Oral Training in "Signing Schools"
By 1900, most schools for deaf children provided speech training. Many placed students in either "oral" or "manual" tracks, and some eliminated signing from the classroom entirely. Young children entering school were often first placed in oral classes where signing was prohibited.
Many deaf teachers were fired or moved from academic classrooms to shop classes because they could not teach children how to clearly articulate words. In signing schools, the total number of deaf teachers was reduced from 40% of the profession in the 1860s to less than 15% by 1920, though the numbers varied widely from school to school.