Longitudinal Models of Reading and Mathematics Achievement in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students.

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students often experience systemic barriers to academic success, especially low expectations of what they know and can do. Longitudinal data analysis is critical to understanding how academic achievement for DHH students progresses over time and where they may need additional support on their academic journey to achieve at the level of their hearing peers. This study provides an analysis of NWEA MAP® Growth™ data from grades 2 to 8 across seven reading and mathematics domains over a period of 5 years. Results indicate that both DHH and hearing students continue to build skills through this period, and that DHH students, contrary to many previously held assumptions, do not necessarily plateau in the elementary grades.

The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report American Sign Language Translation.

Research literature and community narratives both emphasize the importance of self-determination in the lives of deaf youth. This paper describes the development, initial validation, and potential applications of a translated measure of self-determination for deaf youth, the SDI:SR ASL Translation (SDI:SR ASL). A sample of 3,309 young people who completed the SDI:SR, of whom 392 were deaf, was used in this validation study. Results provide preliminary support for the use of SDI:SR ASL with deaf youth. Findings also indicate that deaf youth who take the SDI:SR ASL score more similarly to youth without disabilities taking the SDI:SR than youth with disabilities. The SDI:SR ASL can be an important tool for researchers and practitioners to better understand self-determination among deaf youth and facilitate continued development of self-determination skills.

Life After College: Employment, Social, and Community Outcomes for Young Deaf Adults.

While most research on transition outcomes focuses on education and employment, the transition to adulthood also includes social outcomes, such as group involvement and community service. The present study examined a broader set of outcomes for young deaf adults after postsecondary education. A secondary analysis of a large-scale data set, the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2), was conducted to compare the employment, income assistance, and social/community outcomes of three postsecondary education cohorts: graduates, noncompleters, and nonattendees. The findings indicate that young deaf adults with more postsecondary education have more positive outcomes, e.g., higher employment rates, higher wages, and greater civic and social participation. These findings further demonstrate the importance of postsecondary education for young deaf adults and can be used to inform transition planning for deaf students, supporting the need to consider exploration of various career pathways available through college or postsecondary career/technical education.

In the Rearview Mirror: Social Skill Development in Deaf Youth, 1990-2015.

Social skills are a vehicle by which individuals negotiate important relationships. The present article presents historical data on how social skills in deaf students were conceptualized and studied empirically during the period 1990-2015. Using a structured literature review approach, the researchers coded 266 articles for theoretical frameworks used and constructs studied. The vast majority of articles did not explicitly align with a specific theoretical framework. Of the 37 that did, most focused on socioemotional and cognitive frameworks, while a minority drew from frameworks focusing on attitudes, developmental theories, or ecological systems theory. In addition, 315 social-skill constructs were coded across the data set; the majority focused on socioemotional functioning. Trends in findings across the past quarter century and implications for research and practice are examined.

Development of American Sign Language Guidelines for K-12 Academic Assessments.

The U.S. federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was enacted with goals of closing achievement gaps and providing all students with access to equitable and high-quality instruction. One requirement of ESSA is annual statewide testing of students in grades 3-8 and once in high school. Some students, including many deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students, are eligible to use test supports, in the form of accommodations and accessibility tools, during state testing. Although technology allows accommodations and accessibility tools to be embedded within a digital assessment system, the success of this approach depends on the ability of test developers to appropriately represent content in accommodated forms. The Guidelines for Accessible Assessment Project (GAAP) sought to develop evidence- and consensus-based guidelines for representing test content in American Sign Language. In this article, we present an overview of GAAP, review of the literature, rationale, qualitative and quantitative research findings, and lessons learned.

Role Models as Facilitators of Social Capital for Deaf Individuals: A Research Synthesis.

in a variety of contexts, deaf individuals often must navigate multiple societal, psychological, and physical barriers. It is frequently proposed that role models meet an important need for successful navigation in such contexts. The present article, a research synthesis, explores available literature on role models for deaf individuals, drawing from social capital theory to conceptualize how individuals in social networks can facilitate the development of resources necessary for navigating various settings. Four key themes were identified, two being that role models (a) address a critical need and (b) contribute to important developmental processes. In addition, (c) key elements appear to be necessary for effective role modeling, and (d) multidimensional cultural affiliations are important considerations within the role model process. Though more research is needed, the findings suggest that role models play an important role in how deaf individuals build social capital.

Accommodations Use Patterns in High School and Postsecondary Settings for Students Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

Using data from the second National Longitudinal Transition Study (Newman et al., 2011), the authors investigated longitudinal patterns of educational accommodations use in secondary and, later, postsecondary settings by students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH). The study focused on language and communication (LC) accommodations used primarily by SDHH, plus non-LC accommodations typically used by a broad range of students. Both LC accommodations for standardized testing and instruction showed decreased use in postsecondary settings compared with high school. After student demographic characteristics were controlled for, no relationships were found between types of accommodations students used in high school and those they later used in postsecondary settings. Student accommodations use in postsecondary settings was not significantly predictive of retention or degree completion. However, several student- and parent-level demographic characteristics were predictive of accommodations use in postsecondary settings. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Alignment of single-case design (SCD) research with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing with the what Works Clearinghouse standards for SCD research.

