Education Overview
Median reading comprehension scores (50% above, 50% below) from the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) for deaf and hard of hearing students has gone from just below third grade in 1974 (prior to P.L. 94-142) to fourth grade in 1999 (Marschark, Raising and Educating a Deaf Child Website, 2009). The most recent SAT scores from SAT-10 do not show significant gains (Qi, Raising and Educating a Deaf Child Website, 2010).
Therefore, even after more than 30 years of P.L. 94-142, we still have a long way to go for deaf and hard of hearing students to achieve educational equality with their hearing peers.
(*See bottom of this page for additional information about the SAT.)
In Minnesota, 42% of students who were identified as deaf or hard of hearing met or exceeded the standards (all grades/all subjects) for the 2009 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments or Minnesota Test of Alternate Standards (D/HH Outcomes Report 6.30.10)
Overview of Education Section
The education section of MCDHH’s website provides information about how MCDHH is working to address the gaps in deaf and hard of hearing education. MCDHH advocates for students who are deaf and hard of hearing through involvement with teacher licensure requirements, student eligibility requirements, early hearing detection and intervention, and other public policy initiatives with parents, teachers, and deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind advocacy organizations. MCDHH empowers individuals and encourages groups with diverse perspectives to collaborate and advocate for the best education system possible in Minnesota.
MCDHH promotes high-quality education for all infants, children, and youth who are deaf and hard of hearing regardless of their communication modality. MCDHH has worked with members of the Minnesota Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee to recommend that early intervention professionals providing services to children who are deaf/hard of hearing and their families should:
- Increase proficiency and sustain a life-long commitment to maintaining instructional language competence in auditory/oral, visual and multimodal communication.
Links to Learn about MCDHH’s Education Involvement
View the following pages to learn more about how MCDHH is working to improve education for deaf and hard of hearing students.
- Advocacy for deaf and hard of hearing education through:
Teacher licensure
Student eligibility requirements
Classroom acoustical requirements
Strategic planning process
Quality Assurance of Education Interpreters
- Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
- Pilot project to connect Deaf Mentors with families via technology
- Minnesota D/HH Education Data and News
- Deaf Education Summit and Retreat
MCDHH sends education updates to a listserv called FAEDHH (Focus on Advancement of Education for (students who are) Deaf and Hard of Hearing). To join the listserv contact Mary Hartnett.
Quick Links
This site provides comprehensive information about the D/HH teacher license in Minnesota, including historical timeline, current requirements, the current licensure review process, process to receive a license, university program overview, research links, and frequently asked questions.
Find additional links and resources related to deaf and hard of hearing education.
This delicious site was created as a collaborative effort to offer a variety of educational web resources for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education. You can search by tags (such as professionals, parents, teachers, modalities, curriculum, schoolplacements, etc.) to find resources.
This self-study course is designed to help people advocate for positive changes in public policies that impact people who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing.
The purpose of this website is to provide a single entry point to Minnesota laws, statutes, rules and regulations that affect the lives of deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing people. The site also provides advocacy resources.
Filing a complaint through Minnesota Department of Education
The special education complaint system is designed to ensure that all students with disabilities are provided a free appropriate public education. The following link will lead you to the Minnesota Department of Education website for additional information.
Special Ed Complaint Forms and Instructions
Questions, Concerns, Posting Requests?
The Education section will be continuously updated and revised. Please contact Mary Hartnett if you have questions, concerns, or posting requests.
“All deaf and hard of hearing children are entitled to, and must have a language-rich educational experience. They must have the opportunity to develop age-appropriate language skills and to be in a classroom and school where communication is fully available, where there is a critical mass of communication peers and staff can communicate effectively and directly with them [and] and educational system that formally recognizes that communication is at the heart of human and academic growth.” – The National Deaf Education Project 2000
*The SAT is one of the only sources of information we have for deaf and hard of hearing reading levels nationwide. The test is distributed to deaf and hard of hearing students, primarily within mainstream classrooms.
Traxler, C. (2000). The Stanford Achievement Test, 9th Edition: National norming and performance standards for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 5, 337-348.
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