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Butler’s University’s new Deaf education curriculum draws concern
Butler’s new $1.25 million federally funded master’s program focuses on oral skills for deaf children, sparking concerns about limited American Sign Language training.
- Butler University will launch an online master's program this fall, funded by a $1.25-million U.S. Department of Education grant, to train educators in spoken-language instruction for deaf children.
- The university argues specialization is practical for training educators in spoken-language approaches, with Jenna Voss saying the master's aims to expand family options and workforce capacity while undergraduate ASL courses and an ASL minor remain separate from the master's.
- The program website states it is one of just five Deaf education programs nationwide that emphasize spoken-language instruction, and it includes only one required ASL class.
- David Geeslin and other Deaf leaders voiced concern that fewer children will learn to sign, prompting the Indiana Association of the Deaf to launch a letter campaign after Butler's mid-January announcement.
- Research remains divided over Deaf education approaches while regional programs contract; IU Indianapolis eliminated its ASL interpreting bachelor's, and Fontbonne University closed last August, with over 90% of deaf children born to hearing parents.
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Total News Sources8
Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 25%
C 50%
R 25%
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