The authors assessed the quality of single-case design (SCD) studies that assess the impact of interventions on outcomes for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH). More specifically, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards for SCD research were used to assess design quality and the strength of evidence of peer-reviewed studies available in the peer-reviewed, published literature. The analysis yielded four studies that met the WWC standards for design quality, of which two demonstrated moderate to strong evidence for efficacy of the studied intervention. Results of this review are discussed in light of the benefits and the challenges to applying the WWC design standards to research with DHH individuals and other diverse, low-incidence populations.

Parents' perspectives on transition and postsecondary outcomes for their children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.

Parent involvement and parent expectations are important factors in successful academic and career outcomes for students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Parental roles are particularly important during the transition planning process for students with disabilities. Results are presented from an exploratory study of 56 parents that measured their involvement, perceptions, and expectations during the transition process. Parents positively rated their experiences with the individualized education program (IEP) process and held high expectations for both their child's educational attainment and employment. However, differences in expectations and perceptions emerged among parents whose children had co-occurring disabilities. Future directions for research and practice are discussed, including the implications of the demographics of the study sample and the relationship between parental demographics and parents' expectations for their children.

The mediating role of depressive symptoms in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and smoking.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including various types of abuse and other forms of household dysfunction (i.e. witnessing domestic violence, parental substance abuse, etc.), have been consistently linked to increased rates of health risk behaviors and negative health outcomes in adulthood. Using data from the 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) annual, nationwide Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) telephone survey, this study tested whether self-reported symptoms of depression mediate the significant relationship between the number of ACEs an individual reports (expressed as an "ACE score") and whether they are a current or past smoker. METHODS: A path model was produced using multiple regression, and indirect effects were tested using bootstrapping of 2000 samples. RESULTS: Results of analyses indicated that, among White, Asian, and Hispanic participants, self-reported depressive symptoms are indeed a significant, but only partial, mediator between participants' ACE score and their smoking status. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that for smokers of White, Hispanic, and Asian ethnicity, screening for a history of ACEs and treatment for depressive symptoms may be indicated. However, while depressive symptoms may explain some of the associations between ACEs and smoking, these results suggest that other, unexamined factors also contribute to this pathway.

Assessing English literacy as a predictor of postschool outcomes in the lives of deaf individuals.

Lower English literacy achievement of deaf students is often hypothesized to be an impediment for successful adult life experiences. Yet, literacy practices that individuals engage in throughout their daily lives are much more complex than what school-based measures of English can capture and particularly so for deaf individuals. A national large-scale data set with a sample of over 1,000 deaf youths was used to assess what, precisely, standardized measures of literacy may predict in terms of postschool outcomes in three domains: life, employment, and education. Regression analyses indicate that these measures predicted some postschool outcomes, but not all, and if significant, only a small amount of variation in the outcomes was explained. Findings suggest that English literacy, particularly the narrow conceptualization of English literacy skills that are measured through school-based assessments, may not play a significant role in the lives of deaf individuals, contrary to expectations.

Including deaf and hard-of-hearing students with co-occurring disabilities in the accommodations discussion.

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH) are a low-incidence group of students; however, SDHH also have a high incidence of additional disabilities (SDHH+). Many SDHH and SDHH+ require accommodations for equal access to classroom instruction and assessment, particularly in mainstreamed educational settings where spoken English is the primary language. Accommodations for SDHH, overall, have increased under federal legislation including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act. Unfortunately, specific practice recommendations for SDHH+ and their unique needs are often lacking in the research literature. This article presents findings regarding accommodations use by SDHH and SDHH+ from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2. Initial logistic regression analysis found no differences in accommodations use of SDHH and SDHH+. However, logistic regression analysis that compared specific additional disability groups with the larger overall SDHH group did find differences in accommodations use for two SDHH+ groups: students who had a learning disability and students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This article includes a discussion of the implications of these findings for both research and practice.

Accommodations quality for students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.

Students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing often receive accommodations that are intended to increase access to the educational environment. The authors provide the results of a large national study of accommodations use in secondary and postsecondary settings. The article focuses on three aspects of accommodations use: access, quality, and consistency. The participants were 1,350 professionals working with a diverse group of students who were d/Deaf or hard of hearing in a variety of roles, including educators, administrators, interpreters, vocational rehabilitation agency staff, and allied service providers. Data were collected from both a national survey and a series of focus groups conducted over a 1-year period. The authors discuss the results in light of the crucial nature of accommodations during the transition into a variety of educational, training, and employment options.

Effects of linguistic complexity and accommodations on estimates of ability for students with learning disabilities.

