A Comparison of Phonemic and Phonological Awareness in Educators Working With Children Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The researchers explored the phonological awareness (PA) competency and confidence of educators working with children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Performance comparisons were made between the two surveyed professional groups, teachers of the deaf (TODs; n = 58) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs; n = 51). It was found that both respondent groups demonstrated gaps in PA knowledge and skills; however, SLPs performed significantly better, on average, than TODs. The educators expressed feelings of moderate confidence in their skills related to teaching children with hearing loss and assessing their PA. Correlations between educator demographics or levels of confidence and educator performance on PA measures did not yield significant findings. The results underscore the need for improved personnel preparation and PA continuing education for educators supporting literacy education of children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing.