Aldine ISD is Hiring Deaf Education Teachers for 2021-2022 School Year

Aldine ISD is hiring Deaf or Hard of Hearing educators for the 2021-2022 school year.

There are currently 2.2% of Aldine ISD students who receive special education services that have a primary disability of Auditory Impairment/Deaf or Hard of Hearing or Deafblind. Although the population seems small, the impact of a positive educational experience is important to ensure students have what they need now and in the future. 

Due to a national shortage of Teachers of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire teachers and audiologists. 

“The shortage of deaf ed teachers has a major impact on our students,” Aldine ISD Program Director of Special Education, Amber Srock said. “We are looking for high-quality certified deaf or hard of hearing educators to ensure our students receive the specialized instruction they need to succeed.” 

The Aldine ISD Deaf or Hard of Hearing program serves children who qualify as having an auditory impairment and whose hearing loss interferes with the processing of linguistic information. Students are determined eligible for the program by an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for students ages birth through 3 years of age or by an Admission Review and Dismissal (ARD) committee for students ages 3 through 21-years old. 

Early intervention is important. 

Aldine ISD Parent-Infant Advisor, Rachel Cameron, provides support to families with children, from birth to 3 years old, who have hearing loss or are profoundly deaf. Cameron goes into the home to offer early childhood intervention services. Her goal is to inform families of the resources that they are eligible for. 

“I enjoy working one-on-one with families and helping them understand ways to communicate with their children at an early age,” Cameron said. “When I am building relationships with new families, I want to make sure they know that they are entitled to services from the beginning. They don’t have to wait until their child starts school. We have various communication tools for parents to utilize and help their children transition to school.”

Students may come from several school districts to a central location (public school) for education services to be served by teachers and audiologists who are certified to work with students who are deaf/hard of hearing on their home campus. Aldine ISD is the fiscal agent for the North Harris County Regional Day School Program for the Deaf to provide services through the Parent-Infant Program, itinerant services, and site-based services. In addition to Aldine ISD students, the district serves students from Huffman and Spring ISD. 

Aldine ISD deaf education classrooms are located at Magrill Primary, Ogden Elementary, Teague Middle School, and Nimitz High School. 

Communication access is important for all students who have varied communication needs. To provide complete access to the classroom, Teague Middle School Self-Contained Deaf Education Teacher, Lauren Keating, uses total communication, which includes both spoken and sign language.

Keating’s classroom provides a smaller learning environment for students to thrive. 

“My students are at all different levels and I want them to be successful both in the classroom but also outside of the classroom,” she said.

Additionally, students in her classroom are taught important life and social skills that they might not have learned due to hearing loss. 

The community extends beyond the individual classrooms. Students from Teague and Nimitz serve as role models for the younger students at Magrill and Ogden. Throughout the year the students visit the schools to read to the younger students through speech or sign language. The district also hosts two community deaf education events for students and families to socialize and learn about the different community and state resources. 

Aldine ISD also offers free community sign language classes for students, families, and staff members. This year classes will be offered in-person in October and March. If you are interested in learning sign language three classes will be offered for all levels. 

ASL 1: Focuses on the alphabet, numbers, and basic signs

ASL 2: Works on vocabulary and simple sentences

ASL 3: Vocabulary, sentence structure, and conversations 

According to the National Association of the Deaf:

• 85 percent of families with deaf children in the United States chose spoken language services for their children
• 72 percent of those parents do not know American Sign Language (ASL)
• By the age of five years old, many deaf and hard of hearing children arrive at school with limited or no language spoken or signed

For more information about Aldine ISD’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher employment opportunities visit the Aldine ISD Human Resources webpage.