Measuring the Quality of Education: The Involvement of Bilingually Educated Deaf Children

The levels of involvement of six young deaf children were observed during three educational tasks. These levels were used as indicators of quality of education. The children were bilingually educated. The possible connection between language of instruction, type of task, teaching style, and level of involvement was studied. The children's observed overall level of involvement was high. Involvement was influenced by the type of educational task, but also by the teacher and by the language of instruction: Involvement was greater during activities led by the deaf teacher, using Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN). Measurement of involvement of young deaf children turned out to be a good way to assess quality of education, not only for research purposes but in the context of general educational practice.