The ABC’s of SLPs

Making A Difference -

Scope of Speech Therapy Services

Impacting Student Success

Karyn Kilroy, MS,CCC/SLP

Jyutika Mehta, PhD., CCC-SLP

SLPs Roles and Responsibilities – Workload vs Caseload

Impacting Student Success

Service Delivery Models – Why Does It Matter?

Premise of the Workload Approach

We need to shift from “caseload” to

“workload”

– total workload activities must be considered to set appropriate

and reasonable caseloads

– a balance across workload activities will help SLPs,

administrators, and decision-makers make service decisions on

the

basis of student needs

Advantages of workload perspective

 Focuses on individual needs of students

 Documents full range of roles and responsibilities carried out by

SLPs

 Facilitates dialogue between SLPs and administrators regarding

workloads

 Allows SLP to contribute to improved student performance

(STAAR scores)

The SLP Workload

SLPs Roles and Responsibilities – How Many Hats Do We Wear?

ASHA DOCUMENT

Direct services to students

 Counsel students

 Evaluate students for

eligibility for special

education

 Identify students with

speech and language

impairment

 Implement IEPs and

IFSPs

 Provide direct intervention

to students using a

continuum of service delivery

options

 Re-evaluate students

Indirect activities that support students in the least restrictive

environment and general education curriculum

 Engage in dynamic assessment of students

 Connect standards for the learner to the IEP

 Consult with teachers to match students

learning style and teaching style

 Design and engage in pre-referral intervention

activities

 Design/recommend adaptations to curriculum

and delivery of instruction

 Design/recommend modifications to the

curriculum to benefit students with special

needs

 Participate in activities designed to help

prevent academic and literacy problems

 Observe students in classrooms

 Screen students for suspected problems with

communication, learning, and literacy.

Indirect services that support students’ educational

programs

 Analyze and engineer

environments to

increase opportunity

for communication

 Analyze demands of

the curriculum and

effects on students

 Attend student planning

teams to solve specific

problems

 Attend teacher/service

provider meetings

(planning, progress

monitoring,

modifications to

program)

Communicate and coordinate with

outside agencies, Contribute to the

development of IEPs, IFSPs, Coordinate with

private, nonpublic school teachers and

Staff, Design and

implement transition

evaluations and transition goals,

Design and program high, medium, and

low-tech augmentative

Communication systems,

Engage in special preparation to provide services to

student (e.g. low incidence population,

research basis for

intervention, best

practices)

Indirect services that support students’ educational

programs –cont’d. ASHA Document

Indirect services that support students’ educational programs

Interview Teachers, Make referrals to other professionals,

Monitor implementation of IEP modifications,

Observe students in classrooms,

Plan and prepare lessons

Plan for student transitions

Provide staff development to school staff,

parents, and others,

Program and maintain assistive technology/augmentative

Communication systems (AT/AC) and equipment,

Train teachers and staff for

AT/AC system use

Activities that support compliance with federal,

state, and local

Mandates

Attend staff/faculty meetings

Collect and report

student performance

Data, Complete compliance

Paperwork, Complete daily logs

of student services, Complete parent

contact logs, Document services

to students and other activities, Participate in

parent/teacher conferences , Participate in

professional association activities,

Participate in professional

development

Participate on school

improvement teams, Participate on school or

district committees, Serve multiple schools

and sites, Supervise

paraprofessionals, teacher aides, interns, and

CFYs, Travel between buildings

Write funding reports for assistive technology

and augmentative

Communication,

Write periodic student progress reports

Write student

evaluation reports

Activities that support compliance with

federal, state, and local

Mandates Cont’d.

Impacting Student Success

 The FIE drives the student’s specially designed instruction (IEP Goals).

 Speech Services are individually designed to increase the students’

success in the general education setting.

 Standards based IEPs are critical to impact the student’s academic

success

 Schedule of Services is planned carefully with individual student needs

driving the IEP but also the specifics of how the delivery of speech

of service best fits the student’s needs.

 Examples of delivery models are vast and should look highly

individualized for each student

 Delivery of speech services will change over time as the student

progresses - See examples -

First Things First

Are SLPs connecting IEPs to the TEKS?

This is fundamental to the accountability for the learning and achievement of students

with disabilities.

Connecting IEPs to standards will improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

o Collecting the pertinent current informal and formal assessment date data during the

evaluation process

o Class data – grades, classroom performance data, attendance

o review status of previous IEP goals

o student, teacher, parents input

o look at how disability impacts the student in the general education curriculum

o Use this data to summarize the Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional

Performance

o This will determine or answer the question “what can the students do now”?

o This is the PLAAF which is a summary of baseline information about the students

academic and functional performance

o Giving a detailed description of how the student’s disability impacts his educational

performance

What are the steps to ensuring that

IEPs are connected to the TEKS?

o The ARDC will review the PLAAF

o The annual goals are derived from the PLAAF

o If weaknesses are numerous, prioritize which areas would make the most impact on the

student’s classroom achievement

o The annual goals are developed using the PLAAF

o The goals must be measurable and observable

o Written clearly and specifically according to the PLAAF –

o goals must be realistic and achievable in a reasonable timeframe

o goals will be related to student’s grade level TEKS

o Be careful of “vague” globally written goals

Purpose Driven Goals + Closely Monitored

Progress = Successful Outcomes for Students

Measuring Effectiveness of Speech Therapy –

 Student Objectives are monitored closely

 Student’s progress towards annual goals is monitored closely and reported at

grading periods

 Progress is reported using the same measurement terms that goals were

written in – i.e. Qualifiers vs quantity

 Student’s progress will determine effectiveness of services

Purpose Driven Goals + Closely Monitored

Progress = Successful Outcomes for Students

Oh The Possibilities - Delivery Models for Speech Services

 Direct, Indirect, Combination of each…..what do we do?

