FY 2008 Annual Report of Achievements - Gallaudet University

conference. More than 300 people responded to the survey. In FY 2005, the initial analysis of the
results was shared with the NMAP and in FY 2006, the analyses were completed. The results, along
with feedback from the NMAP and from workshops, conferences, and internal stakeholders, were
central to discussions with constituents invited to national stakeholder meetings in FY 2007 and FY
2008. To date, the public input process has focused on obtaining input on critical needs in the field
of deaf education. The newly expanded process will allow the Clerc Center to obtain additional input
on how the critical needs will be addressed.
The Clerc Center is moving toward a revised model for public input that will be better
designed to:
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• identify the critical needs of children who are deaf and hard of hearing and of their
families,
• establish and refine priorities to address those needs, and
• ensure Clerc Center resources are committed to research and development projects in
the priority areas and are relevant and useful to consumers and constituents.
For each phase, the Clerc Center must make decisions about:
• which stakeholders and stakeholder groups will be solicited for public input;
• what types of public input strategies are most appropriate, effective, and efficient for
soliciting input at this step; and
• how summaries, syntheses, and use of public input received will be communicated to the
Clerc Center’s constituencies and used to guide work.
Satisfaction with the input process. Satisfaction with the public input process will be
determined at each step using strategies appropriate for the input collection activities used at each
level. This is a departure from how satisfaction has been determined previously, where general
surveys were used to assess satisfaction with the overall input process. Assessing satisfaction at each
step, whether the input activity is cyclical or ongoing, will provide information that can be used for
continuous improvement of the input process.
Phases of National Mission Projects
From the point of conception to the finished product, Clerc Center national mission
projects progress through three main phases. In past years, the Clerc Center reported projects in the
phases of Development, Evaluation, or Dissemination. After careful analysis, the evaluation
components were found to occur as a part of development or as a part of dissemination. Since FY
2005, projects have been reported with evaluation components included under development or
dissemination activities. In addition, the Ongoing Dissemination Phase was added. In this phase,
projects are no longer listed in this report. Projects completing the Initial Dissemination Phase in a given
fiscal year are noted as moving into ongoing dissemination and will not be listed in subsequent reports.
Projects are said to be in a particular phase when one or more of the following are underway:
• Development Phase
o Conceptual exploration
o Specification of information use
o Product development
o Formative evaluation