THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA — California Lutheran University has been granted a substantial $1,241,679 award by the U.S. Department of Education to bolster its Graduate School of Education’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Credential Program.
The five-year grant will fund “Access Teach: Closing the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Educator Gap,” a project that aims to support 60 graduate-level students as they prepare to become credentialed teachers for high-need Deaf and hard-of-hearing students in public schools.
This initiative offers not only financial support for tuition, textbooks, and instructional materials but also mentoring and other resources to attract and retain students.
Improving Access
One notable aspect of the grant is its provision for restructuring the program into a hybrid format by the summer of 2024. This transition will feature synchronous classes, incorporating some in-person sessions on Saturdays, designed to accommodate the needs of working professionals throughout Southern California.
Sofia Ramirez Davis, EdD, the project’s director, is an assistant professor and the director of Cal Lutheran’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. She expressed her commitment to fostering an inclusive and dynamic learning environment that prepares students for success in this critical field. Davis, who holds a doctorate in educational leadership and a master’s in deaf education from Cal Lutheran, boasts over 18 years of experience as a Spanish teacher, credentialed teacher of the Deaf, parent educator, assistant professor, administrator, mentor, and leader in spoken-language education for students with hearing loss.
“This grant is a significant step forward in our mission to provide high-quality education to future diverse and multilingual teachers of the deaf. We are committed to creating an inclusive and dynamic learning environment that prepares our students for success in this high-need field.”
–Sofia Ramirez Davis, EdD
Increased Demand for Qualified Educators
The Council on Education of the Deaf has observed a growing demand for credentialed and highly qualified educators serving Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This need has arisen due to high retirement rates and a decrease in training programs. Particularly significant in California is the necessity to recruit multilingual teachers who possess the skills required to serve the state’s increasingly diverse student population.
Cal Lutheran’s existing Deaf and Hard of Hearing Credential Program is already making a substantial impact on public schools in the greater Los Angeles area. It is one of the few programs in the state to focus on listening and spoken language for school-age children with hearing loss. A considerable percentage of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s teachers for the Deaf and hard of hearing are graduates of the university’s program.
The ultimate aim of Access Teach is to enhance language and literacy skills among students with hearing loss, while simultaneously increasing the number of fully credentialed educators. This includes those who are multilingual and hail from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, ensuring the better service of school-age children with disabilities.
Collaborating partners for this project include the Los Angeles Unified School District and other local districts, the USC Caruso Family Center for Childhood Communication, NO LIMITS for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, Advanced Bionics (AB) Corporation, and ECHO Center.
Source: CLU
