Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction Experiment

NCT ID: NCT06729164

Last Updated: 2025-11-24

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

150 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-04-01

Study Completion Date

2026-07-30

Brief Summary

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This RCT study involves teachers divided into an experimental group and a control group. Teachers in the experimental group will receive SISI training to support the sign language development of deaf children, while those in the control group will continue with "business-as-usual" teaching methods. Pre- and post-assessments will be conducted for all deaf children at the beginning and end of the school year.

Detailed Description

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This randomized controlled trial (RCT) examines the effects of the Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction (SISI) intervention on deaf children's expressive language development in signing (primary) and writing (secondary). The study compares two groups - an intervention group implementing SISI and a control group continuing their usual instructional routines without the intervention.

The intervention group will include approximately 10 teachers, each working with 5-7 deaf children. These classrooms will implement the SISI intervention, which provides structured, language-centered supports designed to strengthen children's signing through explicit modeling, guided practice, and discourse-focused intervention routines. Schools that participated in the 2024-2025 nationwide pre/post study will be included in the intervention group for 2025-2026 if they choose to continue.

The control group will likewise include approximately 10 teachers with 5-7 Deaf children each. These classrooms will continue with their standard practices without the SISI intervention. Schools newly joining the project in 2025-2026 will be assigned to this group.

Child language data will be collected twice - fall 2025 (pre-test) and spring 2026 (post-test). Deaf children will complete three expressive language prompts representing major discourse types: personal narrative, informational report, and persuasive discourse. Their signed and written compositions will be analyzed using rubrics adapted from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), focusing on growth in discourse-level skills.

The study hypothesizes that deaf children in the intervention group will show greater gains in expressive signing and writing than their peers in the control group. This hypothesis reflects the expectation that a systematic, discourse-oriented language intervention offers stronger support for language development than typical intervention routines.

This research aims to contribute to the evidence base on interventions that support deaf children's expressive language development. By examining child-level language outcomes from a discourse-focused intervention, the study will advance understanding of how structured language support can strengthen signing and writing development for deaf children.

Conditions

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Sign Language Skills Teacher Practice

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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RCT - Experimental

This RCT study involves teachers divided into an experimental group and a control group. Teachers in the experimental group will receive SISI training to support the sign language development of deaf children, while those in the control group will continue with "business-as-usual" teaching methods. Pre- and post-assessments will be conducted for all deaf children at the beginning and end of the school year.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Evidence-based instructional methods guided by cognitive, sociocultural, and linguistic theories that are applied to interventions supporting sign language development among deaf children.

Quasi-Experimental Study - Control

This quasi-experimental study involves teachers divided into an experimental group and a control group. Teachers in the experimental group will receive SISI training to support the sign language development of deaf children, while those in the control group will continue with "business-as-usual" teaching methods. Pre- and post-assessments will be conducted for all deaf children at the beginning and end of the school year.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Business-As-Usual Instruction

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Teachers will teach business-as-usual without the inclusion of SISI.

Interventions

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Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction

Evidence-based instructional methods guided by cognitive, sociocultural, and linguistic theories that are applied to interventions supporting sign language development among deaf children.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Business-As-Usual Instruction

Teachers will teach business-as-usual without the inclusion of SISI.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Deaf children in educational programs (aged 4-12)
* Teachers of the deaf working with deaf children

Exclusion Criteria

* Non-deaf children
* Non teachers of the deaf
Minimum Eligible Age

4 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

12 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Leala Holcomb, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Center of Deafness

Locations

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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Holcomb L, Eberwein AA. Teacher reports of ASL literacy instruction in deaf education. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ. 2025 Oct 7:enaf060. doi: 10.1093/jdsade/enaf060. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 41055392 (View on PubMed)

Holcomb L. Exploring signed literacy in elementary deaf students through evidence-based instructional methods. Sign Language Studies. 2024; 24(4):843-882.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Study Documents

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Document Type: The study's relevant instructional context measures. Supporting materials include the assessment instrument, protocols, etc.

View Document

Related Links

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Other Identifiers

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1R21DC021024-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

451965

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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