M.A. in Deaf Education

An in-depth study of children's literature primarily for early childhood and secondary education majors. Focuses on the evaluation, selection, and sharing of children's and young adult books in instructional settings. Participants will read, respond to, and evaluate picture books and chapter books of various genres. Emphasizes the identification and teaching of literary elements in context, strategies for sharing books with children, and the importance of using authentic children's and young's adult literature in schools.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the identification of exceptional children in terms of developmental needs, interpretation of assessment data, development and evaluation of appropriate intervention strategies for the regular classroom teacher, and legislation in special education. This course will prepare teacher candidates to work with children and youth with a broad range of disabilities and educational needs. Topics will include understanding disability; understanding principles of legislation and curriculum and instruction; establishing positive learning environments; and working collaboratively.

This course introduces the fundamentals of general, special, and bilingual education and how they are infused into deaf education. It will also acquaint candidates with current trends and issues, and research in the education of Deaf and hard of hearing learners of all ages, including historic and current objectives, techniques, and results. The cultural, historical, philosophical, psychological, linguistic and social aspects of the Deaf community will also be addressed from educational perspective. Candidates are challenged to rethink their conceptualization of ''Deaf education'' as well as ''general education'' based on their perceptions of their own cultural dimensions. The course typically is taken in the first semester of study.

This course is designed to provide the students with the knowledge of the specific linguistic structures and introduce them to basic similarities and differences in the linguistic structures and uses of American Sign Language (ASL) and English. Examining categories from a universal perspective, the linguistic contrastive analysis is accomplished by focusing on: phonological and morphological processes, syntactic properties, discourse types, word classes, and linguistic variation in Deaf and Hearing communities in the United States. Also, the students will examine the basic phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic features of ASL and English. Application of the instructional ASL/English linguistics and structures in the classroom and activities will be presented. Students will develop activity plans, and adapt and implement the methodologies and materials used in ASL/English learning to the needs of the individual Deaf/Hard of Hearing child.

The focus of this course is research as a strategy of inquiry for improving practice and advancing our professions. The general principles of qualitative, quantitative, and action research designs will be considered, along with related problems of measurement, statement and clarification of research problems, and basic statistical methods for describing data. The goal is to produce professionals who are consumers of research in their fields who can apply research for the improvement of their school or work settings.

Theories, research, methods, and perspectives pertaining to the development of auditory/oral skills in deaf and hard of hearing children and youth. Knowledge of the development, improvement, and /or maintenance of auditory/oral skills in an interdisciplinary bilingual educational environment.

This course addresses literacy instruction through a bilingual and ESL instructional methodology in general bilingual education and their application to a diverse group of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Students will apply the theories and instructional strategies they learn during their practicum experiences, and reflect on these applications through on-line, group activities, and assignments designed to promote the creation of optimal bilingual k-12 classrooms.

This course addresses several theories and theorists on language acquisition and cognitive development, with a focus on educational applications with deaf children. The instructor presents information, facilitates cooperative learning activities, and models educational strategies. Class participants fully participate in cooperative learning activities, complete required readings and journal response activities, and complete projects/assignments, individually or in teams.

This course provides synthesis of professional, legal, and ethical practices related to the provision of meaningful learning experiences for deaf and hard of hearing learners in array of educational programs. Current theories of assessment and learning across diverse educational settings are studied with a focus on deaf children and youth. Assessment and standards-based programming and evaluation are emphasized. Reflection and application of effective assessment practices are demonstrated through classroom and field-based experiences. IN meeting the standards of the following District of Columbia's state learning standards, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), this course is designed to prepare candidates to teach K-12 learners.

This course focuses on developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions in creating and maintaining meaningful collaboration among home, school, and the community for diverse learners (from birth to 21 years old) and their families. The course prepares students to achieve collaborative and respectful relationships with student's family and community as valuable contributors to the educational process. The course also includes developing knowledge in multicultural education and culturally pluralistic educational practices for all students. 25 hours of related field experience is required.

This course is designed to build on the knowledge, skills, and experiences of previous and concurrent coursework and lead to the terminal and capstone student teaching internship. Special emphasis is placed on the candidates' developing skills in reflective observation of best instructional practices, assessment strategies as they align with instruction, multiculturalism, diversity among hearing, deaf, hard of hearing learners in a range of educational settings (general, special, deaf, and bilingual). Emphasis is also placed on the use of instructional technology to support learning, behavior management, working with families/caregivers, and working within professional teams.

This course is designed to familiarize students with legislation in special education (past and present) and the IEP process.

This course is the pre-professional capstone experience of the MA Programs in deaf education, and is comprised of full-time supervised student teaching for a minimum forty (50) clock hours per credit, typically completed within a ten (10) week period. During this experience, the student teacher is mentored by an on-site classroom cooperating teacher and supervised by a Department of Education university supervisor.

This course is designed to educate candidates about state and federal education policies, particularly as they pertain to bilingualism. In addition, the course addresses a basic working knowledge of regulations essential to the role and as bilingual early childhood professionals. Candidates will implement policies and regulations using the language planning framework in their work in homes, schools and agencies, and the community. It elaborates and builds upon knowledge and dispositions learned in foundation courses.

This course introduces the candidates theoretical perspectives and current research of bilingualism. It is designed for the candidates to acquire an understanding of the concepts related to the development of bilingual language abilities (signacy, oracy, and literacy) for children 0-5 years of age. This course examines bilingual communities, bilingual deaf and hearing children and their language development and use, the bilingual brain, language maintenance and shift, transference, code switching and language attitudes. The course will also address historical and cultural aspects of bilingualism in early childhood deaf children.

