PRAXIS II Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Exam
This 2 hour exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions and 2 essay questions. The exam is designed to assess your readiness to teach deaf and hard of hearing students.
Human Development and the Learning Process
This section of the exam will focus on cultural, social and psychological influences on the deaf and hard of hearing student. Issues facing deaf and hard of hearing students and their families, deaf culture, the impact of deafness on child development; along with resources and support networks will be covered on the exam. The physiological components of hearing loss and deafness including audiology, causes of deafness, and medical and surgical issues of hearing loss will also be covered. Your knowledge of language development, literacy, American Sign Language (ASL) and deaf educational theories will also be assessed.
Educational Policies and Practices
This section of the exam will assess your knowledge of curriculum and instruction for deaf and hard of hearing students, the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), student classroom placement, legislation regarding deaf and hard of hearing students, communication and employment issues, along with the history of deaf education.
PRAXIS II Education Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Students Practice Questions
1. The Individualized Educational Program (IEP) includes:
A. assessment tests
B. interviews
C. medical history
D. All of the above
2. Which person was not part of sign language development?
A. Henry Ford
B. Geronimo Cardano
C. Juan Pablo de Benet
D. Samuel Heinicke
3. Which of the following is the only liberal arts college for the hearing impaired in the world?
A. American School for the Deaf
B. Gallaudet University
C. St. Thomas University
D. Marymount College
4. Name some parts of various sign language systems that are different.
A. Syntax
B. Grammar
C. Vocabulary
D. All of the above
5. People who are part of the deaf culture include:
A. people who are hard of hearing
B. parents of deaf children
C. sign language interpreters
D. All of the above
Answer Key To Education Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Students
1. Answer: D
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that states children with physical, psychological, and learning disabilities are entitled to a "free and appropriate public education." Every state and territory is mandated to provide educational opportunities for children between the ages of three and twenty-one, no matter how severe the learning problems or physical challenges.
The Individualized Educational Program (IEP) is a comprehensive written document mandated by IDEA Schools are required to conduct an evaluation that includes various assessment tests to determine the child's strengths and weaknesses; results of interviews with the child, his parents, teachers and other significant adults; and notes from conferences with professionals familiar with the child. IEP provides a review of his medical history, current educational performance, and comments from direct observation in various settings. It describes annual goals and sets short-term objectives. The IEP spells out the type and length of special services required and establishes methods for evaluating progress. Beginning at sixteen it must also include a plan to move him out of school into the real world.
2. Answer: A
The beginning of modern sign language can be traced back to Geronimo Cardano, a physician in Italy in the sixteenth century. He believed the deaf could be taught to recognize written symbols and associate them with the item they represented. The first book explaining the manual alphabet was published in 1620 by Juan Pablo de Bonet.
In 1755 the first free school for the deaf was established in Paris by Abbe Charles Michel de L'Epee. He believed deaf people could be taught to communicate using a combination of gestures, hand signs, and fingerspelling. He incorporated his language into the sign system the deaf of Paris were already using. He was instrumental in developing a standardized sign language.
During this same era in Leipzig, Germany, Samuel Heinicke began teaching speech and speechreading (also called lip reading) in the first government-recognized public school for the deaf.
The Great Plains Indians developed a signing system to use for intertribal communication. While only minor traces of the system remain, there are similarities with current signing languages used in both Europe and America.
3. Answer: B
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a Congregational minister, founded the first American school for hearing-impaired people. In an effort to help a neighbor's deaf daughter, in 1815 he went to Paris to study with Abbe Roche-Ambroise Sicard. While there, he convinced Laurent Clerc, a deaf sign language instructor, to come to America.
Gallaudet founded the American School for the Deaf and Dumb (known today as the American School for the Deaf) in 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut, to teach sign language. Clerc became the school's first deaf sign language teacher. By 1863, twenty-two schools had been established in several states. Gallaudet's son Edward and Amos Kendall opened Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University) in 1864. It is still the only liberal arts college in the world for hearing-impaired people.
Sign language schools incorporated various signing systems into their curriculums. Some were eventually discarded (methodical signs), some were modified (signing exact English), and others were used extensively (Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, French Sign Language, and New York Signs). All were instrumental in developing the system called American Sign Language.
4. Answer: D
American Sign Language (ASL, also known as Ameslan) has developed over the years into one of the most complete and expressive sign language systems in the world. It is estimated that in America anywhere from five hundred thousand to two million people use ASL; it is the fourth most used language in the United States.
Other than citing the establishment of schools for the hearing impaired, it is difficult to document exactly when ASL began. What is known is that hearing-impaired people have been talking to each other and finding ways to communicate with the hearing population for quite some time. For example, it is known the American Plains Indians used sign language for intertribal communication. On Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, hereditary deafness was common; its sign language can be traced back to ancestors in County Kent, England.
ASL is different than British Sign Language or any other English-based sign language. Each has its own syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. People who use these systems exclusively may have difficulty understanding one another because each is "speaking" a unique language.
5. Answer: D
While deafness is relatively rare, it has its own culture composed of people who consider deafness to be an identity like a minority ethnic group instead of an audiological status or physical disability. When used as a cultural identification, the word is often capitalized. These communities include people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and those who have shared experiences, such as parents of deaf children and sign language interpreters. According to Charlotte Baker-Shenk and Carol Padden, authors of American Sign Language: A Look at Its History, Structure and Community, a person is Deaf if he or she "identifies him/herself as a member of the Deaf community, and other members accept that person as part of the community."
Historically, deaf people have been expected to adapt to the hearing world. However, the world is changing. In 1988, students at Gallaudet University forced the school to appoint the first deaf president in its history. The students wanted a leader who understood and related to their particular issues. The student strike was likened to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
