Making a Difference for America’s Children: Speech-Language Pathologists in Public Schools. (2001). By Barbara J. Moore-Brown & Judy K. Montgomery. Thinking Publications, 424 Galloway St., Eau Claire, WI 54703. 466 pages, $59. Reviewed by Ronna Siegel Woloshin, Evanston School District #65, Arlington Heights, IL.

Making a Difference for America’s Children: Speech-Language Pathologists in Public Schools is a comprehensive text dealing with the role of speech-language pathologists in the public school setting. The readings contained in the 10 chapters of this text deal with a wide variety of practical and professional issues that impact public school SLPs. This resource reviews the history of the role of SLPs in public schools, presents a discussion of school reform issues, and examines changes in federal legislation and regulations in special education, including how SLPs function as part of a school team in the areas of prevention, assessment, and intervention. Many readings in this voluminous text discuss issues surrounding the educational system, such as trends of speech-language services, legislative history of special education, issues relating to IDEA, standards-based educational reform, applications and relevance of least restrictive environment for speech-language services, and IEP process and procedures. Other chapters provide information that relates specifically to the role of public school SLPs such as pre-referral, referral and assessment, service delivery options, annual goals and benchmarks, meeting school standards, providing access to the curriculum, eligibility and exit criteria, functional outcomes, SLPs role in pre-literacy/literacy development, cultural/linguistic diversity, and issues surrounding certification and licensing.

The information presented in this text is extremely well-organized. A concise synopsis of the contents precedes each chapter, and review/discussion questions follow each chapter with applications for a university or training program. A comprehensive glossary and numerous appendices accompany this book, including ASHA position statements in reading, writing, caseload size, and collaborative consultation. Also included are ASHA’s Code of Ethics, competencies required by school-based SLPs, and examples of eligibility criteria from various states. Information from the latest ASHA school survey is also included, as well as guidelines on roles and responsibilities of school-based SLPs and extracts from ASHA’s technical assistance documents on developing educationally relevant IEPs. There are also numerous helpful and practical tables and charts throughout the text.

This ambitious and successful undertaking is one of the few resources written by public school SLPs about the role of school-based SLPs. The authors have compiled a wide variety of important and current information that has never previously been printed in one resource. This resource would be an excellent textbook for a course in speech-language pathology and could be extremely valuable for students who are considering a career as an SLP in the public schools. This text fills a void in that it contains a vast amount of information that has never been previously taught in training programs. The wealth of practical information contained in this text will help a novice SLP navigate an initial job in a public school setting. The focus of this text is broad-based enough to also have relevance and be of value for other professionals in the field of education. (This book is available to university professors as a free desk copy upon written request on university letterhead). The varied readings in this text will help provide students and new SLPs with an understanding of how the school environment works and how to effectively work within this setting. For those professionals who are already working in a school setting, the usefulness of parts of this text may be slightly limited, since much of the information about the SLP’s role is quite basic. However, it might still be a helpful source of reference for specific questions about school-related issues and a resource to keep up to date on educational laws and legal requirements.

The authors do a comprehensive job of summarizing the complex legal context of special education in a way that can be easily understood. They do an excellent job of reviewing and bringing together an extensive amount of information to help SLPs recognize and comprehend the social and educational trends that are responsible for the changes in the profession. A respect for school-based SLPs resonates throughout this text. After reading this book, one comes away with the knowledge that SLPs in schools make a critical difference, not only through their provision of therapy services, but because they are an integral part of the educational system. The authors of this text have succeeded in giving SLPs of the future a new perspective on speech-language services and special education in the public school setting.