The relationship between teacher sign skills and student evaluations of teacher capability

This study examines the extent to which deaf students' perceptions of their teachers' effectiveness and ease of communication in the classroom are rel ated to the teachers' sign skills. Thirty-three faculty, teaching a variety of courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf(NTID), were ra ted 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 student s could clearly differentiate three levels of teacher sign skill in the cla ssroom. Results are discussed in relation to the component parts of effecti ve communication from the perspective of students in the classroom.