Cochlear implants have tremendous potential to aid profoundly deaf students in achieving competency in using spoken communication. Children with cochlear implants do not perceive sound in the same way as normal hearing individuals do, and realizing their potential requires long-term intensive instruction and the utilization of a multidisciplinary team approach. With the current trend towards inclusion of students with disabilities in the regular classroom environment and with the number of children receiving cochlear implants expected to increase in the coming years, the schools and regular and special educators alike will be challenged to take on new roles. Some of the roles educators may be expected to assume are: providing guidance to parents of deaf children who are considering the cochlear implant device, assisting in the pre-implant screening, incorporating auditory training and speech teaching into the regular classroom environment, and monitoring and maintaining the cochlear implant device when the child is in school. Educators of children with cochlear implants are in a prime position to generate much needed data concerning the impact of the cochlear implant device upon the profoundly deaf child's educational development. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/JDD)