Abstract Using an ecobehavioral assessment tool, Mainstream Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response (MS-CISSAR), this preliminary descriptive study examined the instructional arrangements, teaching behaviors, and levels of academic responding of nine deaf middle school students in three school settings that represented the continuum of placements (public school, residential school for the deaf, and residential treatment center). Each student was observed for the equivalent of two full school days. Instructional arrangements in the residential treatment setting were significantly different than the arrangements used in both the public school and the residential school for the deaf. Students in all settings were rarely exposed to small group or one-to-one instruction such as peer tutoring. Instructional behaviors were similar across teachers in the three settings. Teachers spent most of their time teaching. Although levels of academic responding were similar to levels found among hearing students with and without disabilities, students in two settings never read aloud. Levels of academic talk ranged from 4-7%. High levels of task management behaviors were reported in the public school. The most common competing behavior was looking around, even in the residential treatment center serving students with emotional/behavioral disorders. This article suggests future research on instructional strategies designed to provide empirically tested pedagogy to deaf educators.