This course describes the early development of ASL and English in young deaf and hard of hearing children and their impact on cognitive development. The course examines how deaf and hard of hearing children go through developmental stages of acquiring and learning American Sign Language, which is similar to how hearing children go through developmental stages of acquiring a spoken language and how this development is tied to cognitive functions that are the precursors for further linguistic and academic growth (sign babbling, sign jargon, first words, ASL grammatical development and vocabulary expansion). In addition, the course will address factors intrinsic to the bilingual child as well as to the environment that promote and/or prevent their linguistic and cognitive development.

This course will address individualized planning for language and emergent literacy development that can be used as a guide for teaching and learning interventions to support a child's linguistic competence in American Sign Language (ASL) and English. Candidates will apply various American Sign Language (ASL) and English assessment tools to explore ways of assessing diverse deaf and hard-of-hearing candidates' language and literacy acquisition and learning at home and at school. Based on the results of these assessments, the Candidates will reflect on and identify the bilingual methodology approaches to meet the ASL and English language and literacy needs of candidates. They will apply these strategies to home plan, lesson and unit planning, and within their settings.

This course is designed to prepare the candidates to apply an ASL/English Bilingual Framework in Early Childhood Education for deaf and hard of hearing children. This framework describes how the acquisition and learning of ASL and English (written and spoken) are being facilitated. This course reflects upon bilingual models and concepts and discusses the language planning process required to establish an environment that demonstrates value for both languages. Also, it focuses on meeting the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing children and families that it serves. Use of bilingual methodologies, assessment, effective strategies, and language teaching including signacy, oracy and literacy and critical pedagogy will be addressed.

ASL and English Bilingualism at home and in school promotes healthy language development and communication, and creates positive self-esteem among deaf/hard of hearing children from diverse backgrounds. This course/seminar is designed for professionals to acquire the knowledge and skills to work collaboratively with diverse families and other professionals to support the bilingual development and education of young deaf and hard of hearing children. Participants will discuss a working model of bilingual language acquisition (American Sign Language and English), approaches to providing support and encouragement to families, ways to promote positive communication with families, and the creation of culturally responsive and inclusive early childhood educational communities for all families. IN addition, participants will apply a basic working knowledge of Part C and Part B of the IDEA regulations as members of an early childhood education team.

This course uses a disability studies approach to familiarize students with major trends and issues in special education with a focus on deaf students with disabilities. Topics include historical roots, perception of disability, policies impacting students with disabilities, labeling, overrepresentation, and discipline. Other topics in the course include research in the education of deaf students with disabilities, developing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), examining instructional practices, and working with families.

This course introduces students to a variety of classroom management approaches and techniques, with an emphasis on working with students who have disabilities. Students are provided with a foundation and background in behavior management and discipline in special education. They will also consider theories and techniques that apply to individual students, classroom communities, and schoolwide communities.

In this course students will examine current trends and concerns which characterize the changing American family and draw implications for education, students with disabilities and their families. They will examine family, community and school structures, patterns and relationships. Students will explore a variety of theories, concepts, principles, and models utilized when implementing effective family, school, and community partnership, in addition to collaboration among IEP team members and when working with other professionals, in regard to students and families with special and diverse needs. Students will identify and discuss the uses and applications of community and school resources in supporting families and students with disabilities. They will also learn and stimulate techniques for interacting with parents and examine collaboration strategies for interdisciplinary team efforts. In addition, students will focus on topic/challenges that face families with children with disabilities such as: sibling support, respite care, financial planning, transition planning, independent living and IEP meetings.

This course is designed to prepare graduate students to address issues related to language and literacy development for deaf students with disabilities. Topics include language and communication disorders, augmentative and alternative communication systems, cultural influence on language and literacy development, and how language and communication impact classroom performance. The course will also provide strategies to promote metacognitive skills and literacy development.

This course provides an overview of functional academics for deaf students with disabilities. Topics include teaching vocational skills, teaching life skills, supporting motor development, supporting social-emotional development, developing transition plans, and selecting assistive technology devices. Course assignments are designed to allow students to apply these concepts in their current teaching setting.

The course reviews what it means to be an effective teacher and introduces the concepts of universal design for learning (UDL) as well as differentiation to meet the needs of deaf students who have disabilities. Further studied is the concept of multiple literacies and access to content and opportunity for the development of literate and metacognitive thought. The lesson plan format is augmented with the development of tiered lessons by addressing three levels of content, process and/or product expectations as determined by interest level, learning style or readiness. In addition, candidates will become familiar with a variety of instructional strategies based on evidence-based practice in general and special education, the hierarchy of cognitive applications in Bloom's Taxonomy, Barbara Given's 5 natural learning systems, Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Intelligence model, as well as Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences. Evidence of learning focuses on the student's ability to prepare and teach developed lesson plans, and document student learning in clear and concise manner using visual documentation strategies. Candidates are taught to encourage a) self-regulation and other self-determination skills in their students; b) social interaction and true discussion as a method for developing metacognition; and c) developing receptive and expressive learning pathways for academic discourse.

Students in the class will focus on concepts and methods of assessment in special education with an emphasis on administering, scoring, interpreting, and reporting on standardized educational tests. In addition, emphasis will be placed on administration and interpretation of formal and informal diagnostic procedures, diagnostic reports, IEP development, and professional ethics.