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Three hundred and six 8mm cartridge-type films were produced to provide deaf children instruction in and practice with noun vocabulary, question forms, prepositions, and speechreading. Films were placed in 12 classes. Method of presentation and time spent was determined by individual teachers, most of whom had attended a three-day orientation workshop. Group I, consisting of 38 children (median age 8.6) worked with the projectors and language films similar to but not a part of the experimental films for one year. Group II (43 children, median age 7.6) used the experimental films for one year. Group III (29 children, median age 6.6) used both groups of films during two years. To determine progress in speechreading ability, the Illinois Communication Scale (Form B) was administered to each class before and after each year. Group III showed a 50% improvement in speech reading ability over the two years. Group I improved 21.74% while Group II showed 12.00% improvement. Reasons suggested for this are differences in intelligence, previous education, and age, and greater similarity than had been thought between the experimental and non-experimental films. The major criticism related to content (unrelated noun vocabulary). Appendixes include the Illinois Communication Scale and the Evaluation questionnaire. (KW)

THE ILLINOIS COMMUNICATION SCALE WAS DEVELOPED ON 16 MM COLOR FILM TO ASSESS THE RECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION ABILITIES OF DEAF CHILDREN BETWEEN 6 AND 14 YEARS. FORMS WERE CONSTRUCTED TO MEASURE (1) AUDITORY RECEPTION, (2) LIPREADING AND LISTENING, (3) LIPREADING ONLY, (4) FINGERSPELLING, AND (5) LANGUAGE OF SIGNS. EACH FORM HAD 5 SUBPARTS (1) VOCABULARY, (2) SIMPLE SENTENCES, (3) STORIES, (4) NARRATIONS, AND (5) RANDOM SENTENCES AND PHRASES. THE SCALE (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FIRST FORM WHICH COULD NOT BE ADMINISTERED AS A GROUP TEST) WAS GIVEN TO 417 SUBJECTS. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEST RESULTS AND AGE, NUMBER OF YEARS IN SCHOOL, IQ, ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES, PARAGRAPH MEANING SCORES, DEAFNESS OF RELATIVES, STATUS OF HEARING LOSS, AND SCHOOL ENTRANCE AGE WERE INVESTIGATED. TEST RESULTS WERE COMPARED WITH TEACHER RATINGS AS A CRITERION MEASURE. TWO VARIMAX ROTATED FACTOR MATRICES WERE OBTAINED FROM EACH OF THE TWO SCHOOLS IN THE STUDY. ONE USED THE SUBTESTS AS FACTORS. THE OTHER USED THE TOTAL SCORE FOR THE ENTIRE FORM AS A FACTOR. RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE TWO LIPREADING FORMS WERE VALID USING THE CRITERION OF TEACHERS' RATINGS. HOWEVER, THE "LIPREADING ONLY" FORM WAS NOT FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE "LIPREADING AND LISTENING" FORM. THE AUTHOR RECOMMENDED ELIMINATING THE FORMER. PERFORMANCE ON THE FINGERSPELLING AND LANGUAGE OF SIGNS FORMS WAS MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO AGE, YEARS IN SCHOOL, AND ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES THAN TO TEACHER RATINGS. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT BETTER CRITERIA FOR RATING ABILITY IN FINGERSPELLING AND THE LANGUAGE OF SIGNS BE FOUND SINCE TEACHER RATINGS OF THESE ITEMS WERE MORE HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH AGE, YEARS IN SCHOOL, AND DEAFNESS OF RELATIVES THAN WITH PERFORMANCE ON THESE ITEMS. ANALYSIS OF DATA INDICATED THAT SUBPARTS ONE, TWO, AND FIVE WERE EVALUATING THE SAME FACTOR AND PARTS THREE AND FOUR ANOTHER. IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT PARTS ONE, TWO, AND FIVE BE COMBINED AND AND THAT EITHER PART THREE OR PART FOUR BE ELIMINATED. NO RELIABILITY INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AS YET. FIGURES, TABLES, AND TEST ITEMS ARE INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIXES. THERE ARE 6 REFERENCES. (HK)

TO COUNTERACT THE NEGATIVE ATTITUDES AND ABNORMAL ATMOSPHERE AMONG DEAF CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS, A SEX EDUCATION CURRICULUM WAS DEVELOPED BY A STUDY GROUP COMPOSED OF TEAHCERS OF THE DEAF, SOCIAL HYGIENE PERSONNEL, AND A SOCIOLOGIST. A CONTROL GROUP WAS OBTAINED FROM THE INDIANA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF MATCHING FACTORS SUCH AS AGE, SEX, ACHIEVEMENT, AND IQ WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FROM THE ILLINOIS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF. THE K-12 SEX EDUCATION CURRICULUM WAS PRESENTED TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. FILMS AND EXISTING MATERIALS WERE ADAPTED FOR USE WITH THE DEAF WHENEVER POSSIBLE. CLASSES WERE MIXED RATHER THAN SEPARATED BY SEX. THE CLASS ON THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL (AGES 6-11) FOCUSED ON FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND GROWTH PATTERNS, THE ADOLESCENT CLASS (AGES 12 TO 15) DEALT WITH THE CONCEPTS OF ENTERING ADOLESCENCE AND BECOMING ADULT, AND THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL (AGES 16 TO 18) FOCUSED ON PREPARATION FOR AND ACCEPTANCE INTO ADULT SOCIETY. A PRETEST AND A POST-TEST WERE GIVEN. THE ADOLESCENT AND HIGH SCHOOL TEST WAS DESIGNED TO MEASURE INFORMATION AND ATTITUDES COVERED IN THE MATERIALS DEVELOPED IN THE SOCIAL AND PERSONAL HYGIENE CURRICULUM GUIDES. THE TEST FOR THE ELEMENTARY GROUPS WAS DESIGNED AS A NONVERBAL PICTORIAL TEST. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF ADOLESCENTS AND THE EXPERIMENTAL HIGH SCHOOL AGE GROUP SOCRED SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER (.01 LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE) ON THE POST-TEST THAN THE CONTROL GROUP. TESTING MATERIAL MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE LACK OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE ON THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL. THE MATERIALS AND CURRICULUM WERE EVALUATED AND REVISED FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION BY A STUDY GROUP AFTER THE EXPERIMENT. THE RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT WERE ALSO DISSEMINATED IN A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS. SUGGESTIONS FOR AIDING OTHER SCHOOLS IN ESTABLISHING SEX EDUCATION PROGRAMS ARE PROVIDED, INCLUDING AN INSERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR BOTH THE ACADEMIC AND RESIDENTIAL STAFFS AND PARTICIPATION BY THE COMMUNITY AND THE PARENTS. SAMPLE TESTS, QUESTIONNAIRES, AND RESPONSES ARE INCLUDED. (AA/JD)

The need for change in the philosophy of education underlying programs for deaf children is noted. (GW)