(A History of OSD Since 1829)
PART 2

Preparing for the Future

OSD’s proud past prepares us for the future.  What challenges will OSD graduates face in 2029, the 200th Anniversary of OSD’s founding?  What will our graduates need to know to contribute to Ohio’s and America’s economy and security? What skills must they learn to be employed, support themselves and their own families, and help others?  How can Ohio’s deaf students prepare themselves to provide leadership in our state, our nation, and the world?  With world events happening dramatically and technology changing almost too fast to absorb, how does OSD prepare for its role in the 21st Century?

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND TREND FORECASTING:  OSD is committed to the daily application of Baldrige business practices to strive for excellence and ongoing strategic planning involving alumni, business, other education, and agency partners as we look forward, share resources, and review OSD’s progress accurately.   Tighter state budgets require working together, visionary thinking, establishing priorities, and safeguarding the flexibility that is necessary to adapt to changing needs.   The OSD Strategic Planning Committee, comprised of OSD’s administration, faculty and staff representatives, Alumni members, parents, and community representatives examine trends to forecast OSD’s future needs.

Social, medical/technology, and political pressures:  Perhaps the most dramatic event confounding deaf education in the latter part of the last century is the invention of the cochlear implant.  It is a double-edge sword that has divided the field of deaf education even further.  Cochlear implant surgeries may provide increased auditory stimulation even to the extent that some deaf children can acquire spoken English more easily, even fluently; however, it is not a panacea – results vary greatly and the delays and frustrations caused while parents wait on the oral/aural outcomes can do irreparable damage to the long term success of the deaf child.  Many parents, schools, medically-related programs, and even governmental officials see cochlear implants as the easy alternative, not requiring expensive interpreters, special schools, or learning a new language and culture.  Some experts estimate that 1/3 of all deaf children will have cochlear implants by the year 2010.  What is the effect on public schools and on OSD?  How does OSD provide correct information about cochlear implants to others and respond when a student joins OSD after a surgery that hasn’t had successful results? What role does OSD have to support students who have cochlear implants and how do we balance our respect and value for ASL and Deaf culture with the development of spoken language skills in this part of the student population?

In addition, there is a changing student population that is apparent at OSD and in hearing schools across the state, which serve deaf and hard of hearing children.  Medical advances now allow an increased number of critically at-risk infants and toddlers to survive, but with additional physical, behavioral, and mental challenges.  Therefore the resources of all schools are stretched to meet the unique needs of every child, regardless of learning and behavioral difficulties or physical limitations.  The effects of parental smoking, drug/alcohol use, poor nutrition, stress and other factors affect the child’s development.  While some students are gifted, capable of advanced learning or demonstrating special talents, others have needs that can disrupt education.  How does OSD prepare to meet the needs of such a diverse student population?

Legal Requirements:  Among the new challenges facing OSD are federal laws, specifically the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the No Child Left Behind Act, which along with newly created state laws, have mandated accountability.  First, all schools must evaluate and report student success on standardized achievement tests, along with other data.  Students with disabilities must be included in the data, both as part of the whole group and as a separate group.   While a very small percentage of students (<2%) may take alternate assessments (rather than the state’s proficiency tests) to demonstrate their students’ level of success, generally speaking, deaf and hard-of-hearing students must take and pass Ohio’s proficiency tests which are given a intervals in the elementary, middle school, and high school grade level bands.  These legal requirements caused OSD to focus efforts since 2001 on aligning our curriculum with the state’s standards for language arts, math, science, and social studies, in particular. Technology, fine arts, and foreign language are the next areas for alignment.  This means that students must have on grade level instruction and testing despite an individual student’s present level of performance.  Deaf and hard of hearing students who do not have early access to language tend to lag behind their hearing peers by several grade levels.  How does OSD provide instruction to students on grade level who are in the process of being immersed in language, maybe for the first time in their school career?

