Demystifying Deafness

Most deaf children in the United States are not educated in specialized schools for the deaf but in public schools. This has had a detrimental effect on these students because many public-school teachers misunderstand deafness and are unable to adjust their teaching strategies to address the needs of this population. The mission of this chapter is to educate teachers on deafness and how to better teach and relate to a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Specifically, this chapter will provide pertinent information for helping teachers better understand deaf and hard-of-hearing students as well as provide evidence-based practices and teaching tips that can be utilized in the classroom with this group.

Teachers’ perceptions of their school principal's leadership style and improvement in their students’ performance in specialized schools for students with conduct disorders

We examined the relationship between the school principal's leadership style, as perceived by the school teachers, and improvement in the performance of students with special education needs enrolled in specialized schools for students with conduct disorders. Our motivation originates in the increasing trend in their share within the general population and the premise that this unique population may respond differently to school principal leadership style. Datasets on students’ previous performance, students’ background characteristics, teacher profiles, and school features were collected. In addition, a questionnaire on teachers’ perceptions of their school principal's leadership style was distributed. Datasets were collected from 92 teachers who worked in special education needs public schools that specialized in conduct disorders. Using STATA software, we measured multilevel fixed-effects models. We found that the more the school principal is perceived as a transformational leader, the higher the students’ performance. Additionally, secondary school advantaged students (i.e. having a high level of previous performance, high socioeconomic strata), who are taught by more educated teachers, exhibit higher performance compared with their counterparts. Based on our finding, we recommend that policy makers would consider assigning transformational leaders to low-performing schools. In addition, policy makers may want to allocate extra learning resources and to provide access to learning services to support the disadvantaged students’ learning process.

The Effect of Special Skill exercises on Accuracy and Some Bio - kinematical Variables in Low and High Setting for Youth Setters Baghdad Volleyball Clubs

The study aimed at identifying the effect of some special skill exercises on some bio- kinematical variables and the accuracy of low and high jump setting in volleyball. The subjects were (29) youth setters from Baghdad clubs only (5) setters were selected from Al Senaa, Al Shorta, Al Huria, Al Selaik, and the specialized schools for gifted in Baghdad. The researchers used the experimental method and the main experiment included taping the subject with (240 pix/se) camera to extract bio- kinematical variables. The special skill exercises were applied for two months followed by posttests. The data was analyzed using (Kinovea) then statistically using SPSS. The results showed significance in favor of posttests. Finally the recommended the necessity of using special skill exercises due to their great effect on setting kinematics that develops the motor pathways of setting.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): present and future (as a Finnish innovation)

The paper considers Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as one of the approaches to achieve the purpose of learning foreign languages, represented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages adopted by the Council of Europe in 2001. To acquire a language means not merely to obtain communication skills in one, two or even three languages, studied separately, but “to develop a linguistic repertoire in which all language skills are present,” as mentioned in the European Recommendations on Language Education. People who possess even little knowledge can achieve a certain level of communication proficiency using all their linguistic “tools”, experimenting with alternative forms of expression in different languages and dialects, using paralinguistic means (mimics, gestures, facial expressions, etc.) and radically simplifying their use of language [1; P. 19]. Researchers in Finland, whose success in the education system is recognized worldwide, are searching for methods and approaches to achieve this purpose of foreign language education. One of their attempts is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The paper reveals: the history and the origins of CLIL. According to C. Nieminen it includes the method of immersion, created and widely used in Canada. This research also outlines the advantages and factors limiting the usage of CLIL, as well as the prospects for further implementation of this approach to the study of foreign languages in different countries. In Ukraine this training method has not yet become widely applied, only some cases of CLIL implementation take place in specialized schools and in higher education institutions at foreign language departments. Therefore, according to national scholars Ukraine focuses on improving the level of foreign language proficiency, profound research and implementation of the CLIL methodology in schools and higher education institutions all over the country.