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Both ASHA's 2004 Schools Survey (ASHA, 2005) and the study of Ohio schools (Legislative Office of Education Oversight, 1999) identified the most important considerations for SLPs seeking employment. These included salary, working conditions, advancement opportunities, and professional development opportunities. Barriers to achieving these considerations are discussed below, based on ASHA's 2001 Omnibus Survey and 2000 and 2004 School Surveys (ASHA, 2001a, 2001b, 2005).
Low Salaries
Thirty-eight percent of school-based SLPs report low salaries as one of their greatest challenges. ASHA's 2001 Omnibus Survey (J. Janota, personal communication, October 15, 2001) compared salaries for school-based SLPs with salaries for SLPs working in other settings. The median calendar-year salary for school-based SLPs with 1–3 years of experience was $33,000; for SLPs in other settings it was $40,000. In the 7–12 years of experience range, school-based SLPs lag behind others by almost $7,000 (schools: $40,378; other settings: $47,000). For 13–21 years of experience, SLPs in other settings earn on average $3,860 more than school-based SLPs. The effect over the years of the deficit in salary for school-based SLPs may be a major factor in problems related to their successful recruitment and retention.
Difficult Working Conditions
Historically, inadequate or unacceptable working conditions have discouraged SLPs from signing on and staying in the schools. In a 2002 study conducted by Blood, Ridenour, Thomas, Qualls, and Hammer, 2,000 practicing ASHA members were surveyed using a job satisfaction survey. Results suggested that SLPs with smaller caseloads were more satisfied with their job and that caseload size was predictive of job satisfaction for SLPs working in schools. In the ASHA 2000 Schools Survey, concerns were expressed about unmanageable caseloads (62%), inadequate work space and facilities (33%), lack of others' understanding of the SLP's role (41%), and lack of training for special populations (24%). Lack of administrative support (24%) as well as lack of therapy materials and assessment tools (20%) have also been cited. Over 25% of the respondents to the ASHA 2004 Schools Survey indicated that they pay all of the costs for continuing education programs.
Excessive Paperwork
In the ASHA 2000 Schools Survey, 84% of the SLPs reported excessive paperwork related to assessments, Individualized Education Program (IEP) preparation, quarterly reports, and daily therapy logs. Hours of direct service have grown from 54% in 1995 to 62% in 2000, leaving less time to meet required paperwork requirements.
Insufficient Planning/Meeting Time
Of the SLPs surveyed in the ASHA 2000 Schools Survey, 74% reported lack of time for planning, collaboration, and meeting with teachers. The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA '04) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) laws emphasize speech-language services linked to the general curriculum making time for collaboration critical. Respondents to the ASHA 2004 Schools Survey did not note an increase in time for collaboration even though when asked about the impact of NCLB, 41% did report an increase in paperwork, 37% reported an increase in prereferral activities, and 36% reported an increase in literacy activities.
Limited Technology
In the ASHA 2000 Schools Survey, 26% of the sampled SLPs reported limited access to technology. Computers and software programs to aid in communication, management of paperwork, and use as instructional strategies and accommodations for students were cited as limited or nonexistent.
These barriers/challenges may explain why a higher percentage of new graduates prefer employment in health care settings rather than in schools (Frederick Schneiders Research, 1998).
Additional studies indicate common reasons for dissatisfaction among teachers. Some of these factors are worth noting as they have implications for the factors contributing to the recruitment and retention of school-based SLPs.
Some researchers do not see a teacher shortage per se. The report "No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children" (National Commission on Teaching and 's Future, 2003) indicates that schools do not generally lack newly credentialed candidates to choose from; instead, they are rapidly losing the newly hired teachers they already have. Over the past 10 years, the number of new teachers entering the workforce has rapidly increased. The report further states that the real crisis is created by the large number of beginning teachers who leave the profession ("teacher attrition") before they can become the kind of high-quality teachers who consistently improve student learning. Currently, the rate of attrition among beginning teachers is astronomical.
According to the 2005 Metlife Survey of the American Teacher (Harris Interactive, 2005), although two thirds of new teachers and three quarters of principals are very satisfied with their careers, teachers are leaving the profession in great numbers. The departure of teachers has been documented in several recent studies. In 2001, overall turnover rate in education was 13% (Ingersoll, 2001). For new teachers leaving the profession, the rates of departure jump significantly, particularly in at-risk schools. A report from 2000 found that one fifth of beginning teachers left the profession within their first 4 years (Henke, Chen, Gels, & Knepper, 2000). The turnover rate then jumps to almost 50% for new teachers in high-poverty schools, according to a 2005 report by Berry and Hirsch. Retaining qualified teachers is important for the future of the profession and also for economic reasons. In 2003, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future estimated that the average cost to recruit, hire, prepare, and then lose a teacher is $50,000. In the context of the attrition of teachers through the beginning retirement of the Baby Boom generation, the loss of teachers at the very start of their careers highlights the importance of retaining qualified teachers and understanding the various predictors involved in teachers and principals departing from their professions.
The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future's study identified factors that can significantly predict why a teacher would be likely to leave the profession to go into a different profession in the next 5 years:
- Not satisfied with teaching as a career
- Feels as if their job is not valued by their supervisor
- Feels stress and anxiety related to reviews by their supervisor
- Feels stress and anxiety related to personnel issues, union, low pay, teacher conflict, discipline, complaints, and incompetence
- Feels stress and anxiety related to unrealistic demands, workload, number of responsibilities
- Fewer years of experience teaching
- Minority teacher
- Feels stress and anxiety related to safety
- Feels stress and anxiety related to budget/lack of funding/financial constraints
- Finds making a contribution to society a source of greatest teaching satisfaction
- Feels stress and anxiety related to lack of resources
- Finds pay/salary a source of greatest teaching satisfaction
"The Condition of Education 2005" report published by the National Center for Education Statistics (2005) found that at the start of the 1999–2000 school year in both low- and high-poverty schools, 85% of teachers had been at the school the previous year. (High-poverty schools tend to draw new hires from the ranks of new graduates and second-career professionals, while wealthier schools draw experienced teachers transferring from other schools. Teachers are reported as more likely to transfer from a poor school than from a wealthy school. Children in high-poverty schools tend to be taught by less experienced professionals.) The majority of teachers leaving either a school or the entire field reported that they were leaving because of workloads that were too heavy and because of the absence of planning time.
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