NTID Receives NSF Grant To Support Education of Deaf Students
The Rochester Institute of
Technology's National Technical
Institute for the Deaf (NTID) has received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue its Technological Education Center for Deaf and
Hard-of-Hearing Students (DeafTEC) program. The NSF previously awarded
$4.45 million to DeafTEC four years ago when the program was launched.
"Although some progress has been made, people with disabilities,
particularly Americans who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, continue to be employed
at rates much lower than the rest of the population," said Donna Lange,
principal investigator on the project, in a prepared statement. The DeafTEC
program aims to help more deaf and hard-of-hearing people land jobs as highly
skilled technicians. To achieve that goal, DeafTEC is partnering with high
schools, community colleges and industry to help improve access to
technological education and employment for deaf and hard-of-hearing
students.
DeafTEC's partnership activities include:
- Providing professional development opportunities for educators;
- Providing instructional materials and strategies designed to help deaf
and hard-of-hearing students develop skills in math and writing;
- Providing strategies for employers to successfully integrate deaf and
hard-of-hearing employees into the workplace;
- Helping community colleges develop strategies to recruit and retain deaf
and hard-of-hearing students in STEM programs; and
- Introducing middle school and high school students who are deaf or
hard-of-hearing to STEM programs and careers through job shadowing
opportunities, field trips and internships.
The NTID will use the new NSF funding to provide online resources and
curricular materials to help students develop job readiness skills and to help
secondary teachers meet the needs of their deaf and hard-of-hearing students,
according to Lange. Since many military veterans return from active service
with hearing impairments, the NTID is also "developing resources for community
college instructors to address the academic challenges that student veterans
with hearing loss face in STEM programs," said Lange in a prepared
statement.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].