Educational Service Guidelines for the Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Standard 21: Collaborative Programs

Programs and services may be provided through or coordinated with collaborative or cooperative programs to more effectively serve students who are D/HH. Ohio Operating standards for students with Disabilities: 3301-51-07(C)(D)

Student and teacher in a classroom, both signing ‘help’.

Students who are D/HH, like all children, should be in educational settings in which there are specialized personnel with knowledge of serving this population of students and a sufficient number of peers who are D/HH. The establishment of cooperative programs provides placement options that bring together a sufficient number of peers to promote communication and social development as well as more specialized expertise to support the students.

Collaborative or cooperative programs represent the kind of comprehensive programming supported by DEW and recommended by the Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf (CEASD), the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), and the Commission on Education of the Deaf (COED).

RSA 186-C: 8 Collaborative Programs

School districts or school administrative units, or both, may enter into cooperative agreements in order to provide approved programs for educating children with disabilities. The State Board of Education, when appropriate because of a low incidence of a disabling condition, high cost of services, or scarcity of trained personnel, shall encourage such cooperative agreements and shall serve as a source of information, advice and guidance to school districts, school administrative units, or both. Ohio Operating Standards for the Students with Disabilities 3301-51-09

The development of collaborative programs and services encourages effective use of personnel, reduces duplication of services, and encourages better use of limited resources in order to ensure:

Appropriate assessment
Formation of peer groups
Cost-effective and appropriate staff development and training
Responsibility for the design, implementation, and management of collaborative/cooperative programs by individuals who are trained as educators of the deaf/hard of hearing and are knowledgeable about students who are D/HH
Provision of high quality instruction
Program administrators who can provide meaningful supervision, evaluation, instructional leadership, and mentoring
Family involvement and appropriate training programs for parents/families (i.e. Lunch and learning for Families, Workshops on sign and spoken language)