title: The relationship between teacher sign skills and student evaluations of teacher capability.
abstract: This study examines the extent to which deaf students' perceptions of their teachers' effectiveness and ease of communication in the classroom are related to the teachers' sign skills. Thirty-three faculty, teaching a variety of courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), were rated on "teaching effectiveness" and "communication ease" by their students over a 2-year period. Faculty sign proficiency was evaluated independently using the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI). Results indicate a moderate relation between students' perceptions of communication ease and teaching effectiveness, and a weak relation of these two variables to the teachers' assessed level of sign skill. The data also show that the students could clearly differentiate three levels of teacher sign skill in the classroom. Results are discussed in relation to the component parts of effective communication from the perspective of students in the classroom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stinson
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D010465:Perception; D012813:Sign Language; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching