Clerc Center Named Apple Distinguished School for Technological Use in K-12 Bilingual Deaf Education
The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center (Clerc Center) has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2022–2025 for its adoption and integration of Apple products into everyday teaching, learning, and working as the nation's leading Deaf educational institution and resource center.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center (Clerc Center) announces that it has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2022–2025 for its adoption and integration of Apple products into everyday teaching, learning, and working as the nation's leading Deaf educational institution and resource center.
The Clerc Center, charged by Congress with finding innovative ways to reframe Deaf education, adopted Apple products for learning before and during the pandemic. Teachers had previously voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting an Apple approach to learning, with an iPad learning kit distributed to each student and an Apple kit including a MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Apple Pencil for each teacher. During this process, they discovered ways to enhance communication, personal accountability, and restructure classroom instruction to improve outcomes for all students.
"The use of and integration of technology to promote innovation in the classroom have both been a driver and a support for our curriculum decisions," said Stephen Farias, Director of Academic Programs at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), a high school program within the Clerc Center. "We have been able to develop and implement a new STEAM curriculum, make use of digital and online learning supports to bolster teacher effectiveness, and have fostered the creation of new forms of artistic expression that center Deaf experiences and American Sign Language."
Jessica Stultz, Director of Academic Programs at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES), the ECE-8th grade arm of the Clerc Center, added, "We have used technology in many ways, which has helped us enormously in terms of supporting the development of bilingual language fluency and comprehension in our classrooms. We've also seen a strengthened foundational relationship between our teachers and parents through the use of student-assigned iPads that they bring and use at home, and that combined support allows our students to thrive."
Digital learning technologies have created opportunities for the Clerc Center to expand its educational reach, which proved to be extremely critical in the sudden shift to online learning when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a move away from face-to-face to remote learning. Additionally, the use of technology and data in the classroom in Clerc Center's assessment efforts has positively impacted student achievement. iPads assigned to students have enabled time-saving measures to be implemented for testing and assessment and have reduced testing anxiety.
The Clerc Center is housed on the Gallaudet University campus, which was also recognized as an Apple Distinguished School. Together, Clerc Center and Gallaudet serve deaf and hard of hearing students across the lifespan.
The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center (Clerc Center) at Gallaudet University is a federally funded center with exemplary elementary and secondary education programs for deaf and hard of hearing students and is tasked with developing and disseminating innovative curricula, instructional techniques, and products nationwide while providing information, training, and technical assistance for parents and professionals to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students from birth to age 21.
Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) is a demonstration school that offers K-8 classroom instruction for the local D.C. metropolitan area, as well as early childhood education programs, including a parent-infant program.
The Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD) is a tuition-free comprehensive day and residential four-year high school program for deaf and hard of hearing students from across the United States.
Press Contact:
Tyrone Giordano
Director of Communications, Clerc Center
Videophone: 202-572-9213
Email: [email protected]
Media Contact
Karen Durkin, The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, 1 3864514850, [email protected]
SOURCE The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
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