To answer the question of the thread: 2 years of deaf preschool, mainstreamed for elementary, middleschool and highschool. Currently attending hearing college as only HOH student. My support consist of tutors and note takers. All material must be on text for me.
And perhaps this a not a good place to put the question, or perhaps someone could tell me where the thread is that discusses this subject, but why is education not as good in Deaf Schools? I can understand why it would be so in the past, but why now? As I read through some of the threads, it has become apparent that many people still do not think that the education are not equally matched today. Correct me if I am wrong.
Do deaf students have to take standardized test?
Hi! I can only speak from my personal experiences, but I have compared our local public schools, our local private schools, and the deaf school that is in another state(we are trying to move there and send my daughter to school there). I grew up in private school--not an exclusive prep school, but a religious school. The summary of my experience: not many opportunities as far as choosing classes/electives/extra-curriculars etc.--I was always envious of my public school friends who took what I considered "cool classes" and were involved in "cool activities"--my parents were more concerned with keeping me in a sheltered environment that was inundated with religious teachings and would not let me go to public school. When I had kids, I had a bad taste in my mouth about private schools--my goal was to move to what I felt was a really good school district and send my kids to public school. My son is entering 10th grade and my daughter (deaf/hh) is entering the 8th grade--they have been in public school since kindergarten, and my opinion has changed over the years. But even if I did find a private school that seemed to meet their needs, I could not afford the tuition--we don't even have enough money for their college years, much less private school tuition for high school. So, they will have to continue to be in public school--however, some are better than others--that is one reason why we are trying very hard to move away from our current school district and into one that we feel is much better. The whole situation is extremely frustrating--parents have no choices--they are told where to send their kids to school and if they don't like it the only option is to move into a different school district. That is what we are trying to do, but it isn't always easy to sell a house/change jobs/and move into the chosen district. Basically, the lack of choices and the difficulty of making big changes kind of sucks!
Now, we have visited the deaf school that my daughter wants to attend(once we get moved!). I was VERY impressed with their curriculum, their teachers, the small class sizes, the technology and materials used in instruction, the extracurricular activities, etc. I just kept thinking--wow, there is no way that she would EVER get access to all of this in public schools OR in any private schools, either! My son is not deaf and cannot attend this school, but I actually felt bad that he did not or will not have access to a school of such quality. The deaf school that we are considering was MUCH better than any public school that we have seen or even any private school that we have seen. It all boils down to money! The most elite and expensive private schools can offer a lot to kids whose families can afford it, but many people cannot afford these kind of schools. The best public schools are usually the ones who spend the highest amount of money per student--that requires living in a school district with expensive housing and high tax dollars, and many people cannot afford to do that. And when it comes to deaf schools, I am assuming that state-wide or district-wide spending completely affects the quality of education there. I know that there are other factors, but I think that we can all agree that the "best" deaf schools are getting the most money and spend it wisely on the students. The "poor" schools (maybe the ones with low enrollment numbers therefore the ones getting less money from the state) are doing the best they can, but they may be suffering as much as the public schools around them. It doesn't seem right, does it, but that is how American public schools (and any deaf schools run by the government) work--the more money per student, the more they have available to the students who attend there. All I know is this: I was very impressed with the deaf school that my daughter wants to attend--it is a FAR better school than any of the public schools or private schools around us.
I know some people--maybe a LOT of people--like to say that the schools with the highest test scores are the best ones, but I think that is pretty much a load of crap. I have NEVER been impressed with a school's test scores--means nothing to me in the long run. I have always looked for things such as: money spent per student, class sizes and teacher/student ratio, variety of classes offered(electives in high school), variety of sports and extracurricular activities offered, etc. In other words, if a school has high test scores but does not offer electives that interest my teens or have sports/clubs/other activities that they want to participate in--who cares what their test scores are then? Or, if the classes are overcrowded, or if they are cutting things out of educational programs because of budget cuts, or simply cannot afford to purchase the materials needed for instruction--once again, these things mean SO much more than test scores. Maybe it all balances out--maybe the schools that have the most money and offer the most opportunities end up having high test scores. But I truly don't pay that much attention to the test scores--what I want to know is: what can the school offer my child?
About those test scores--especially the NCLB crap--ridiculous! Public schools are now getting overrun by them and cannot focus on the actual needs of the students. My daughter will have to deal with standardized tests, whether in the public schools or in the state-run deaf schools. As long as the U.S. government is funding the school, the school has to follow the government rules and regulations. If we can change the NCLB laws, it would make things MUCH better for both the public schools AND deaf schools--they are truly a waste of instructional time and they are definitely NOT doing what they are meant to do--schools are NOT getting better because of standardized testing, they are getting WORSE!!
People on this board have recommended several deaf schools that they feel are the "best" schools--I imagine that all of the "best" ones have more money to spend on students than all of the schools considered to be "the worst". From what I can see, it really is all about money. Yes, other factors can enter into the equation, but, overall: the more money a school has to spend on students, the better--the more they spend on classes, teachers, supplies and materials, extracurricular activities, etc., the better the school. We just want our kids to have access to the best education possible--many of us cannot afford tuition to send our kids to private schools, so we are left with government run schools to choose from. And when comparing government-run schools, whether regular schools or deaf schools, it does seem that money is the main factor in how "good" a school seems to be. BTW--I have heard people mention a private deaf school called St. Rita's, but are there others? I know about the oral deaf schools--NONE of them have high school! When it comes to choosing the best high school for your deaf child, there just aren't many options: your local public school, the local public school with deaf/hh programs, the state-run deaf school, or the rare private deaf school(how many are there?). If you don't like these options, you have to move to a place that has better options--or your child is just out of luck. Right now, we know where our daughter would get the best education, but moving her there is turning out to be a very difficult thing to do. We are trying--we'll keep you posted!
