Voice Amplification at Peter Noyes Elementary School

Sudbury Public Schools, as all Massachusetts public schools, must comply with the MA law known as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and provide supportive services for disabled students.  One of the special accommodations is to provide hearing assistance for any students with a hearing-related disability.  Bob Milley, Assistant Superintendent of the Sudbury Schools, was chartered to find a solution to amplify teachers’ voices so that these “504” students could hear every word. 

The Assistant Superintendent discovered the Revolabs Classroom Amplification System, designed and manufactured by Revolabs, a local Maynard company.  The Revolabs Classroom Amplification System is comprised of a Revolabs Wireless Microphone worn by the teacher.  The Revolabs Wireless Microphone communicates with the Classroom System and the sound is transmitted out of a pair of speakers installed on the classroom walls.  There are now Revolabs Classroom Amplification Systems in several Sudbury schools. 

At the Peter Noyes Elementary School, which houses pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade, Bob Milley had Revolabs Wireless Microphone Systems installed in three classrooms to assist one learning-disabled student.  The fifth-grade students switch between classrooms for various subjects taught by the team of Michelle Archambault, Erin Haher, and Katie Hanks.  In the fall, the teachers were given the Revolabs Wireless Microphones.  At first, Katie Hanks had some reservations about using the microphone.  She felt some resistance because she felt that it was contrary to her teaching style which is to use a low, quiet voice to keep the students’ attention.  However, she quickly realized that “it is my tone of voice, not the volume.”  Now she loves the Revolabs microphone as she feels “less stressed out at the end of the day, because I don’t have to raise my voice”. 

Each teacher wears the small, unobtrusive microphone on a lanyard around her neck all day.  They originally did this to ensure that the disabled student did not feel singled out, but that quickly changed as they “fell in love” with the new microphones.  Now they use the Revolabs Classroom Amplification System for many reasons.  Michelle Archanbault stated that “it definitely has helped all of the children pay attention”, not just the student that it was intended to help”.   Research has found this to be very true.  Studies show that student comprehension is directly related to how well a student can hear the teacher, and students also benefit from hearing their peers.  A 1993 study, Effects of Soundfield Amplification on Spelling Performance, by H. Zabel and M. Tabor published in the Educational Audiology Monograph, concludes that test scores of both hearing-impaired and non-hearing-impaired children improved with the use of a classroom amplification system. 

Additionally, the amplification system allows the teachers to avoid straining their voices.  “I used to have a headache every day because I had to talk so loud over 24 voices, but now I rarely have a headache at the end of the day”, said Erin Haher.  “The microphone allows me to give a direction over the noise in the classroom without having to stop the action”  Each of the teachers brings the microphone closer to her mouth when she wants to emphasize a point or, ironically, to quiet down the class with a “Shhhh”.  Michelle Archanbault added that she is free to move about the classroom, as wherever she is, she will be heard.  That does bring her to caution others about their use. “You must be very careful about using the “mute” button, as the students do hear your every word!”