Early Childhood Special Education Program at the Outcome Phase: An Evaluation from Stake’s Countenance Model Perspective

The main purpose of this quantitative enquiry was to evaluate the performance of children with deafness in class one who had attended an Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) program for two years in Government Special Education Schools for Hearing Impaired Children (GSESHIC) in Punjab. The third phase of Robert Stake’s Countenance Model was taken for the evaluation purpose. The province of the Punjab was divided into four zones. A sample of 37 (50%) children with deafness (Zone I= 12 children; Zone II= 12 children; Zone III=7 children; Zone IV=6children) who had been promoted to class one were randomly selected. Achievement tests on reading (Urdu English ), writing (Urdu English), mathematics, speech and speech reading (Urdu English) were prepared on the basis of syllabus of K.G.II, and following the pattern of sample question papers of four schools for hearing impaired children (one school from each zone). The tests were validated by a panel of five experts in the deaf field. The tests were administered in schools after seeking prior consent of the school heads. The test results were analyzed using ANOVA and post hoc test of multiple comparisons. A significant difference was found in the mean scores of reading recognition test (Urdu English), speech reading test (Urdu English), and speech test in the GDDHS in Zone IV from those in Zone I, Zone II, and Zone III. Similarly, the results of ANOVA and post hoc comparisons showed a significant difference in the mean scores of writing test (Urdu), writing test (English), and Mathematics test in the GSESHIC in Zone IV from those in the other three zones. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations to Punjab Special Education Department were made for the improvement of (ECSE) program for young children with deafness.