Over the past decade there has been a significant increase in interest from educators and the general public about deafness, special education, and the development of children with special needs. The education of deaf children in the United States has been seen as a remarkable success story around the world, even while it continues to engender domestic debate.
In Educating Deaf From Research to Practice , Marc Marschark, Harry G. Lang, and John A. Albertini set aside the politics, rhetoric, and confusion that often accompany discussions of deaf education. Instead they offer an accessible evaluation of the research literature on the needs and strengths of deaf children and on the methods that have been used-successfully and unsuccessfully-to teach both deaf and hearing children.
The authors lay out the common assumptions that have driven deaf education for many years, revealing some of them to be based on questionable methods, conclusions, or interpretations, while others have been lost in the cacophony of alternative educational philosophies. They accompany their historical consideration of how this came to pass with an evaluation of the legal and social conditions surrounding deaf education today.
By evaluating what we know, what we do not know, and what we thought we knew about learning among deaf children, the authors provide parents, teachers, and administrators valuable new insights into educating deaf students and others with special needs.
A must have for Deaf educators. I personally know these guys, and work for one of them. I'm also a Deaf person who went through public education, and I wish my parents had had this book available to them when I was growing up. It would have made life a little easier for both them and me. Dr. Harry Lang is a Deaf Science Educator who provides a lot of input on science and math, which is vitally important especially now in this day and age when America is falling so far behind in these areas. Dr. Albertini teaches English which continues to be a huge problem in Deaf Education. Dr. Marschark is the prevailing voice of wisdom in Deaf Education.
This book was ok. Unfortunately it was published in 2002, so much of the research was from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Some is still applicable today, but much has changed in education, understanding of the brain, and especially in technology. Their newer book geared towards teachers and parents is much more readable and modern. There was, however, some relevant and interesting information to take into account as a teacher of the deaf!