The concept of Least Restrictive Environment has been around since 1975 when the landmark PL 94-142 was enacted. Some experts in deaf education acknowledge that what seemed like a natural concept, involving students with disabilities in educational options closest to home and through interactions with students without disabilities, may be wrongly applied to the unique population of deaf students.  Deaf students are rare in most school districts. Offering them local programming without access to peers and teachers with whom they can communicate directly feels more restrictive.  In the early 2000’s the social pressure and legal mandates to provide an educational program closest to home is still real. How does OSD offer bridges to deaf students statewide to enable them to have contact with a full, rich language environment if experts in language development, communication access, and specialized techniques are not present where they attend school?

Technology:  Palm pilots, Internet, “Sidekick” cell communication devices, videophones,  interactive video distance learning (IVDL), “virtual scenarios”….the list goes on and on about the new technology that amazes and confounds us in education.  Deaf students benefit greatly from these advances which also minimize the distances between themselves and others.  OSD currently has a computer lab for group learning and computer application, but, more importantly, computer technology is available everywhere for their learning.  Every classroom has multiple units all connected to the Internet.  OSD offers professional development to others, including teachers and educational interpreters, through its Interactive Video Distance Learning (IVDL) program; ASL classes are available to hearing schools through IDVL connections with an OSD instructor. Teachers use SmartBoards™ and Moodle sites to enhance instruction through technology and the Internet and to promote on-line learning venues.  Staff members have instant communication with each other which assists in maintaining student safety, assuring that daily activities happen smoothly, and giving deaf staff equal access to information.  The Virtual Reality Education for Assisted Learning (VREAL) allows students to travel to unknown situations safely, applying knowledge along the way, as their hearing peers in OSD partner schools do too.  OSD’s website (www.ohioschoolforthedeaf.org) allows others to learn about our school but also provides links to information about deafness.  Our website continues to keep our Alumni and parents informed about upcoming events, athletics, our needs, and current initiatives.  Our Strategic Planning Committee will be alert for further opportunities to use technology to help our students and other deaf students statewide.  How does OSD stay ahead of the wave of technology changes to maximize opportunities for our students and deaf and hard of hearing students, their families, teachers, and educational interpeters?

Transportation:  Despite the inherent dangers in today’s world, OSD’s partnership with the Magarotto School for the Deaf in Rome, Italy remains strong.  The Ohio School for the Deaf has already influenced deaf education in Italy, strengthening the role of the central school and promoting use of Italian Sign Language across the nation.  Through technology, students and staff work on joint projects.  Travel enables the students to learn about a different culture on the other side of the world.  With disputes waging around the world, understanding another culture and finding one’s similarities is important to peace and conflict resolution.

Ohio is a large state.  Some students travel 3-4 hours one way to attend school at OSD.  Teachers, educational interpreters, audiologists, other specialists and parents often attend workshops or other activities at OSD to increase professional knowledge and skills.   How do we collaborate with others to minimize the costs of travel in terms of time and gasoline to provide educational opportunities for more students and professional development for teachers, interpreters, and others?

Infrastructure of OSD Built in 1953:  OSD’s present buildings are nearly 55 years old.  Most school buildings are designed with a “life” of 50-60 years before they need to be replaced.   Designed to serve students in the “assembly line” school operation that Horace Mann envisioned in the 1830’s, the buildings are no longer functional for students in a world that requires advanced communications, technology, and flexibility.  Constant repairs and remodeling do upgrade the facilities to make the campus healthy and safe, serviceable, and pleasant in the short term but they disrupt programming.   A look at modern schools around Ohio and new residential schools across the USA points out the limitations that OSD’s current facilities place on student learning.  A new school facility would open learning opportunities, promote Student Life programs which are equally important as educational programs, and assure that OSD exists for future generations of deaf and hard of hearing children.

