Modifying the Clasroom Environment to Increase Engagement and Decrease Disruption with Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Author(s): Guardino Caroline [University of North Florida], Shirind D. Antia [University of Arizona])

Journal: The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Volume 17, Issue 4, 1 October 2012, Pages 518–533,

Summary: The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of physical arrangement and features of the classroom on the academic engagement and disruptive behavior of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students.The study, which was based on a multi- baseline design,took place in three self-contained elementary classrooms at a school for the Deaf in U.S. The researchers, in consultation with the classroom teachers, modified seating arrangements ,classroom organisation, visual stimuli and acoustic quality. Data in all three classrooms indicated increase in academic engagement and decrease in disruptive behavior of the students. Follow up observations revealed the maintainance of most of the modifications after the end of the study. The social validity ratings indicated high acceptance of the intervention by the teachers. Limitations and practical implications are discussed.

(Reviewed by Eleni Kyrioti, specialeducation.gr, Advisory Team member)

The article can be found here.

• Hearing Impairments