Effective Instruction

Effective instruction for students with disabilities draws upon methods used by general educators to facilitate learning among students who do not have disabilities. An advance organizer, for example, could be used effectively with both disabled and nondisabled students.  The differences lie in how, when, and why specific tools and techniques are implemented.  For additional information on effective instructional design, see the document Ten Effective Teaching Principles .

In addition to these basic principles of effective instructional design, students who are deaf and hard of hearing require explicit, purposeful instruction to develop language and communication competency. The acquisition of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills may be challenging for the student due to the effects of their hearing loss.   Instruction must include ample opportunity to apply newly acquired skills in a variety of settings, including time to process incoming information and respond to it. 

Students need to have a firm foundation in language to access information in the classroom and learn from it.  Although a variety of verbal and nonverbal social interaction strategies are useful to young children who are deaf or hard of hearing when they enter school, it is through language (American Sign Language and/or English) that the give and take of education really occurs (Marschark, Lang, and Albertini, 2002).  Instruction must be delivered using the students primary mode of communication. The Communication Plan provides an opportunity for the IEP team to determine the best method for delivery of instruction. Instruction can be enhanced by modifying the acoustic environment to facilitate a student's ability to access information through audition.  Sound reverberation can be reduced considerably through the use of carpeting, sound dampening ceiling baffles, and draperies.  Sound field and personal FM amplification devices help some students to filter out background noise and to focus upon the primary sound source (usually the teacher and peers).  Together, appropriate teaching-learning environments and support services help to provide students who are deaf or hard of hearing equal access to the general education curriculum as they have been promised under IDEA 2004 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For additional information on instructional strategies, classroom accommodations, and curriculum materials appropriate for students with hearing losses, contact the PaTTAN consultants who specialize in deafness.