Education Programs: K–12 Charter Schools

The charter school movement started in early 1990s was intended to reform the public education in the United States. Minnesota the first state to pass a charter school law in 1991, with California following in 1992. The number of states passing the charter school law increased to 40, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia in 2003. This movement was one of the factors that spearheaded the founding of 10 charter schools serving deaf students using American Sign Language (ASL) and written English, known as the bilingual-bicultural approach. This approach includes two languages, ASL and written English. ASL is used as the language of instruction, and written English is taught through ASL in the classrooms.

It was a coincidence when a team of researchers (Robert ...