NATIONAL MISSION
Kendall Demonstration Elementary School
and the
Model Secondary School for the Deaf

A. NATIONAL MISSION PRIORITIES

Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) and the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD) are the two demonstration schools within the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. The primary purpose of the Clerc Center is to improve the quality of education afforded to deaf and hard of hearing students from birth to age 21 across the United States. This is referred to as the Clerc Center’s national mission.

The Clerc Center works in partnership with schools and programs throughout the nation to develop, collect, disseminate, conduct research into, and evaluate effective educational strategies. The goal of these collaborative partnerships is the provision of quality educational opportunities to all students, with particular attention given to students who are lower achieving academically, come from families who speak a language other than English in the home, have additional disabilities, are members of diverse racial or cultural groups, or live in rural areas.

In 1995, the Clerc Center, as a result of input from its National Mission Advisory Panel and other public input, identified the following three areas to be the focus of its national mission initiatives:

• Family involvement
• Literacy
• Transition to the world of work and post-secondary education

These priorities guide the focus of all Clerc Center programs, including KDES and MSSD.

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B. ACCREDITATION FOR GROWTH: MISSION & BELIEF STATEMENTS

KDES and MSSD serve deaf and hard of hearing students from infancy through high school. We are the federally mandated demonstration schools of the Clerc Center at Gallaudet University.

KDES/MSSD, a community with diversity at its core, challenges each student to achieve personal excellence in academics, communication, thinking skills, emotional intelligence, and life planning in order to become a self-directed, contributing member of society. Using American Sign Language and English, students are active partners in their Individualized Education Program. We explore effective approaches to teaching and learning that we share with families and professionals throughout the country.

1. We believe that the development of the whole child is essential and that each child has unique interests, needs, and abilities.
2. We believe that all children who are deaf or hard of hearing can learn, achieve, and be responsible for their education.
3. We believe that a student’s positive sense of self is critical for school achievement and success throughout life.
4. We believe that involved families are more effective advocates for their children.
5. We believe that a cooperative partnership among the student, family, school, and community is essential for student growth and development.
6. We believe that literacy skills are fundamental to student success.
7. We believe that an academic program should be broad, challenging, and individualized to promote a lifelong desire to learn.
8. We believe that access to American Sign Language, English, and all aspects of communication is crucial to a deaf or hard of hearing student’s development.
9. We believe that acquisition of language must begin as early as possible at home and in school.
10. We believe that exposure to and experience with Deaf culture will enrich the lives of students and their families.
11. We believe that a school community should embrace cultural diversity, a spirit of learning, mutual caring, and respect.
12. We believe that competence with technology is integral to deaf and hard of hearing students’ access to information and communication.

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C. SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY

MISSION STATEMENT

The Clerc Center at Gallaudet University comprises two federally mandated demonstration schools for students from birth through age 21 who are deaf. Its two demonstration schools on Gallaudet's campus work in collaboration with a network of exemplary programs and professionals to identify, research, develop, evaluate, and disseminate innovative curricula, materials, educational strategies, and technologies for deaf and hard of hearing students.

The Clerc Center also provides training and technical assistance to families and programs throughout the United States, and serves as a model individualized educational program, working in close partnership with our students and their families.

PHILOSOPHY

The model schools of the Clerc Center are committed to developing the full potential of deaf and hard of hearing students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds who have a variety of abilities, skills, and experiences. Our goal is to provide an education that is academically challenging and fully accessible, where students develop a positive sense of self-worth and broad-based literacy. This includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to function as successful, independent, contributing members of society.

We believe these goals can best be accomplished when home and school work together to provide educational experiences that integrate academic, physical, emotional, and social development.

The Clerc Center emphasizes addressing each student's individual needs within a visual environment that promotes language development in both American Sign Language and English. The design of learning and language instruction are governed by the strengths inherent in the children we serve, children for whom the primary receptive channel of communication and learning is visual.

The Clerc Center offers substantial support to each child's family, provides exposure to the culture and language of Deaf people, and develops innovative, developmentally appropriate teaching strategies and uses of technology within a positive, nurturing environment.

We at the Clerc Center believe that individualized education of the whole child is a process that must integrate all aspects of a student's development. In this document, we have addressed six main areas of focus that function interdependently in each student's education:

1. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Our goal is to provide an academically challenging educational environment for all deaf students in order that they leave school fully equipped to move successfully into college, other forms of postsecondary education, or the workforce and to become effective participants in, and contributors to, society. In this context, the term deaf is used to describe children for whom the primary channel of receptive communication is visual.

We believe that:

• Deafness does not limit a child's ability to achieve academically. Every student deserves the benefit of our highest expectations.

• Broad-based literacy (linguistic, quantitative, and cultural) and well-developed critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills are critical if students are to achieve high levels of academic achievement.

• Diverse teachers and staff impact positively on students' motivation to set their sights high and to achieve academically.

• The education our students receive must respect and reflect both the language and culture of the American deaf community, English as the language of society at large, and the linguistic and cultural diversity of all students and their families.

The Clerc Center takes a proactive stance toward the academic achievements of its students, provides increased options for all students, and maintains high academic standards and expectations without regard to cultural, racial, gender, or other stereotypes.

2. FAMILY INVOLVEMENT

The Clerc Center acknowledges parents or guardians as the ultimate decision makers in their child's education. Parents'/guardians’ intimate knowledge of their own child is viewed as a valuable and highly respected source of information. Family members are actively invited to express their views, questions, hopes, and concerns. Our aim is to provide the kind of support, information, and opportunities that help parents or guardians make informed decisions, develop good communication with their deaf child, and become effective advocates who are knowledgeable about their child's rights and their rights as parents or guardians.

We believe that:

• Each family has a unique set of strengths, needs, learning styles, viewpoints, and levels of information and acceptance about having a child who is deaf.

• Each family, therefore, needs access to comprehensive information that reflects state-of-the-art innovations in the education of deaf children. Each family has the right to exposure to the diverse viewpoints and experiences of deaf children, adults, and their deaf and hearing families, as well as professionals and others who provide them with services.

• The educational atmosphere must embody respect for each family's values, beliefs, and culture. The school must work closely with parents or guardians as partners in guiding their child's development and in identifying goals and outcomes for their child.

• Families should be given opportunities to participate in a wide range of activities throughout their child's education that provide information about, exposure to, and comfort with all aspects of that child's education, communication, and socialization.

3. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

The Clerc Center recognizes the right of deaf children to utilize their innate abilities for language development. Through effective cooperation between home and school, the Clerc Center's goal is to provide a linguistically rich environment for the acquisition of American Sign Language and English, as well as to encourage the continued development of the language of the home. The Clerc Center's entire school philosophy is grounded in the following beliefs about language and communication:

• The language a child develops from birth provides the foundation for literacy, achievement, and full participation in the family, school, and society.

• Visual communication is crucial to a deaf child's linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional growth and must begin as early as possible at home and at school.

• A solid first language base and a positive sense of self provide the foundation for each deaf child to acquire the high levels of proficiency in language and literacy needed for academic success. Such proficiency also empowers students to develop and utilize their individual abilities to communicate effectively through various forms of signed, written, and spoken communication in a wide range of settings.

• To acquire solid early language competence, deaf children need frequent and sustained interaction with people who use a language that is fully accessible to them. Family members, whose active communication with the child is crucial, and deaf peers and adults whose primary language is American Sign Language play very important roles in promoting that competence.

• Well-developed English literacy is a critical factor in deaf people's full participation in society. A print-rich environment that provides early and meaningful experiences with text is an extremely important part of a deaf child's education.

• Assistive and augmentative listening devices and technology, in conjunction with appropriate intervention strategies, can make significant contributions to the education of children who can benefit from auditory and speech development.

• Opportunities for parents or guardians to learn about American Sign Language, receive information about deaf communities, and exchange knowledge and interact with other parents or guardians—hearing and deaf—are important components in the growth, adjustment, language-learning, and communication skills of both the parents or guardians and their child.

• Regardless of a child's age or background, language input must be child-centered—appropriate to that child's individual linguistic and communicative needs and development.

4. STUDENT DEVELOPMENT

The Clerc Center provides a challenging and supportive environment that fosters interdependent growth in students' intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Students' total development is enhanced through the integration of classroom and non-classroom experiences that actively involve them and that promote positive social interactions and effective work habits.

We believe that:

• Students develop best in a challenging and supportive environment integrating academic and personal development.

• A high level of student involvement is encouraged in activities promoting decision-making, leadership, positive work habits, social interaction, and community service.

• Interactions with a diverse deaf community, as well as society at large, are crucial components in the development of each student's positive sense of self-worth.

• The environment at the Clerc Center provides an excellent milieu for teachers, staff, and parents or guardians to work together in enhancing each student's overall growth and development.

5. DIVERSITY

The Clerc Center affirms its commitment to value and nurture the diversity reflected in its students, families, teachers, and staff, and the society at large. Through its instructional, student life, and support programs, students have the opportunity to learn accurate, comprehensive, non-biased information about diverse groups. Teachers and staff who reflect society’s diversity are highly valued and actively sought.

Every attempt is made to ensure that our curricula, instructional materials, and publications reflect diversity and are non-sexist and free from bias. Teachers and staff work to develop curricula that foster critical thinking skills and promote empathetic interactions. They support students in becoming confident, knowledgeable citizens who actively challenge stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory practices. The Clerc Center's utilization of accurate, comprehensive, non-biased information provides a strong basis for all programs and national mission activities.

We believe that students should have the opportunity to:

• live and learn in a community that demonstrates respect, acceptance, and appreciation for differences, communication needs, and preferences within the deaf community;

• learn about the cultures of deaf people in the United States and abroad;

• learn about their own cultural heritage and appreciate its uniqueness as well as the cultural heritage of others;

• learn to recognize debilitating biases and their impact;

• develop a responsibility to advocate for respect of human dignity and the rights of each individual;

• interact with role models (peers and adults) who reflect the diversity of the school community; and

• experience a climate where respect for the culture of the family is clearly demonstrated by school personnel, and family members are partners with school personnel in this journey to understand and appreciate differences.

The Clerc Center is committed to providing an environment where appreciation for diversity and healthy cross-cultural relations are reflected in all aspects of school life; where each student learns to communicate, associate, and participate in a diverse community and a pluralistic society.

6. TRANSITION

Finally, the Clerc Center's goal is to explore, implement, and assess effective, comprehensive transition services that meet the individual needs of each student. This is best accomplished through a coordinated set of activities that encompasses all major aspects of the transition from early childhood to living independently and participating fully in the community.

We believe that:

• Each student should be given opportunities to develop the skills necessary to successfully move into a variety of academic and non-academic environments.

• All students have the right to gain access to the knowledge and experiences they need to become full participants in society and to seek challenging careers.

The Clerc Center is, therefore, committed to providing outcome-oriented transition services to students and their families that include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

Academic: facilitating students' movement from program to program—early intervention programs to preschool, preschool to elementary school, elementary school to high school, high school to postsecondary programs.

Career: providing students with the knowledge and experiences to prepare them to move into job and career opportunities that capitalize on their preferences, interests, and abilities.

Social: offering support and encouragement to assist students in becoming full participants and contributors in the deaf community and the community at large.

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