standard in Deaf edu varies

[Miss-Delectable]

A pioneering report published today reveals there is “significant variation” in the level of specialist support provided for deaf children in schools across the country.

Released today by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), “At the Heart of Inclusion: the Role of Specialist Support for Deaf Pupils” claims the Government’s Special Educational Needs strategy (SEN) has proved successful in some areas.

However, it adds many deaf children relying on mainstream schools for their education have received “inadequate teaching support” with 44% of resource centres failing to employ fully-qualified staff.

RNID’s head of education, Suzanne Mackenzie, said: “Our research confirms the successful aspects of the work of the SEN support service.

“But for deaf children, the limited provision of specialist support and teachers of the deaf in mainstream schools, could be damaging their education.

“With such inequality of provision and adherence to standards, the educational chances of some deaf children are diminished, which can seriously affect their life chances. 

“The Government needs to extend its recruitment initiatives and to commit to funding further training of specialist staff.” 

The report calls on the Government to provide training bursaries for teachers of the deaf, introduce quality standards for hearing impairment support and improve Ofsted inspection by introducing compulsory deaf awareness training for all those inspecting schools and colleges with deaf children.

There are 2,400 teachers working with deaf children throughout the country but in some areas each tutor may have as many as 130 pupils to support, the report reveals.

The “postcode lottery” system was also in evidence throughout the country, particularly in London. In the capital, ratios of teachers of the deaf to the school population ranged from one teacher to every 9,500 deaf pupils to one teacher for every 38,000 pupils.

Mark Geraghty, head of communication, language, autism and sensory services at Oxfordshire County Council, said: “This report from RNID evidences the successful and essential role of qualified teachers of the deaf in promoting this partnership with schools and families. 

“As Local Education Authorities, schools and families continue to demand the advice and intervention proffered by teachers of the deaf, we need the Department for Education and Skills to recognise and support the ongoing involvement of these specially trained and highly motivated teachers.”

RNID is the largest charity representing the nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK.

For more information on the charity, visit [url]www.rnid.org.uk[/url] or contact the RNID information line on 0808 808 0123 (freephone) or 0808 808 9000 (textphone) or email [email]information@rnid.org.uk[/email].

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3981800

Doesn't surprise me that there's problem in the standard of deaf education.

 

[deafdyke]

Yeah....what a surprise. I think that the majority of dhh kids NEED to start out in very specialized classes with TODs that are well trained AND programs which are WELL FUNDED, and then they can move onto mainstream ed. I think too that mainstream teachers need to learn more about special ed for kids with classic disabilties (as opposed to learning disabilties or slacker dumbass kids) It just seems like the only kids who are suceeding in mainstream placement are the offspring of the high powered yuppies!

 

[Deaf258]

Even though I got good education, I didn't know my rights as a HoH/Deaf student in high school. If I knew, I would have done a better job as a student.