Seeking the Seeds of Success Dr. Roz Rosen, Director CSUN National Center on Deafness CALED Conference March 8, 2013

  What are the seeds of success? Where are they?   How to nurture them? Protect them?   How to share them?   What are our roles, rights and responsibilities?   What are some of the tools for advocacy and alliances?   How do we use them to transform challenges into opportunities? Seeking the Seeds of Success: An Overview

What are the seeds for success? Why do we seek them? Where are they?

Lets open our eyes and hearts – What do we all want to accomplish?

First Things First!

 Deaf people are biologically people of the light. Visual.  Language/Bilingualism (ASL & English) is a human right. & English) is a human right.  Perception of Language is evolving from Problem to Right to Resource  Alliances & Networks  Community and culture  Access, accountability and limited time Embrace Literacy, Bilingualism, & Multiculturalism

9 Challenge Yourself. Mindset Change. Systemic Change.

Listen to that inner light bulb.

The Need: Access to Language  D/HH struggle to achieve academically, not because they can't hear. There are Deaf children who do succeed.  Children who have access to visual language (ASL) with families do acquire language at the same rate as hearing children and they enter school with age-appropriate language skills. California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, in his 2007 State of Education Address, “Closing the Achievement Gap for the Deaf” stated -

Numbers & Educational Inequity  Approx 13,000 DHH K-12 students in California  What is their success rate? (CDE, 2007 – CA Standards Test: Only 8% proficient on English and 10% proficient in math)  LAUSD to revise how English learners are taught 10/11/11 LA Times lausd-feds ,0, story lausd-feds ,0, storyhttp:// lausd-feds ,0, story  29% in ELP -- mostly Latinos; plus 10% African American  California neglects education of English learners, lawsuit claims 5/31/12 LA Times lawsuit ,0, story lawsuit ,0, storyhttp:// lawsuit ,0, storyhttp:// lawsuit ,0, story 12

Diverse seeds, diverse learning styles. Diverse seeds, same growing needs.

See the Seeds

Nuture the Seeds.

Aim High.

Soar with the best.

Smile! You rock!

Maureen Klusza of Moeart.com, 2007 What are the Goals? ASL/English/+ for all. Success for All ASL and English -- a human right for all babies. Language professionals, not audiologists as the first contact. Involvement of Deaf professionals, families with Deaf signers, community centers and other professionals in deaf education. Education, not Health Department, should be the lead agency -- being Deaf is an educational challenge, not a medical issue! Accountability of the State of California is a must for successful programs for families and Deaf babies. Incorporate language benchmarks at 6 month intervals for assessments. Must involve Deaf representatives – nothing about us without us!!

Change the room.

Challenge: Update and Enact – Deaf Child’s Bill of Rights 1994 Communication Access/Quality Education 1999 AB 1836 Bill of Rights Code , Sec. b (4)

Advocacy & Alliances

United Nations: International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (2006) Purpose: to promote, protect and ensure full access and equal human rights on local, national and international levels. Full access including Sign Language, professional interpreters and technology, in homes, schools and communities. Linguistic identity, Deaf culture and Sign Language are human rights. “Nothing about us without us.” UNECO Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights National Minority People Have These Rights – To use and to learn in their own language, to be taught by proficient language teachers; to be involved in planning curriculum and programs; & to be involved in the development, implementation and monitoring of these programs. International Congress on Education of the Deaf 2010: The New Era Accord Purpose: to apologize for the repression of Sign Language and Deaf People since 1880 and to support full access to language and communications 23

Reach out. Network. COPs. Sympos.

 Embracing Being Deaf  Language Benchmarks  Bill of Rights  Outcomes & Accountability  Alliances  Regional Programs Some Seeds of Success

References and Resources California State University: Dept of Deaf Studies Dept of Special Education/Deaf Education National Center on Deafness Hands on Signs  CRPD – Human Rights United Nations: International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) Deaf Education and Families Project California Department of Education/Deaf and Hard of hearing PEPNet 2 American Society for Deaf Children California Assoc of the Deaf (CAD), California Educators of the Deaf (CAL-ED), California Stakeholders ASL/English (CAL- SAE ) 

Together with you, our seeds can and will go right through the ceiling!! Best wishes!! Dr. Roz Rosen