What is being done to teach the deaf reading, is not working! It is time to be creative and innovative with systems being used to teach deaf/hard of hearing students. Technology along with the "Failure Free Reading Program", is supported through research and has documented success around the world.
The major student need addressed by this project is improving the reading ability of Deaf/Hard of Hearing students.
For severe to profoundly deaf students who use sign language, a major obstacle to reading English is the inability to use sound-based reading skills (phonics and phonemic awareness) to decode words. A lack of signed and printed vocabulary due to limited interactions with fluent signers, results in the lag in the reading ability of these deaf students. Our district has ten students who will use a curriculum purchased through a local grant that is not phonetically based. The curriculum requires the use of technology that we are struggling to fund. I have worked with Deaf/H.H. students for 16 years and I feel I have failed as a teacher by allowing the students to continue to struggle and graduate illiterate. As an advocate, I want to ensure the Deaf/H.H. students get the technology they need for this new curriculum and make a difference in their future through reading.
My Project
Deaf/Hard of Hearing students need direct instruction to gain knowledge of new vocabulary through contextual cues when learning how to read and develop communication skills. The Failure Free Reading Program helps the Deaf read with full comprehension and signing prosody. The program has customized solutions for the deaf and capitalizes on their strengths; their sight. This non-phonic, language based solution is the first program to control for: sentence structure, story content, and repetition, as well as: uncommon names, dates, places, pronouns, idioms, and figurative language. It teaches critical vocabulary that is highly structured, age-appropriate, has real world themes, instills confidence, turns every reading lesson into a vocabulary lesson, and expands background knowledge. This will aid in reducing the achievement gap between hearing students and students with a hearing loss.
The average reading level of deaf high school graduates in the United States is roughly at the fourth grade level and 75% of 18 year old deaf persons are functionally illiterate.
I want to make a change in the lives of the students I work with. I want them to graduate literate individuals capable of going to college and being productive members of society. The technology will allow us to teach the Deaf with curriculum that is necessary to make a change. Please help me make a change!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Peters and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
