Program Monitoring Practices for Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Early Intervention

Authors

Anne E. Thomas, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Christine Marvin, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

5-2016

Citation

Published in Communication Disorders Quarterly 37:3 (May 2016), pp 184-193. doi 10.1177/1525740115597862

Comments

Copyright © 2015 Hammill Institute on Disabilities. Published by SAGE Publications. Used by permission.

Abstract

Program monitoring is an important and necessary assessment practice within the field of early childhood deaf education. Effective program monitoring requires a focus on both the consistent implementation of intervention strategies (fidelity) and the assessment of children’s ongoing progress in response to interventions (progress monitoring). Teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing (TODs) who provide early intervention services need to conduct regular program monitoring to evaluate the merit of their efforts. However, progress monitoring is a practice often overlooked by practitioners within the field of early intervention. It is recommended that TODs monitor children’s progress “regularly,” but evidence of such practices by TODs is as yet unavailable. In this article, we describe how TODs can use both progress monitoring and fidelity checks to achieve the goal of effective program monitoring for young children who are deaf and hard of hearing.