Who Is Where? Characteristics of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in Regular and Special Schools

D M Shaver,M Marschark,C Marder,L Newman

doi:10.1093/deafed/ent056

Abstract

To address the needs and abilities of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in different educational settings, it is important to understand who is in which setting. A secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 database was conducted to examine differences in the characteristics of students who attended special schools, such as schools for the deaf, and those who attended regular schools serving a wide variety of students, such as neighborhood, alternative, and charter schools. The study included a nationally (U.S.) representative sample of about 870 DHH secondary school students. Findings from parent interviews and surveys revealed that students who attended only special secondary schools had greater levels of hearing loss, were more likely to use sign language, had more trouble speaking and conversing with others, and were more likely to have low functional mental scores than students who had attended only regular secondary schools. There were no differences in the presence of additional disabilities or cochlear implants between students in the different settings. In many ways, student characteristics did not vary by school type, suggesting that both types of secondary schools serve students with a wide range of needs and abilities.

Highlights

To address the needs and abilities of deaf and hard-ofhearing (DHH) students in different educational settings, it is important to understand who is in which setting
The findings presented here are based on secondary analyses of data from the nationally representative, large-scale National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) conducted in the United States from 2000 to 2009
Various student characteristics were compared across the three types of secondary school enrollment patterns—regular secondary schools only, special secondary schools only, and a mix of both types of schools

Summary

Introduction

(2009) suggested that because of the greater likelihood of their using spoken language, DHH students with mild to moderate hearing losses would have less need of academically related interventions and be more likely to be placed in regular school classrooms These only are assumptions or conclusions based on limited samples, they often drive educational practice as well as perceptions and school placement of DHH students. Reviews by Easterbrooks and Stephenson (2006), Spencer and Marschark (2010), and Marschark, Tang, and Knoors (in press) have clearly indicated that we know far less about educating DHH students than commonly is believed Both argued for a better understanding of the effectiveness of various practices in regular and separate settings and how they are affected by student characteristics and the large individual differences among DHH students

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