2002-2003 Projects on Multicultural Activities

Bilingual Internet Resources on Communication Development and Disorders for Chinese-speaking Families and Professionals Serving This Population
Tao-yuan Li
Minnesota Speech-Language-Hearing Association

The goals of the project are to:

• develop resource materials for Chinese-speaking families of preschool-aged children and for professionals serving these children,
• provide support and networking among Chinese-speaking clients and non Chinese-speaking professionals who work with the targeted populations, and
• increase the professionals' competency and sensitivity in serving multicultural populations.

The potential impact and significance of this project include empowering both parents and professionals by providing information and resources in a bilingual format, increasing service providers' clinical competency and cultural sensitivity in serving multicultural clients, and encouraging bilingual individuals to pursue a career in speech-language pathology and audiology through the demonstration of the needs for bilingual service providers in this field.

Information will include for example typical speech and language developmental milestones documented in both English-speaking and Chinese-speaking children from birth to age five years, parental strategies for facilitating early language development, a range of common etiologies causing communication problems, the impact of these etiologies on a child's communication development, the role of the individual members of a school-based early intervention team in supporting the child's development, and issues on raising a bilingual child with communication disorders. Links to regional and nation-wide schools and agencies will be established with bilingual annotations describing each Web site. An interactive Web-based discussion forum will provide the opportunity for parents and professionals to ask questions, get advice, and network with one another. The multicultural committee of the Minnesota Speech-Language-Hearing Association has volunteered to serve as the advisory board for information posted on the website.

Developing Clinical Leadership Skills Among SLP Students From Diverse Backgrounds
Gloriajean Wallace and Phyllis Breen
University of Cincinnati

This project describes a program that is designed to enhance the clinical and clinical leadership training experiences for master's students from diverse racial/cultural backgrounds. The proposal is designed to provide both individualized and collective group experiences and opportunities to strengthen each students' preparedness to insure success during the clinical aspects of their professional training. In addition, specific features are included which will prepare these students to become stellar leaders in areas relating to professional clinical and diversity issues.

The long-term objective of the proposal is to develop and produce speech-language pathology clinicians from racially/ethnically diverse backgrounds who are prepared to assume professional leadership roles within ASHA in areas relating to clinical, clinical research, and diversity/inclusion issues. Short-term goals are to facilitate the transition from classroom to clinic for SLP master's students, to enhance the clinical supervisory support and clinical mentoring systems (at the local and national levels) for SLP master's students from diverse backgrounds; and to provide on-campus continuing education diversity/inclusion learning opportunities for all departmental faculty, supervisors, and students in order to encourage and promote a healthy professional training environment where all students, including students from diverse backgrounds, can thrive.

Increasing Minority Representation in Speech-Language Pathology Through BESC Program
Wendy Krueger
Marquette University

The Bilingual English-Spanish Certificate program (BESC) by Marquette University is a specialized graduate certificate offered through the M.S. program in speech-language pathology which provides the academic and clinical preparations necessary to competently evaluate and treat English- and Spanish-speaking children and adults with communication impairments. The mission of the BESC comprises the following goals:

• to prepare SLPs
• to better meet the speech-language needs of the local Latino community,
• to provide increased opportunity and incentive for local minority youth to enter the profession of speech-language pathology, and
• to increase multicultural awareness/skills in SLP students and clinicians.

This project will focus specifically on a Summer Program for Youth which will expose local high school minority students to the university setting, the profession of speech-language pathology, and specifically bilingual speech-language services.

Recursos/Resources for Speech-Language Pathologists: A Focus on Latino Children
Aquiles Iglesias and Brian Goldstein
Temple University

This project developed a "learning Web site" designed to provide clinicians the knowledge and tools that will assist them in meeting the needs of Latino children. The main goal of the project is to provide state-of-the-art information in a user-friendly format. The Web site is also to be used as a guide to a decision-making process that is consistent with best practice research. The Web site will be divided into three major tracks (Guided Decision Making Process, Resources, and Web Links) that individuals can follow when entering the Web site. Based on the clinician's need for assistance, knowledge, and questions, clinicians go directly to any component of the three tracks. Comprehensive information in the areas of culture, child socialization, bilingualism, bilingual education, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, narratives, and assessment will be included.

Using Dynamic Assessment in Eligibility Determination
Barbara Moore-Brown
El Rancho Unified School District

The project provided the opportunity to apply the investigative results of a previous study funded by the California Department of Education. That study compared the use of a dynamic assessment (DA) approach to that of a traditional standardized test measure approach. The Department of Special and Alternative Education of the El Rancho Unified School District (ERUSD) worked to further develop the use of DA for determination of special education eligibility with the multicultural population of the school district.

Project objectives were to:

• develop competence in the DA process for all district level assessment team members,
• operationalize the use of DA in the assessment practices of the district for determination of specific learning disability and specific language impairment,
• develop local norms on the DA instrument,
• evaluate other assessment measures (i.e. standardized measures) for consistency of use with DA in the light of eligibility requirements for determining SLD/SLI,
• incorporate the district's literacy assessments in general education with the assessment practices for special education eligibility determination, and
• develop a department handbook which will outline procedures and practices appropriate for the district's student population.

2002–2003 Review Panel: Alejandro Brice, Jill Elfenbein, Edgarita Long, Patty Olmstead, and Ishara Ramkissoon