Inclusion of Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind Students: Development of an Evaluation Tool

In partnership with ACE-BC this research project will develop an evaluation tool for assessing the inclusivity of postsecondary students who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind (DHHDB) in BC.

The development of provincial accessibility standards in British Columbia has increased the attention to and effort being invested in understanding the impact of the legislation and the activities undertaken to support students with disabilities. The proposed research will develop an evaluation tool for assessing a degree of inclusivity for students who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind (DHHDB) in postsecondary institutions in British Columbia. The project will identify key components of inclusion for DHHDB postsecondary students and a list of indicators and targets for institutions to track their progress toward creating a more inclusive environment. The evaluation tool is intended to help postsecondary institutions make progress toward their social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion goals.

When exploring ways to support postsecondary institutions in their efforts to improve diversity and inclusivity of students, Academic Communications Equity BC (this project's partner) identified a gap between the existing knowledge of challenges that DHHDB student experience and the action of tracking the positive changes. A limited capacity to engage in reflective evaluation leaves many institutions unsure about the progress they are making to improve accessibility of their physical and social environments. Without effective tools for soliciting ongoing feedback from faculty, staff, other service providers, and DHHDB students about key issues and progress toward accessibility goals, postsecondary institutions are unable to learn from shortcomings and improve on the quality work. This forces many departments and staff in postsecondary institutions to conduct their inclusion efforts based on limited information and assumptions.

This research goes beyond simply investigating challenges, and instead, the project seeks to: 1. Identify the best practices by using a strengths-based approach that emphasizes what works for promoting inclusion; and 2. Develop and test an evaluation tool as a mechanism for tracking quantitative/qualitative and external/internal indicators that will pertain to successes but also focus on identifying areas for growth and improvement. The evaluation tool will become a learning mechanism that will allow postsecondary institutions to improve understanding of their own performance. This research will be conducted in partnership with Academic Communication Equity BC (ACE-BC). As a provincial organization, ACE-BC provides expertise and resources to assist postsecondary institutions, accessibility coordinators, students, instructors, and services providers in efforts to improve equitable access to postsecondary education for DHHDB students. The partnership, based on previous collaboration, will involve the stakeholders and organizations that ACE-BC has strong relations with (e.g., Sign Language Interpreters, accessibility advisors). As part of this research, ACE-BC will be involved in all stages of the project, specifically recruitment, facilitation of the engagement sessions, and the uptake of the final tool.