Defining the Future of Deaf Education: Evidence, Expertise, and Specialized Educational Practice

Deaf education draws upon specialized expertise in language and communication development, literacy, pedagogy, assessment, accessibility, and interdisciplinary collaboration to promote meaningful educational access and outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing learners. The field serves an increasingly heterogeneous population, including learners who use diverse languages and communication modalities, students with additional disabilities, multilingual learners, and students educated across inclusive and specialized settings. These changes create both opportunities and challenges for educators, families, researchers, and policymakers. A contemporary examination of the evidence base is needed to understand the specialized knowledge and practices that support learner outcomes, the roles of professionals and families within collaborative systems, and the educational structures necessary to ensure equitable access and participation.Deaf education is at an important point of transition. Deaf and hard of hearing learners are increasingly diverse in their language, communication, cultural, academic, and disability-related profiles and receive services across an expanding range of educational environments. At the same time, questions regarding specialized professional expertise, personnel shortages, service-delivery models, interdisciplinary collaboration, and equitable access have significant implications for educational policy and practice. This Research Topic seeks to bring together contemporary evidence that defines and strengthens deaf education as a specialized field of study and practice. By examining the knowledge, practices, personnel, partnerships, and systems associated with positive outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing learners, the collection will identify what is known, illuminate critical gaps in the evidence base, and establish priorities for research, professional preparation, policy, and educational practice.We invite contributions examining five interconnected areas of deaf education: (1) specialized professional expertise, personnel preparation, and workforce development; (2) language, literacy, curriculum, assessment, and evidence-based pedagogy; (3) diverse, complex, and intersectional learner needs; (4) collaborative systems involving educators, related-service professionals, families, and Deaf communities; and (5) service delivery, policy, educational access, and learner outcomes. Across these areas, we particularly welcome scholarship that examines how specialized knowledge and interdisciplinary partnerships contribute to language, literacy, academic, social-emotional, transition, and lifelong outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing learners. Contributions may include empirical studies, systematic or scoping reviews, theoretical or conceptual analyses, policy analyses, community-engaged research, and rigorous examinations of innovative educational practices and service-delivery models. International and interdisciplinary perspectives are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Christy Borders, Kristi Probst, Michelle Gremp Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86076/defining-the-future-of-deaf-education-evidence-expertise-and-specialized-educational-practice