 Decisions of how the student will best be served is highly

“individualized” based on student needs

Do your SLPs schedule services based on what they have always done?

Are they varying service delivery type based on data and needs of students?

Where should the services be given if student needs are accessing the curriculum?

Is caseload size influencing service delivery recommendations?

Does your district have a pattern of services?

Are there duplication of services?

Are speech services provided based on administrative convenience?

If you do what you’ve always done you’re going

to get what you’ve always gotten!

What “Should” Speech Services Look Like?

Speech services should be based on:

• Student needs

• Student data

• Students accessing the gen ed curriculum

• What works best for the student

• Student progress

Not -

• SLP caseload size

• Not SLP/campus schedule

• Not what days SLP serves that campus

• Not fitting the student in a group to make it a nice even 6

students

• Not because SLP is comfortable with what’s been done in the

past

Direct Service Delivery Models

• Direct Services Defined:

– Direct services for speech therapy refers to the direct provision

of services between the speech-language pathologist and the

student.

– Direct services are billable for SHARS/Medicaid reimbursement

– Examples: Pull out, Classroom based (team teaching, supportive

teaching, etc), Drill bursts

Direct Service Delivery Models

• Pull out (SLP removes students from the classroom and takes

them to another location)

• Drill bursts: typically this service delivery is for intensive

articulation drill in frequent, short sessions—this is generally a

pull out service delivery but it could also be a pull-aside in the

classroom.

Direct Service Delivery Models

• Classroom Based (inclusion)

– Team teaching (teacher & SLP teaching the same lesson to the class)

– Parallel teaching (teacher & SLP teaching the same lesson to different

groups in the class)

– Pull aside (SLP pulls selected students to small group within the classroom)

– Station teaching (SLP instructs specific skills at a station, students rotate

through)

– Supportive teaching (teacher instructs class, SLP supports specific students

on skills)

Indirect Service Delivery Models

• Indirect service delivery models are speech therapy services

that involve the speech-language pathologist supporting the

student’s goals/objectives by working with other providers

• Indirect services are not billable for SHARS/Medicaid

reimbursement

• **caution: TEA cautions against “monitor only”. Monitoring

student progress in and of itself does not constitute a special

education service.

Indirect Services Examples

• Examples of Indirect Speech Therapy Services:

– Attending grade level Professional Learning Communities;

– Programming Assistive Technology devices to allow access to

general ed curriculum;

– Classroom engineering to enhance language/communication;

– Student specific teacher consultation;

– Identifying language/literacy in the curriculum.

Combination of Service Delivery

• Many students may need a combination of direct and indirect

services.

– Example:

• 30 minutes weekly-direct speech therapy in the self

contained sped classroom (billable time) &

• 30 minutes monthly-indirect speech consultation to

training teachers and staff on assistive technology device

and programming (not billable time)

Documenting Services in ARD/IEP

• Direct speech therapy services are documented on the

Schedule of Services portion of the ARD document

– Face2face services with students

– Billable for SHARS/Medicaid reimbursement

Documenting Services in ARD/IEP

• Indirect speech therapy services are documented in various

possible places in the ARD document

– Supplemental Aids/Services

– Deliberations

– Accommodations

– Indirect services are provided to professionals and/or

parents

– Not billable for SHARS/Medicaid reimbursement

Examples of Schedule

• Example 1: 30 minutes 5X in 6 weeks (location: special ed)

Each 6 weeks, the student will receive 1 (30 min) speech therapy

session per week for 5 weeks and no direct speech therapy one week

to allow for generalization of skills in the classroom.

• Example 2: 180 minutes per six week period (location: special ed)

Each 6 weeks, the student will receive 1-45 minute speech therapy

session weekly for 4 weeks and no direct speech therapy services for

two weeks to determine generalization of skills.

More Examples of Schedules

• Example 3: 12-5 minute sessions in a 4-week period

(articulation drill bursts) (location: general ed)

During a 4 week period, the student will receive 12 direct speech

therapy sessions for 5 minutes per session to do intensive

articulation drill.

Summary

• Frequency, location, duration must be

– Clear

– Based on individual student needs

– Based on data

– Not determined by administrative convenience (master schedules,

availability of SLP, caseload size)

• Pay attention to possible

– Pattern of services

– Restricted continuum of service delivery models

– Duplication of services

Questions

Karyn & Jyutika

Sources

ASHA Role and Responsibilities of School-Based SLPS, 2010

http://www.asha.org/SLP/schools/prof-consult/guidelines/

Manges,R. 2009. Standards-Based IEP Development-Region 10 Presentation

Weichmann, J.& Kilroy, K. 2014, Speech and Language Service Delivery Models -

2014 Directors Training Series