Annual Survey: Changes in Student and Program Characteristics, 1984-85 and 1994-95

Abstract

Annual Survey Changes in Student and Program Characteristics, 1984-8S and 1994-9S Arthur N. Schildroth and Sue A. Hotto Data presented in the following pages are from the Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children and Youth conducted by the Center for Assessment and Demographic Studies in Gallaudet University's Research Institute. This is the sixth consecutive year in which the Reference Issue of Annals has published summary Annual Survey data. Previous survey reports in the Reference Issue focused on ethnic background , children under age 6, the full inclusion movement, school leavers, and Annual Survey data in relation to reading test scores of deaf children. Table 1 shows changes in Annual Survey data over a 10year period, between the 1984-85 and 1994-95 school years. At least two significant changes have occurred during this decade. The first relates to the educational placement of children with hearing impairments; the second involves the racial/ethnic background of the children reported to the Annual Survey. The importance of these two variables takes on added significance in light of recent changes proposed for special education in certain parts of the U.S. (e.g., funding reductions and manner of funding for center programs in the Northeast Region, center school closings in the South). The educational placement and racial/ethnic background changes presented here will also interact with the "full inclusion" movement (i.e., the trend to place all disabled children in regular education programs). Several qualifications should be kept in mind in reviewing Annual Survey data. 1. Since the survey is voluntary, it does not include all deaf and hard-of-hearing children receiving special educational services in the U.S. If the number of these children reported by the states to the federal government is accurate, then the Annual Survey includes between 60% and 70% of all deaf and hard-of-hearing children receiving special education in this country. 2. The 1984-85 survey included 3,405 children who were not receiving special educational services; in 1994-95 the number of these children had dropped to 2,784. 3. Missing data — that is, questions left unanswered by the school or marked "data not available" — have been excluded from the percentage calculations in Table 1. This point is especially important for any variable with a large amount of missing data (e.g., the "cause of hearing loss" variable). 4. Hispanics may be of any race. 5. Degree of hearing loss was calculated on the basis of an unaided better-ear average — that is, by averaging the pure-tone thresholds at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz in the better ear — or, if that information was unavailable, by accepting an estimate by the school of the student's unaided hearing loss. (The distributions of hearing loss resulting from these two methods have been found to be very similar in the Annual Survey database.) 6. In regard to "additional disabilities," schools were asked to report only those additional conditions that were "educationally significant," that is, those that had a substantial effect on the student's learning or required some significant modification of the learning environment. Inquiries about Annual Survey data or permission to reprint should be directed to the Center for Assessment and Demographic Studies, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Phone: [phone] (TTYVVoice). Volume 141, No. 2 American Annals of the Deaf Table 1 Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children and Youth: 1984-85 and 1994-95 Selected Variable 1984-85 1994-95 Remarks Total U.S. N = 50,731 N = 47,616 Total: There was a decline of over 3,000 children reported to the Annual Survey over the ten years, due largely to the departure of the "rubella bulge" children born during the 1964-66 epidemic. Federal "child count" figures show a similar decline during the late 1980s before recent changes in the "child count" age categories made comparisons to previous years difficult. The Annual Survey database has been very stable since 1990, fluctuating by only 1,700 children. See "AGE" note below Region/State Northeast Midwest South West Age Under 3 Years From 3 to 5 From 6 to 9 From...