Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction Experiment
Randomized Controlled Trial: Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction
2 other identifiers
interventional
150
1 country
1
Brief Summary
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.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for not_applicable
Started Apr 2025
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
December 5, 2024
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
December 11, 2024
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
April 1, 2025
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
July 30, 2026
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
July 30, 2026
November 24, 2025
September 1, 2025
1.3 years
December 5, 2024
November 18, 2025
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (2)
Sign Language Skills
Student data will be analyzed using rubrics adapted from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) standardized writing assessments.
From enrollment to the end of treatment 9 academic months later.
Teacher Practice
The SISI Fidelity Tool, grounded in existing literature on evidence-based instructional methods, will be used to evaluate teachers' instructional practices.
From enrollment to the end of treatment 9 academic months later.
Secondary Outcomes (1)
Written Language Skills
From enrollment to the end of treatment 9 academic months later.
Study Arms (2)
RCT - Experimental
EXPERIMENTALThis 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.
Quasi-Experimental Study - Control
PLACEBO COMPARATORThis 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.
Interventions
Evidence-based instructional methods guided by cognitive, sociocultural, and linguistic theories that are applied to interventions supporting sign language development among deaf children.
Teachers will teach business-as-usual without the inclusion of SISI.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Deaf children in educational programs (aged 4-12)
- Teachers of the deaf working with deaf children
You may not qualify if:
- Non-deaf children
- Non teachers of the deaf
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, United States
Related Publications (2)
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.
PMID: 41055392BACKGROUNDHolcomb L. Exploring signed literacy in elementary deaf students through evidence-based instructional methods. Sign Language Studies. 2024; 24(4):843-882.
BACKGROUND
Related Links
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Leala Holcomb, PhD
Center of Deafness
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- TREATMENT
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- SPONSOR
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
December 5, 2024
First Posted
December 11, 2024
Study Start
April 1, 2025
Primary Completion (Estimated)
July 30, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
July 30, 2026
Last Updated
November 24, 2025
Record last verified: 2025-09
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will share
- Shared Documents
- STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
- Time Frame
- December, 2026 to December, 2036
- Access Criteria
- Researchers may contact the principal investigator for additional supporting information not available on OSF.
Under a data-sharing agreement that is in compliance with the internal policy at UTK, non-identifying data can be shared with other researchers for a minimum of 10 years on the University of Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange (TRACE). The raw data consists of videos of teachers, which will not be shared to maintain confidentiality. The processed data will be in the form of percentages for individual teachers across an academic year documented in a .csv file (Excel). Center for Open Science Foundation (OSF) is a free and open source project management tool that supports researchers throughout their entire project lifecycle. OSF also allows people to locate this data through project names, author names, and study keywords.