Stephanie W. Cawthon, PhD, wrote a guest blog post for NWEA on her ongoing research that debunks myths about the reading and literacy levels of deaf people. She writes:
“I often hear the phrase ‘deaf people read at a fourth-grade level,’ a belief that has long dogged the field of deaf education and our expectations of deaf students.
This low bar of what is typical for deaf students can do a lot of damage; the “tyranny of low expectations” can lead to decisions that fail to challenge, support, and propel deaf students to reach their full potential.
The problem is that this belief is not only damaging — it is also not true.”
Early findings of the research study led by Dr. Cawthon debunk that belief. The first key finding is related to text comprehension, an important literacy skill. While there is a small gap between deaf and hearing students in the early grades, that gap soon closes as students approach middle school, and there is virtually no difference in average reading scores by eighth grade — debunking the myth that deaf people can only read at a fourth grade level.
The second key finding is about geometry, with deaf and hearing students making the same relative gains year to year. Because deaf students have more ground to cover, there is more for them to do to reach the same level as their peers. But they are developmentally on course and keep learning without a plateau, which bodes well for potential learning trajectories in high school and beyond.
Besides delving into the study outcomes, Dr. Cawthon explains an inclusive definition of “deaf,” the systemic barriers that contribute to setbacks in academic achievement, her work on test equity and accessibility, advice for educators and families, and other important components of academic success for deaf students.
For the research study, Dr. Cawthon received an invitation to work with NWEA on exploring data on deaf student achievement over the past decade via MAP® Growth™, a very special data set that allows researchers to look at how students progress over time. She was joined by colleagues North Cooc, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Johny Daniel, a lecturer at Boston University. They worked in collaboration with the research team at NWEA to examine academic progress over time for approximately 350 K–8 deaf students and compare them with a group of typically developing peers.
This research study, which will be completed in 2021, was also the basis of Cawthon’s recent webinar for NWEA, a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide.