Enhanced Classroom Hearing

A non-profit organization
created to educate the public about the hearing issues, needs and
limitations specific to ALL children in EVERY classroom setting
and to advocate the integration of sound enhancement technology
to compensate for those auditory learning problems and increase
opportunity for successful academic achievement.

Welcome to The Institute for Enhanced Classroom Hearing!
A not for profit organization

ECH relies almost entirely on public donations to accomplish its mission. If you find the information available on this website useful, please consider a tax deductible donation of any size to help us continue this important work benefiting all children everywhere. Click the Donate button for details.

Do YOU know...

That normal hearing children can miss as much as 1/3 of what their teacher says due to poor classroom acoustics.
A child's hearing abilities are not fully developed until age 15. Children cannot hear and neurologically process what they hear the same as an adult. (Crandell 1995; Flexer 2002)
Up to 43% of primary level students fail a minimal 15 dB hearing screening on any given day, in part due to the 14.9% (or approximately 8 million) school-aged children that have a permanent hearing loss and the 10-15% of children that have a temporary hearing loss from middle ear infections. (MARRS-U.S. Dept. of Education Study; American Medical Association )
The teacher’s voice drops 6 decibels for every doubling of distance meaning that children seated in the middle to back rows have significantly greater difficulty attending to the teacher’s verbal instruction.
10-12% of school-aged boys in the United States are prescribed the drug Ritalin. The U.S. consumes over 90% of 8.5 tons of Ritalin produced world-wide each year, leading some to believe that many have been misdiagnosed and actually have difficulty hearing in the classroom. (United Nations 2/96)

This short 3 minute CBS Evening News segment provides an excellent introduction to the problems and a cost-effective solution. Visit our Media page for more video clips and news stories as well as our Research pages for supporting information. Videos are also available in QuickTime format if you are unable to play Windows Media files.

The National PTA has voted to adopt a Classroom Auditory Learning Issues resolution at their 2007 Annual Convention in St. Louis, Missouri.

Read the final resolution here.
The national awareness campaign began with an article in Our Children Magazine.

Please use our FORUMS to share your personal experiences, observations, questions and opinions regarding classroom sound enhancement technology. Your e-mail address is required to leave a post, but it is not used for solicitation or shared in any way.

Explore this website to learn more about these important auditory learning issues (and more) that affect EVERY child, EVERY day, in EVERY classroom. Research proves that these issues have a direct impact on successful academic achievement.

Need help describing this issue to others?
Download our convenient tri-fold brochure which provides a comprehensive overview of the problems and the classroom sound enhancement solution in a concise single page format. You can use this as a handout to help describe this important issue to others and reinforce your points. Get the brochure here.

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