Description
DHH students perform better academically in mainstream classes, but underperform compared to their hearing peers. Teachers also report feeling unequipped and uneducated about how to integrate their Deaf students into the classroom. Thus, effectively including DHH students in mainstream classrooms is a challenge. The objective of the current program was to develop, implement, and assess a program for teachers and staff working with DHH students in mainstream classrooms. The goals of the Toolkit for Teachers of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students program were; a) to equip teachers with the skills to work confidently with DHH students, b) to promote a positive and inclusive learning environment, and c) to foster a culture of collaboration between teachers and interpreters. The program consisted of a workshop and series of follow-up meetings with individual teachers and interpreters. Participants consisted of six ASL interpreters and 22 teachers and staff at a high school in Escondido, California. A process evaluation was conducted to assess feasibility, fidelity, participation, satisfaction, and impact. Results indicated that the project was successful in establishing feasibility of such programs in a high school setting. The program was also implemented with high fidelity, good participation, and excellent participant satisfaction. The main goals for the program were met. Specifically, survey responses indicated that teachers and interpreters felt more confident after the workshop. Qualitative results suggest teachers felt inspired to action regarding better engagement of their students. A clear culture of collaboration was noted between DHH interpreters and teachers through their qualitative writings indicating the teachers and interpreters felt more confident working with each other. Results also indicated a significant improvement in confidence engaging DHH students from before to after the program. The findings have implications for training teachers to better serve DHH in mainstream classrooms. Specifically, the success of this program suggests that such programs are feasible in high school settings, and that it would be helpful if such workshops or training programs were incorporated into regular yearly trainings.
