Language First Learning Library

Jennifer S. Beal earned her Ph.D. at Georgia State University, with a concentration in Deaf Education. She is a professor in the Teacher Education Department at Valdosta State University, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Deaf Education and American Sign Language (ASL)-English Interpreting programs. These courses include Reading and Writing for D¬¬eaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) students, writing Individual Education Programs, Special Education Laws and Ethics, Orientation to Deaf Education: Communication, Culture, and Language, Single Case Design research, American Sign Language (ASL), supervision of student teachers, etc. She researches how deaf children, deaf adults, and university ASL learners acquire and use ASL, how assessment data are used to guide instruction, and how evidence-based instructional strategies increase DHH students’ academic skills. She has written over 25 peer-reviewed articles, three chapters, and co-authored two books related to literacy instruction and case studies focused on deaf/HH learners. Dr. Beal has presented at national and international conferences for more than 12 years. She was previously an itinerant teacher of the deaf and worked at the Georgia School for the Deaf and the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf.