The COCO Project (COlumbia COllaborate: Cross-disciplinary Opportunities to improve Communication Outcomes) trained 40 scholars to support deaf and hard-of-hearing children with high-intensity needs while maintaining high expectations for their success. Through collaboration, future teachers and speech-language pathologists develop skills in assessment, language and literacy instruction, individualized intervention and teamwork. Both COCO and COACH projects have trained new teachers from across the metropolitan area, from Staten Island to Upper Manhattan, Rockland County to Long Island.  The COCO Project is led by  Erika Levy, Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders; Senior Lecturer Maria Hartman; and Visiting Assistant Professo Elaine Smolen. 

Impacted Communities: TC grads work across the United States in every setting in which deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families are found. They lead classrooms in state schools for the deaf, coach parents in family-centered early intervention and travel from school to school providing itinerant deaf education services. Many graduates collaborate with administrators and educators at religious, charter and private schools to provide specialized support that allows deaf children to attend the program of their families’ choice.