Implementing a successful writing program in public schools for students who are deaf

Area of Science:

• Education
• Linguistics
• Special Education

Background:

• Children who are deaf often face challenges in developing writing skills.
• Effective writing instruction is crucial for academic success and communication.
• The process approach to writing is a pedagogical method focusing on stages of writing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the writing abilities of deaf children through targeted teacher training.
• To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the process approach in teaching writing to deaf students.
• To assess the short-term impact of teacher professional development on student writing outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A 2-year project involving 10 public school programs.
• Training 52 teachers in the process approach to writing instruction.
• Data collection through pretest and posttest assessments of 325 students in Grades 4-10.

Main Results:

• Teacher self-reports confirmed active participation and engagement in the project.
• Significant improvements were observed in the overall writing quality of students.
• Marked advancements in grammatical skills were a notable outcome for the participating deaf students.

Conclusions:

• Teacher training in the process approach can lead to measurable improvements in deaf students' writing.
• The project highlights the potential of specific instructional strategies to address writing challenges in this population.
• The findings support the integration of the process approach in special education settings for deaf learners.