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EDITORIAL Take Longer Steps Faster, Work More Hours Harder Several years ago, a highly successful track coach was asked for the secret of his success over the years. How was he able to get so many different runners to improve their times so significantly? His response was that it was simple, "They've just got to take longer steps faster. " Of course, the answer was simple, but achieving the results was not easy. Behind the results lay untold hours of work, creativity, and dedication. If we were to pose a question about how we might improve the academic performance of deaf children, the response might be an equally simple, "They've just got to read and write better." Unfortunately, unlike in the area of athletic competition, we cannot point to any source of unqualified academic success to emulate. In my observations of programs in Europe, Asia, and North and South America I have seen pockets of excellence, but never a complete program that could be held up as a model. It is my subjective impression that the math curriculum for deaf students in Russia is outstanding, that teachers of the deaf in Germany are particularly well trained in developing spoken language abilities, and that the United States should provide a model for post-secondary education of the deaf. I would love to see all deaf children exhibit the warmth and spontaneity that seems to come so naturally to those in Brazilian schools. Despite these examples, the overall picture is grim. Apparently, deaf children in all countries spend less time than their hearing counterparts on academic subject matter. It seems as if educators and other professionals who work with the deaf are searching for magic answers to intractable problems. To date, many of the proposed magic answers are naive and often contradictory. Thus, we have arguments that placing deaf children with hearing peers will somehow automatically improve their academic and communicative skills. Placed in juxtaposition are equally heartfelt arguments that residential schools are the only humane placements for deaf students. From another perspective, in the United States, one group insists that the language of instruction should be oral English alone, with American Sign Language (ASL) and manual codes on English banned from the classroom. Another group argues that ASL alone should be the language of instruction and that manual codes on English should be banned from the classroom. Both groups agree in their opposition to manual forms of English. The stridency with which a position is presented seems to be in inverse proportion to the amount of data supporting it. The controversies themselves distract us from facing the difficult tasks that challenge us. In fact, simplistic solutions may be a way of avoiding the real issues. Nothing of worth will ever be achieved without major effort. Teachers and children must work harder on academic tasks. No key, medicine, or surgical procedure will obviate this fact, and the sooner we acknowledge it the better off our children will be. Coincidentally, I recently happened to read in a popular magazine an article describing 10 educational "pockets of excellence" throughout the world. Although the article was not scientifically based, it had some interesting elements. First, as in so many such reports, special education was ignored, a common oversight that we should all be addressing. Second was the wide-spread nature of these "pockets of excellence." There were 10 categories across eight countries. For example, outstanding reading and writing were associated with New Zealand, early childhood education with Italy, science with Japan, math with the Netherlands, teacher training with Germany, and higher education with the United States. The most impressive thing about the various pockets of excellence was the heavy commitment a particular country made to areas it considered important. In New Zealand, 50% of class time in the early grades is spent on reading and writing. In the Netherlands, 90% of high school students take advanced math courses. All teachers in Germany must have double majors. The results of such commitments show up in the achievement of students. It is time for educators of the deaf to begin to think on a global level also. It is clear that no one country or section...

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