Section 3:
Demonstration Schools (KDES and MSSD)
ASL/DEAF CULTURE/MULTICULTURAL PROGRAMS
The ASL/Deaf Culture/ Multicultural Programs unit includes a total of
two American Sign Language (ASL) specialists and two Multicultural specialists.
They cover the needs of the eight teaching teams at KDES and MSSD.
The specialists incorporated ASL instruction, deaf culture and multiculturalism
into the daily team activities and content instruction. The specialists
incorporate the cultures of the students represented on their teams into
their daily activities. Guest speakers from the community were invited
to present information and share their own cultures with the students.
These activities foster an enhanced understanding of the differences and
similarities among cultures. The specialists also incorporate into their
schedule rotation among teachers who teach different content material
and weave into the classroom instruction on deaf culture, ASL history/instruction
and multicultural education.
Activities performed by the specialists for the teams consist of, but
are not limited to, the following: read alouds, story telling, teaching
several genres of ASL literature (e.g., ABC stories), and the traditional
deaf culture storytelling. Specialists in the elementary school level
also created, developed, and designed materials to use in their teaching
with the students.
Assessment of ASL skills of the students has been an evolving process
for the ASL specialists. During the past year, the specialists have been
involved in training to become assessors/evaluators of ASL development
in children and youth. As a result the specialists have been routinely
involved with doing ASL assessments with new applicants to determine ASL
proficiency in determining IEP goals and in making recommendations for
instruction.
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