Remote microphone systems: student goals and teacher use
By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated
Short answer
A remote microphone system sends the teacher's voice straight to the student's hearing aids, implant or receiver, cutting through distance and classroom noise. An educational audiologist usually recommends it after testing. The IEP lists it as assistive technology, says who checks it daily, and pairs it with student goals for using and managing the system.
A remote microphone system has two parts. The speaker wears or holds a small microphone. The student receives the signal through their hearing aids, cochlear implant processor, or a dedicated receiver. The teacher's voice arrives at the same level whether the teacher is 3 feet away or across the room, and classroom noise is much less of a problem.
Families and staff may still call it an FM system, a DM system, or by a brand name. The IEP should describe the function so it survives an equipment change. The low-incidence disabilities pillar explains where hearing technology fits among the access skills.
Who recommends it
The recommendation usually comes from an educational audiologist. Audiology as a related service includes determining a child's need for group and individual amplification, selecting and fitting an aid, and evaluating how well it works.[1] The audiologist tests the student's speech understanding in quiet and in noise, with and without the system, and fits the receivers to the student's own devices.
Teachers of the deaf and SLPs contribute classroom observations: missed directions, trouble following discussions, fatigue late in the school day. Those observations often trigger the referral, but they do not replace the audiologist's fitting and check.
How it goes in the IEP
A remote microphone is an assistive technology device: an item used to increase, maintain or improve a child's functional capabilities.[2] Training the student and staff to use it is an assistive technology service.[3] The district must make both available when the student needs them as part of special education, related services or supplementary aids. If the team decides the student needs the school-purchased device at home or in another setting to receive FAPE, the student can use it there.[4]
A complete IEP entry covers five things:
| What to write | Example wording |
|---|---|
| The device and function | "Personal remote microphone system paired to both hearing aids" |
| Where and when | "All instruction, assemblies and specials; passed to peers in discussion" |
| Who checks it | "Classroom teacher or para listening check at arrival; teacher of the deaf weekly" |
| Who maintains it | "Educational audiologist fits, programs and repairs" |
| Training | "Audiologist trains each teacher in August and new staff within 5 school days" |
The school must also make sure hearing aids worn in school are working, and that external components of surgically implanted devices such as cochlear implant processors are working.[5] The daily remote microphone check usually happens at the same time. The hearing aid check data guide shows how to log both.
Teacher use: what makes it work
Most remote microphone failures are about use, not equipment. These habits matter most:
- Wear it right. Clip the microphone about a hand's width below the chin, centered. Too low or on a lanyard that swings, and the signal drops.
- Turn it on for all teaching. Including directions given from the back of the room, small-group work and read-alouds.
- Mute it for side talk. Mute during private conversations with other students or adults. The student hears everything you say into it.
- Pass it or use a pass-around mic. In discussions, hand it to the speaking student or use a second microphone. Otherwise the student hears only the teacher's half.
- Connect media. Plug in or stream videos and computer audio, and turn on captions as well.
- Hand it off. Specials teachers, substitutes and assembly speakers need it too.
One student's year
This scenario is fictional. Lily is a 3rd grader with a moderate bilateral hearing loss who wears hearing aids.
September 10. Her teacher of the deaf observes 2 lessons. Lily follows 5 of 10 directions given from more than 10 feet away, and asks a neighbor what to do after most whole-group instructions.
September 24. The educational audiologist tests her speech understanding with classroom-level noise: 52% of words correct with hearing aids alone, 86% with hearing aids and a remote microphone. The audiologist recommends a personal remote microphone system.
October 8: IEP amendment. The team adds the system as assistive technology, with a daily listening check by the para at arrival, weekly checks by the teacher of the deaf, and staff training. It adds two student goals:
- At the start of each lesson, Lily will hand the microphone to the teacher or remind the teacher to turn it on, in 9 of 10 observed lessons. Baseline: 1 of 10.
- Given a direction through the microphone during whole-class work, Lily will follow it without asking a peer on 8 of 10 opportunities. Baseline: 5 of 10 directions followed without the system.
November 20: first check. Directions followed: 8 of 10. Reminders: 6 of 10; she skips the reminder in music and PE. The teacher of the deaf trains the specials teachers and gives Lily a "mic card" to hand over.
March 3: second check. Reminders: 9 of 10 for 3 weeks. The team adds a new goal for 4th grade: setting up the pass-around microphone for group work.
Options and where states differ
| Topic | Common options | Where states and districts differ |
|---|---|---|
| System type | Personal system to hearing aids or implant; classroom soundfield speaker; pass-around microphone | Which types the district stocks |
| Home use | Allowed when the team decides it is needed for FAPE[4] | Local policies on taking devices home and liability for loss |
| Who owns it | District-owned, family-owned, or audiology clinic-owned | Some states or districts bill insurance or Medicaid for devices |
| Who checks daily | Teacher, para, nurse or student | Set locally; some states require written check procedures |
| Educational audiologist | Contracted, district-employed, or regional | Access varies widely by region |
Student goals for the system
The device gives access. Goals teach the student to keep that access going. Start with the student's stage:
- Younger students: tell an adult when the system is not working (template), and follow class directions through the microphone (template).
- Elementary: remind the teacher to turn it on (template), hand it to a new speaker (template).
- Middle and high school: set it up for group work (template), and show a substitute how it works (template).
The hearing technology goals page lists every template, and the access skills goals hub covers the rest. The DHH self-advocacy goals guide shows how these build into broader self-advocacy, and deaf and hard of hearing accommodations lists the supports that usually go with a remote microphone. The glossary entry for remote microphone system is a short definition to share with new staff. ASHA's overview of hearing loss in children explains why distance and noise hit students with hearing loss harder than their peers.[6]
Frequently asked questions
Is an FM system the same as a remote microphone system?
Yes, in everyday use. FM was the older radio technology. Most current systems are digital, sometimes called DM. The IEP should describe the function, such as a personal remote microphone paired to the student's hearing aids, rather than a technology or brand name.
Who decides whether a student needs a remote microphone?
The IEP team, usually based on an educational audiologist's evaluation of how well the student understands speech in noise and at a distance, with and without the system. Classroom observations from the teacher of the deaf support the decision.
Can a student take the school's remote microphone home?
If the IEP team decides the student needs the device at home to receive a free appropriate public education, the student can use it there. Districts often have local policies about care, loss and liability.
Use it in IEP Atlas
- Access skills IEP goals
- Hearing technology goals (access skills)
- Remote microphone system in the IEP glossary
- Assistive technology device in the IEP glossary
- IEP goals for hearing loss
Related guides
- Low-incidence disabilities in the IEP: vision, hearing, deaf-blindness and physical needs
- IEP goals for deaf and hard of hearing students
- How to measure listening checks and hearing technology goals
- Self-advocacy goals for deaf and hard of hearing students
- Accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing students
- Assistive technology accommodations list
- IEP goals for students with visual impairments
- CVI IEP goals
Sources
- 34 CFR §300.34: Related services, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 34 CFR §300.5: Assistive technology device, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 34 CFR §300.6: Assistive technology service, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 34 CFR §300.105: Assistive technology, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- 34 CFR §300.113: Routine checking of hearing aids and external components of surgically implanted medical devices, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Hearing Loss in Children, ASHA
Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.