Academic Success Between Disabling Hearing Loss and Hearing Students in Upper-Secondary: An Inclusive Classroom

Abstract

Academic performance between disabling hearing loss (DHL) and hearing students is unclear when considering students in the same classroom. The main objective of this study is to identify significant differences in grade by semester between DHL students who study in the same classroom supported by sign language interprets. Second, this study looks to identify what school subjects show significant differences between DHL and hearing students. N= 35 upper-secondary students from a Mexican school with an inclusive educational methodology (deaf and hearings share the same classroom supported by an interpreter) participated in the study (M = 17; SD = 2.2), n = 21 disabling hearing loss students (52% males) and n = 14 hearing students were followed during three years (six semesters). The first step was to obtain the previous grade earned in their low-secondary studies. Second, we got the overall rate by semester identifying grades by subject and comparing results between groups. Results indicated significant differences in academic performance, showing higher mastery for DHL students in the fourth and fifth semesters, particularly in computer-logical subjects and social subjects. In conclusion, this research provides evidence that supports the success of an inclusive methodology where DHL and hearing students share the same instructional design supported by a sign language interpreter. Additionally, DHL students performed better in the computer-logical subjects, an important skill daily but even more in the current COVID -19 crisis, as well as a social subject, an important factor suggested by prior evidence.