OSD as a Model Demonstration School

The pride of OSDAA’s heritage, its beloved residential school, is in no danger of closing.  Recently the Ohio legislature has authorized funding to build a new facility for deaf students, a modern school. OSD exists as a demonstration school, which models the best practices in deaf education through highly qualified teachers and staff for all Ohio schools to emulate.  The K-12 program employs deaf and hearing teachers who are proficient in ASL and written English to assure that students have role models for their learning.  While chalkboards and acetate sheets on an overhead projector may be giving way to the SmartBoard™, computer technology, and sophisticated software, the strength of solid instruction is within an ever-adapting faculty and staff who can adjust with each new generation of learners.  OSD’s newest programs to support our students include:

• Focusing on comprehensive instruction in the academic content areas to prepare students to demonstrate progress on the Ohio’s proficiency tests, including the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT)
• Assisting faculty and staff in ongoing professional development in conjunction with teachers serving deaf and hard of hearing students statewide
• Establishing a student assessment procedure that assists parents in understanding student progress, guides teachers in planning, and demonstrates with data how OSD’s education makes a positive difference in the learning of its students
• Expanding collaborative efforts between the educational and residential departments to increase student learning, character and leadership development, and technology skills
• Establishing flexibility in Career Technical Education (vocational education) to allow students to prepare for career exploration, training on and off campus, and employment related knowledge
• Offering tours, observations, and student teacher/interpreter placements for authentic learning experiences for adults beginning their careers in deaf education
• Use of technology as a real tool to allow students to gain and apply knowledge and use technology to demonstrate their learning
• Promoting a language-rich learning experience for deaf and hearing infants, toddlers, and preschoolers at OSD’s Alice Cogswell Center, which uses ASL as the language of instruction and exposure to phonemic awareness skills to assure that youngsters are ready for Kindergarten.

OSD as a Resource Center

OSD sees its responsibility not only to serve the 160 students currently educated in our classrooms, but also to support deaf and hard of hearing students, their parents, and their teachers across the state.  There are about 3000 deaf/hard of hearing students in Ohio’s K-12 schools, with another 341 three- and four-year olds served in public preschool settings; an estimated 1,234 infants and toddlers  are expected to be identified as needing further audiological evaluation or intervention through Ohio Universal Infant Hearing Screening program at birthing hospitals.  OSD intends to expand the ways we serve as a resource center on deaf education. Current programs include:

• Providing full time teachers who provide on-site consultation and support to regular and special education teachers working with deaf and hard of hearing children in K-12 schools statewide
• Providing instruction, mentoring, assessment, and support to educational interpreters statewide through OSD’s Interpreting and Sign Language Resources (ISLR) program
• Offering Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI) assessments to interpreters, teachers, college students pursuing deaf education, and others to verify signing competency and/or identify growth areas
• Offering comprehensive student evaluations (ages 3-21) to public schools serving deaf and hard of hearing children statewide to guide educational planning, identification of specialized services, and determining (school) placement
• Offering Parent Mentor services statewide to help parents understand their rights and the unique needs of deaf and hard of hearing children and offer counseling
• Providing captioned educational CDs/DVDs to parents and schools serving deaf and hard of hearing students (Scribe and Describe Depository)
• Working with 10 schools statewide through the VREAL project to model technology practices that result in student learning in a visual and kinesthetic way
• Providing Peer Mediation training to other schools using OSD students who are trained mediators which helps to promote conflict management in schools
• Supporting single and multi-day regional and statewide workshops for teachers and interpreters in public schools about current trends in the field
• Offering summer learning camps for middle school and high school students at OSD to learn specific skills, such as leadership or literacy development, which give public school students a chance to interact with Deaf adults and practice ASL

Deaf Youngsters, Their Families and Providers:  Ohio has a new Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) test that will assure early identification of hearing loss.  The laws associated with UNHS require the Ohio Department of Health to follow up with families after identification to assist them in parent education, further hearing testing, possible amplification, and early intervention with the babies and toddlers themselves.  Ohio’s state health department has developed protocols for statewide implementation.  While deaf and hard of hearing three and four year old youngsters in Ohio attend preschool programs, they are often the only deaf child in the program.  Their teachers and parents are not familiar with American Sign Language, the unique learning styles of deaf children, or special techniques to teach pre-reading to deaf children.  Most have never met a deaf adult.   Many schools, parents, and providers focus on oral strategies because it involves the language that they know without comprehending the possible consequences of their actions for most of the children.  It is critical that OSD maintain open communication with early childhood providers to give parents and providers options to include American Sign Language and interaction with deaf adults as those toddlers acquire early skills.  Among the programs that OSD established since 2001 to help preschoolers, their families, and teachers:

