students With Low Vision Describe Their Visual Impairments And Visual Functioning; and A Comparison Of Competencies, Roles, Supervision, And Training Needs Of Paraeducators Working With Students With Visual Impairments In Local And Residential Schools. Dr. Lewis is the author of chapters in professional books on topics as varied as educational programming, assessment, provision of low vision services, and teaching career education to students with visual impairments in elementary school. She has directed several federal and state funded contracts and grants related to personnel preparation and improving services to all individuals who are visually impaired. Dr. Lewis was honored with a Teaching Incentive Award in 1999 and an Advising Award in 1996. Dr. Lewis currently serves as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness and has served on two other editorial boards of journals focused on research and professional practice related to individuals with visual impairments. She is completing a two-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of AER and serves as the Treasurer of the Florida Chapter of AER. In 2010, Dr. Lewis was the recipient of the Mary K. Bauman Award by the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). Additionally, she was honored with the Faculty Seminole Award in 2005 and the Outstanding Educator of the Blind award from the Florida Chapter of AER in 2003. She is a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Dr. Lewis earned her Ed.D. in Special Education from the Joint Doctoral Program offered by the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University in 1993.

Visual Disabilities Program