Preparing Teachers to Work with Adolescent Students who are Hearing Impaired: A Survey of Training Programs

Abstract

A survey of teacher preparation programs in the area of education of hearing-impaired students in the United States and Canada was conducted. The purposes were (a) to identify which type of service delivery roles teachers are being prepared for, (b) to identify state and province requirements for secondary teachers, (c) to identify the type of coursework provided for preparing teachers to work with adolescents, and (d) to assess the overall level of preparation of graduates to teach secondary students. Results indicate that most programs train their students to work in self-contained settings. Almost all programs are located in states or provinces that do not require special certification to be a secondary teacher of hearing-impaired students. The majority of programs do not provide a course on how to educate secondary students. And a high percentage of teacher trainers do not feel that their graduates are well prepared to teach secondary students with hearing impairments. Concerns about preparation of secondary teachers of hearing-impaired students are presented and discussed.