Many students with learning disabilities (SLD) participate in standardized assessments using test accommodations such as extended time, having the test items read aloud, or taking the test in a separate setting. Yet there are also aspects of the test items themselves, particularly the language demand, which may contribute to the effects of test accommodations. This study entailed an analysis of linguistic complexity (LC) and accommodation use for SLD in grade four on 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and mathematics items. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the effects of test item LC on reading and mathematics item difficulties for SLD; (b) the impact of accommodations (presentation, response, setting, or timing) on estimates of student ability, after controlling for LC effects; and (c) the impact of differential facet functioning (DFF), a person-by-item-descriptor interaction, on estimates of student ability, after controlling for LC and accommodations' effects. For both reading and mathematics, the higher an item's LC, the more difficult it was for SLD. After controlling for differences due to accommodations, LC was not a significant predictor of mathematics items' difficulties, but it remained a significant predictor for reading items. There was no effect of accommodations on mathematics item performance, but for reading items, students who received presentation and setting accommodations scored lower than those who did not. No significant LC-by-accommodation interactions were found for either subject area, indicating that the effect of LC did not depend on the type of accommodation received.

A national perspective on teachers' efficacy beliefs in deaf education.

Teachers' sense of efficacy, or the belief that teachers have of their capacity to make an impact on students' performance, is an unexplored construct in deaf education research. This study included data from 296 respondents to examine the relationship of teacher and school characteristics with teachers' sense of efficacy in 80 different deaf education settings in the US. Deaf education teachers reported high overall efficacy beliefs but significantly lower efficacy beliefs in the area of student engagement than in instructional strategies and classroom management. Teachers' years of experience showed a significant relationship with efficacy beliefs, yet it was the teachers' perceived collective efficacy of their educational setting that ultimately predicted teachers' sense of efficacy. These findings lend credence to the need for further examination of school processes that influence teacher beliefs and attitudes in deaf education settings.

The "wh" questions of visual phonics: what, who, where, when, and why.

Visual Phonics is a reading instructional tool that has been implemented in isolated classrooms for over 20 years. In the past 5 years, several experimental studies demonstrated its efficacy with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Through a national survey with 200 participants, this study specifically addresses who, where, how, and why a sample of teachers use Visual Phonics in their everyday reading instruction. Through checklists of teaching practice, rating scales, and open-ended questions, teachers self-reported their use of Visual Phonics, reflected upon its efficacy, and what they think about using it with students with a diverse set of instructional needs. The majority reported that Visual Phonics was easy to use, engaging to students, and easy to integrate into a structured reading curriculum. The majority of respondents agreed that it helps increase phonemic awareness and decoding skills, build vocabulary, as well as increase reading comprehension. The implications of these findings in bridging the research-to-practice gap are discussed.

The effects of American Sign Language as an assessment accommodation for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH) often need accommodations to participate in large-scale standardized assessments. One way to bridge the gap between the language of the test (English) and a student's linguistic background (often including American Sign Language [ASL]) is to present test items in ASL. The specific aim of this project was to measure the effects of an ASL accommodation on standardized test scores for SDHH in reading and mathematics. A total of 64 fifth- to eighth-grade (ages 10-15) SDHH from schools for the deaf in the United States participated in this study. There were no overall differences in the mean percent of items students scored correctly in the standard vs. ASL-accommodated conditions for reading or mathematics. We then conducted hierarchical linear regression analyses to analyze whether measures of exposure to ASL (home and classroom) and student proficiency in the subject area predicted student performance in ASL-accommodated assessments. The models explained up to half of the variance in the scores, with subject area proficiency (mathematics or reading) as the strongest predictor. ASL exposure was not significant with the exception of ASL classroom instruction as a predictor of mathematics scores.

Education of deaf and hard of hearing students and accountability reform: issues for the future.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has had a monumental impact over the past decade on how educational reform is viewed in the United States. As a result of how the law is structured, schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing have been the focus of attention for educational reform under NCLB. While there have been some shifts in policy, reauthorization of NCLB will need to respond to some of the larger calls for changes to the law. The author discusses some key issues related to assessment and accountability that are central to how the reauthorization of NCLB affects the education of deaf and hard of hearing students.

Science and evidence of success: two emerging issues in assessment accommodations for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In the United States, students who are deaf or hard of hearing (SDHH) are required to participate in high-stakes standardized assessments under No Child Left Behind reforms. In 2006-2007, states added science to reading and mathematics as a tested content area. Many SDHH participate in these assessments using testing accommodations, but teachers have few evidence-based resources to draw upon when making accommodations decisions. Two research questions guided this study: (a) What were patterns of SDHH 2006-2007 test accommodations use in state standardized assessments in mathematics, reading, and science? (b) What evidence did teachers use to determine the effectiveness of accommodations for SDHH? A total of 290 participants described their assessment practices with SDHH via an online and paper-and-pencil survey. Extended time, small group, and test directions interpreted were the most frequently used accommodations by SDHH, but there were some different patterns in science for accommodations that included changes to the test items. Teachers reported both student satisfaction and test score validity epistemologies of accommodations' effectiveness.