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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hey guys, here's an interesting article from
cnn.com that Josiah sent me. Happy reading!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kaitlyn</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>*This article can also be accessed if you copy and
paste the entire address below into your web
browser.<BR>http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/10/22/a.matter.of.english.ap/index.html
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<H1>Deaf students struggle with English to get diplomas</H1>
<H3></H3>
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<FONT size=1>Friday, October 22, 2004 Posted: 2:28 PM EDT (1828 GMT) <!-- /date --><BR></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<DIV class=cnnStoryCaption align=left><!--===========CAPTION==========-->Lynn Lane, 17, signs
one of the meanings attached to the term "made up."<!--===========/CAPTION=========--></DIV></DIV><!-- /PURGE: /2004/EDUCATION/10/22/a.matter.of.english.ap/story.matter.of.english.ap.jpg --><!-- /REAP --></TD></TR>
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<P><B style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- For all of Lynn
Lane's 17 years, she has never once heard a spoken word. And more
importantly, she has never heard the way words fit together to form the
English language.</B></P>
<P>Deaf students like Lane who have relied their entire lives on the
shorthand of sign language to communicate often have a tough time catching
on to the subtleties of the written word, which can be as hard to pick up
as a second language.</P>
<P>Yet in Mississippi and other parts of the nation, deaf students are
required to pass the same assessment tests as their hearing counterparts
to receive a high school diploma. Though they can usually pass subjects
like history or algebra, English is the roadblock that routinely delays or
prohibits their graduation.</P>
<P>Educators at the Mississippi School for the Blind and Deaf say no deaf
student has ever passed the English assessment test on the first try. The
overall first-try pass rate for hearing and disabled students is 83.1
percent.</P>
<P>"These tests are grossly unfair to deaf students. Hearing children are
exposed to so much English language from birth. Deaf students don't get
that exposure to English," said Jean Andrews, director of graduate
programs in deaf studies/deaf education at Lamar University in Texas.</P>
<P>Sign language is visual, and isn't always translated word for word into
English.</P>
<P>For instance, you wouldn't sign the phrase "raining cats and dogs"
verbatim. Instead, the phrase would be signed "raining heavily." But if a
student never heard the phrase, how could he or she know what it means?
Experts say the average deaf child isn't introduced to English until age
6, upon entering school.</P>
<P>Historically, deaf students have had a hard time taking standardized
achievement tests, particularly in reading, said Dr. Ross Mitchell, a
research scientist at Gallaudet Research Institute at Gallaudet University
in Washington, D.C.</P>
<P>The institute conducts a national study of the performance of deaf and
hard-of-hearing students on standardized tests. Mitchell said many of
those students do not demonstrate high-school level reading ability. He
said in 2003 more than two-thirds of 18-year-olds and three-fourths of
17-year-olds nationally were reading below the high school level.</P>
<P>"From the standpoint of measurement, there are a lot of questions about
whether or not the tests that states have adopted are appropriate for
special populations," Mitchell said. "You don't compel students by law to
show up to school only to denigrate them."</P><A name=1></A><A
name=rv2></A>
<H3>Vocabulary gaps</H3>
<P>The Mississippi school is appealing to state officials to allow deaf
students to use a thesaurus, an accommodation made for non-English
speaking students in the school system, such as Hispanics and
Vietnamese.</P>
<P>That way, if a deaf student saw a word for which there is no sign, such
as "gorgeous," he or she could refer to the thesaurus and find
"beautiful," a word that might be recognizable, said Dana Campbell,
director of technology and public relations at the deaf school.</P>
<P>Lane excels in most subjects. She earned five A's and a B (in English)
on her last progress report. She has passed nearly all the assessment
tests required to graduate in May, including biology, U.S. History and
math. But she has yet to pass the vocabulary multiple choice portion of
the English test. The last time she took it, she scored 299, lacking one
point to pass. She has taken the test at least four times.</P>
<P>"When I read the complete sentence, sometimes I might have overlooked
some kind of idiom or figurative language I don't understand," Lane said
through an interpreter. "I really struggle with that and I have to make up
an answer."</P>
<P>Lane said she could ace the test if an interpreter was allowed to
"bridge" or translate the vocabulary into sign language.</P>
<P>The Mississippi Department of Education allows interpreters to
translate portions of all tests except the vocabulary and reading.</P>
<P>Kris Kasse, director of student assessment for the state public school
system, said the tests are designed to show mastery, and too many
accommodations could thwart the intent.</P>
<P>"If we're giving a math test in the third grade and I get you a
multiplication table, you're not showing that you know how to multiply.
It's the same issue," Kasse said.</P>
<P>All students can take the English test up to 10 times. The students can
remain at the deaf school until they are 21.</P><A name=2></A><A
name=rv1></A>
<H3>Overcoming language barriers</H3>
<P>In neighboring Alabama, deaf students must pass the Alabama High School
Graduation Exam to receive a diploma. The students at the Alabama
Institute for Deaf and Blind in Talladega are allowed unlimited retakes up
to the age of 21, said Lynne Hanner, the school's director of
institutional advancement.</P>
<P>They also struggle with English, Hanner said.</P>
<P>In addition to the test, Alabama deaf students must take four
additional language units than hearing students to address the English
problem, Hanner said.</P>
<P>As of June, only two of the 16 deaf seniors had received high school
diplomas. Two others returned to the school this summer to earn the
degrees.</P>
<P>Hanner said deaf educators walk a fine line. They want the students to
have a fair playing field without depending on a crutch.</P>
<P>"That's the bottom line of what we want here. They have to believe in
themselves," Hanner said. "Overcoming language barriers, that's the
challenge."</P>
<P>Andrews, the Texas professor who is working on reading projects for the
deaf in Alabama and Louisiana, said accountability is another issue.</P>
<P>"We do need to do a better job of teaching English to deaf students,"
she said.</P>
<P>Mississippi recently applied its accountability standards to the deaf
school. The school's six seniors last spring received completion
certificates, not diplomas. The reading challenge discourages some from
seeking a diploma, school officials say.</P>
<P>Andrews said she's working with the Louisiana School for the Deaf on
projects to understand deaf students' reading comprehension ability by
studying their reading errors and assisting deaf students in translating
English text into sign language.</P>
<P>And what began as a pilot project at the Mississippi school in 1995 is
now being used in more than 40 states. Sandra Edwards, an instructor at
the Mississippi school, is the co-creator of Fairview Learning. With it,
instructors teach students the different signs for each definition of
multi-meaning words. Edwards' father was deaf, but she is not. She said
there's no substitute for parental involvement.</P>
<P>"If parents would learn to sign, that would make a difference," she
said.</P>
<P>In Arizona, the deaf school graduating class of 2006 will be the first
required to pass state proficiency tests, said Doris Woltman,
superintendent for Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind.</P>
<P>The schools, which serve 2,000 students, are in wait-and-see mode,
Woltman said. An accountability specialist for the schools has been
studying student test scores.</P>
<P>"Writing is an area of improvement," Woltman said.</P><BR clear=all>
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