• The Alice Cogswell Child Development Center as a model, bilingual preschool program with highly qualified teachers and staff
• Traveling teacher-consultants to work on site with preschool providers to provide guidance, share teaching materials and equipment, and offer statewide and regional staff development workshops
• Extended Parent Mentor services to the preschool population
• Shared Reading tutors in the Central Ohio area
• Trained Deaf mentors statewide and disseminating information to preschools and early intervention providers
• Publication of the current professional literature about all educational options for very young deaf children
• Toolkits of information to distribute to regional centers on use of ASL, for example
• Family Learning Weekends at OSD
• Parent lending library at the Alice Cogswell Center preschool
• Presentations for relevant health services, early childhood, and other agencies regarding the unique needs of young deaf children

CLASSROOOM OF THE FUTURE:  Maybe we can envision the Ohio School for the Deaf in 2029 on our new campus…Students and teachers in contact with instructors and fellow students from all around the world through the wonder of technology.  Sitting in semi-circle on elevated seating within a large, bright “learning center,” students attend to their teachers both on-site and away; students check the visual representations of concepts on one of the large screens in the room and computer-generated, real time captioning depicting translations to English from their instructors in China, South Africa, or Brazil on another screen.  The young Spartans respond on individual touch screens and keyboards built into their desks.  As school ends, the students use the language that supports their Deaf identity to express excitement about an upcoming performance in the new state of the art auditorium.  The New school’s Student Life Centers cluster “brothers and sisters” of varying ages in residence halls, each one named for a Deaf leader in Ohio; their residence hall advisors congratulate older students on a recent school project as younger children pause to listen while playing an old-fashioned board game.  Other students arrive from learning environments that are off-campus at the art museum, a local manufacturing industry, or a nearby college.   In the Professional Learning Center, public school teachers and others remark about their observations at OSD earlier in the day before joining the students, parents, alumni, and staff at this evening’s Holiday Signfest, a tradition since 1990.  Yes, there will snow falling – snow that seems to whisper, “How will Santa arrive THIS year?” 

How will we create the New School?  Working together — alumni, school administration, faculty and staff, parents, and community — we’ll meet the challenge of teaching the students of the Ohio School for the Deaf in the 21st Century.  Superintendent Corbett has established an Advisory Committee to work with the Ohio School Facilities Commission to design the structure and buildings of our “new” school. The Advisory Committee work commences in the Spring of 2007. 

An Everlasting Mission

The mission of OSD hasn’t changed much from the charge described by an early superintendent.  It lives today and will well into the 21st Century:

So a deaf school takes children who live in darkness, gives them a new home, a new environment, a schooling ending in an education, puts a soul into them and sends them out in the world to repeat their ideal. The school is the fountainhead.  The streams emanating from it go hither and thither, only tiny threads of streams, to be sure, but streams of importance that run on and on to an eternity.

We say they are in darkness for they know not language, cannot express their thoughts, are in a sense helpless, until they are touched by the hands of gentle, kind and skilled teachers and staff members who shall guide them into the light.

John William Jones
OSD Superintendent, 1895-1930

The Ohio School for the Deaf was established in 1829 to provide specialized instruction for deaf students.  The school’s philosophy of 1953 states that “only through education can the American heritage, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness be enjoyed by all segments of this and succeeding generations. And that every child, irrespective of individual differences and all other considerations, may as a birthright expect every opportunity for total personality development.”   This belief will carry the work of the Ohio School for the Deaf into the Twenty-First Century.

"Buildling on Tradition to Prepare for the Future"
- Janet Gordon, Ohio School for the Deaf Principal 1985-2000
revised: March 2, 2007