Scholarship and Research at RIT

Research Highlight

RIT creates a “pathway” to encourage deaf high school students to pursue a college education and career in the IT field.

Preparing Deaf Students for Careers in Information Technology
To create a pathway for deaf and hard-of-hearing students across the country to transition from high school to associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees, and beyond in the area of information technology, RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) has undertaken a major NSF project: Pathway to an IT Education for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students. This pathway project will allow deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students to earn college credit while they are still in high school. Five high schools across the country will partner with NTID to pilot these dual- credit (for both high school and college credit) courses. This three-year project will serve as the framework for a larger national program. Principal investigators Myra Pelz and Donna Lange of NTID’s information and computing studies department are working with schools in New York, Florida, Texas, and California, each with a significant population of deaf or hard-of-hearing students, to offer dual-credit RIT computer courses offered through the college of NTID. The project also offers summer professional development for high school teachers and guidance counselors that includes best teaching practices and training for hearing teachers who work with mainstreamed deaf students. “Such courses can help reduce barriers and ease the transition from high school to college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students,” said Pelz. “NTID’s course materials and career information will help move students from high school to college and on to careers in information technology, where deaf individuals are underrepresented.”

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