ISHI

Thank you for visiting our new Internet site. As a progressive organization of Supervisors of educational programs in Illinois, we want to have a way to contact each other, and to let the general public find us easily. To that end, we have set up this new website, and while it is under construction at the moment, we hope to have it serve as a one-stop site for our membership. Please visit often and see the changes we are making. 

Supervisors of educational programs in Illinois that serve students who are deaf or hard of hearing promote quality educational programming and social experiences for those students. ISHI deals with local, statewide, and national issues which affect our students. ISHI members come from all over the state and represent both small and large school districts.

If you need to contact a member directly, please check the membership section. If you have any questions pertaining to the website itself, please contact info@ilshi.org.

The Illinois Supervisors of Programs for Hard of Hearing / Deaf Individuals (ISHI) is committed to students who are deaf and hard of hearing. As a professional peer support group, ISHI will provide a forum for discussion of issues concerning the education of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, and will provide an organized voice for advocacy on critical issues. We believe that students who are deaf or hard of hearing:

• must have access to equal educational opportunities and appropriate support services.
• have a right to receive services in a range of educational settings.
• have a right to receive direct instruction and to interact with their peers in their primary mode of communication.

• To develop a network for communication and coordination.
• To identify current issues relevant for ISHI action or advocacy.
• To offer resources and support to the membership.
• To share among members current information about proposed State of Illinois legislation, rules, regulations, and funding.
• To outline education program standards and define a complete continuum of services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, including:
     
  • periodic revision of the Comprehensive Service Guidelines for 
       Illinois Students Who are Dear or Hard of Hearing Birth to 
       Twenty-one in cooperation with ISBE
   
    
  • input to modification of state rules and regulations
   
    
  • review of curricula

• To promote and/or coordinate conferences and inservice programs.
• To provide input into professional training and certification of counselors, interpreters, teachers, early intervention specialists, psychologists, and so on.
• To support legislative action.
• To provide statistical information on the deaf/hard of hearing school population in Illinois.
• To share/promote research that will inform best practices in educational programs.

Voting membership shall be limited to individuals who:

• hold a valid crtificate to teach students who are deaf/hard of hearing in the State of Illinois and
• are responsible for the coordination or supervision of educational programs or services for children ages birth through 21 who are deaf or hard of hearing or are on the faculty of university programs which train teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.