Nearly 25% of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students come from homes where a language other than English is used and are known as English-Language Learners (ELLs). Evidence-based practices used to teach students who are DHH ELLs are imperative. To build an evidence-base, successful strategies must be examined across multiple researchers, sites,…

Current initiatives in education, such as No Child Left Behind and the National Common Core Standards movement, call for the use of evidence-based practices, or those instructional practices that are supported by documentation of their effectiveness related to student learning outcomes, including students with special needs. While hearing loss is…

Parent and child joint book reading (JBR) characteristics and parent facilitative language techniques (FLTs) were investigated in two groups of parents and their young children; children with normal hearing (NH; "n" = 60) and children with hearing loss (HL; "n" = 45). Parent-child dyads were videotaped during JBR interactions,…

This article reflects on the author's experience supervising a public school program for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, specifically addressing national, regional, and local trends affecting it. These trends included teacher efficacy, changes in educational service delivery, advances in technology, the selection of the listening…

Research has demonstrated that academic success is significantly related to word knowledge. Basic concept words are important because of their use in classroom directions and assessment instructions. It is important that educators assess a child's understanding of basic concept vocabulary at school entry. For children who demonstrate basic…

The majority of students who are deaf or hard of hearing currently receive educational services in general education settings. Trends that have led to this shift in placement as well as potential benefits and barriers are presented. A unique partnership between the Washington State Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss (formerly the…

The National Reading Panel identified fluency as one of the five essential components of reading. Fluency serves as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Individuals who are able to read effortlessly and accurately have more capacity to attend to the meaning and, as a result, better understand what they read. The purpose of this…

This study examines the home literacy environment in a group of mothers and their early-school-age children with cochlear implants (N = 16). The goals of this investigation are to (a) describe the characteristics of the home literacy environment and (b) study the relationships between home literacy factors and children's reading skills. Mothers…

Reading to children improves vocabulary acquisition through incidental exposure, and it is a best practice for parents and teachers of children who can hear. Children who are deaf or hard of hearing are at risk for not learning vocabulary as such. This article describes a procedure for using books read on DVD in American Sign Language with…

This article presents an interview with Susan R. Easterbrooks, a professor of deaf education in the Educational Psychology and Special Education Department at Georgia State University in Atlanta, and Ellen L. Estes, the coordinator of the Katherine Hamm Center at the Atlanta Speech School, on their new book "Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing…

The purpose of the study was to explore the narrative writing of 18 children, ages 11 to 19, with severe and profound hearing impairment who had cochlear implants (CI), compared with the performance of hearing children. Nine of the 18 children had prelingual deafness and 9 children had postlingual deafness. The hearing impairment was progressive…

A mismatch of communication modalities can occur between students who communicate using sign language and coworkers at community-based vocational sites who do not use sign language. This study investigated the use of picture dictionaries to facilitate note writing as a form of expressive communication for students who were deaf and had mild to…

In this interview, Dave Krupke, retired speech-language pathologist in the Davenport, Iowa public schools, describes "See The Sound/Visual Phonics," whose shortened name is "Visual Phonics," and its use with struggling readers and students with communication disabilities. What distinguishes See The Sound/Visual Phonics from other "Visual Phonics"…

In 1989, the delegate assembly of the Council for Exceptional Children began the process of developing standards of knowledge and skills for all beginning teachers of special education, including teachers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Now in its third major revision, these standards provide guidance to states' departments of…

The Council for Exceptional Children and the Council on the Education of the Deaf have worked together for over a decade to maintain mutually agreed on standards for teachers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This article presents the updated and revalidated standards of knowledge and skills for teachers in their initial preparation…