The Relationship Between Teacher Sign Skills and Student Evaluations of Teacher Capability

• Published in: American annals of the deaf (Washington, D.C. 1886) Vol. 144; no. 5; pp. 354 - 364
• Main Authors: Long, Gary, Stinson, Michael, Kelly, Ronald R., Liu, Yufang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf 01.12.1999; Gallaudet University Press; American Annals of the Deaf
• Subjects: American sign language; Biological and medical sciences; Classroom Communication; College Students; Communication; Communication Skills; Deafness; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Higher Education; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Perception; Perceptions; Performance Factors; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Reading Comprehension; Semiotics; Sign Language; Sign languages; Statistical significance; Student Attitudes; Student evaluation; Student teacher relationship; Students; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teacher attitudes; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Student Relationship; Teacher surveys; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Skills; Teaching. Deontology. Ethics. Legislation; Thinking Skills; Total communication; Vocabulary; United States; North America; America; United States > US; San Francisco California; Performance evaluation; Human; Statistical analysis; Ear disease; Evaluation scale; Auditory disorder; Teacher; Student; Teaching; Hearing loss; Sign language; ENT disease; Communication
• ISSN: 0002-726X; 1543-0375; 1543-0375
• DOI: 10.1353/aad.2012.0117

This study examines the extent to which deaf students' perceptions of their teachers' effectiveness and ease of communication in the classroom are related to the teachers' sign skills. Thirty-three faculty, teaching a variety of courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTTD), were rated on "teaching effectiveness" and "communication ease" by their students over a 2-year period. Faculty sign proficiency was evaluated independently using the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI). Results indicate a moderate relation between students' perceptions of communication ease and teaching effectiveness, and a weak relation of these two variables to the teachers' assessed level of sign skill. The data also show that the students could clearly differentiate three levels of teacher sign skill in the classroom. Results are discussed in relation to the component parts of effective communication from the perspective of students in the classroom.