Deaf Education in Texas

Children who are deaf and hard of hearing have access to education, as stipulated in the Texas education laws. The Texas school system consists of several key players, all striving to provide quality education for children. Public and non-public options are available to families.

Learn about educational placement options for different age groups.

Public Schools and Programs

At the state level, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) oversees all primary and secondary public education. The agency implements Texas educational statutes and regulations into applicable guidance, support, and processes. Additionally, TEA establishes Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum standards.

TEA has 20 educational service centers (ESCs). These ESCs serve all educational programs in a designated area. ESCs also support public schools and programs for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

The following are some of the public schools and programs available to students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs: These programs serve children from birth to 5 years of age. Services range from early childhood intervention, preschool, and prekindergarten.

Public Schools: Public schools provide services to students between the ages of 5 - 22 years old. They may provide:
- - Regular education classes with accommodations
  - Self-contained classrooms
  - Resource rooms
  - Itinerant Services
  - Regional Day School Programs for the Deaf (RDSPD)

Texas School for the Deaf (TSD): TSD is an American Sign Language - English bilingual school serving children statewide from birth to 22 years old. Their language of instruction is ASL and English but services are available for spoken language acquisition. The school offers both residential and day programming.

Non- Public Schools and Programs

Non-public schools include private schools, charter schools or homeschooling programs. TEA categorizes these schools and programs as alternative education. Families wanting to explore this option would need to contact those schools and programs directly.

Some non-public schools for deaf and hard of hearing children are:

Sunshine Cottage: A Listening and Spoken Language based school for children from birth through fifth grade.
Jean Massieu Academy: This open-enrollment charter school provides deaf education services and American Sign Language resources for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Melinda Webb School: A Listening and Spoken Language program for children from birth to eight years old.
Homeschooling: Homeschool resources and programs in Texas are available at the local community level.