User:Ecbon/sandbox

Pros and cons of different education settings[edit]

Residential schools for the Deaf provide more opportunities for socialization and identification with the Deaf community and better access to school curriculum. General education settings provide students with the opportunity to socialize with their hearing peers and learn skills to adapt to environments dominated by hearing people. Deaf advocate Ahmed Khalifa has shared how many people believe that general education settings better prepare Deaf students for the "real" or hearing world.

Khalifa has expressed concerns about the standardization of curriculum in certain residential schools for the Deaf.  Deaf students often report learning more difficult material in general education settings than in residential schools for the Deaf, and they report better post-secondary educational and vocational opportunities.

There is an increasing demand for Deaf students to be included in general education settings. However, in general education settings, Deaf students tend to perform worse than their hearing peers academically due to miscommunications that occur through third-person Sign Language interpreting. In addition to increasing miscommunication, third-person Sign Language interpreting in general education settings is economically inefficient and in some cases, is not possible due to a lack of school resources. Deaf schools eliminate the need for third-person interpreting, and thus, reduce the probability of miscommunication between teachers and Deaf students. Deaf schools also provide the opportunity for Deaf students to learn Sign Language, which can improve their scholastic and social-emotional capability. Identification with the Deaf community and the ability to communicate with both hearing peers and Deaf peers positively predict self-esteem outcomes in Deaf students.