Roles of the SLP in School Services

School Services Frequently Asked Questions

What are the roles and responsibilities of SLPs in schools?

ASHA's guidelines document, Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists in Schools, states that SLPs in schools have integral roles in education and are essential members of school faculties. They help students meet the performance standards of a particular school district and state by assuming a range of responsibilities:

• working in partnership with others to meet students' needs
• providing direction in defining SLPs' roles and responsibilities
• ensuring appropriate services to students

What should SLPs do when asked to serve as classroom substitutes?

There are several considerations that SLPs should address with administrators in response to being asked to serve as classroom substitutes (subs):

IEPs

• When SLPs are diverted from their caseload, they may be unable to implement the student's IEP as written, resulting in an interruption of services. This could result in denial of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
• Serving as a classroom sub may create the need to make up missed sessions and increase the SLPs's already burgeoning workload. See Missed Speech-Language Sessions in Schools and ASHA Workload Calculator for help with (a) explaining workload activities to school administrators and colleagues and (b) making a strong case that "extra" time truly is not available.
• Serving as a classroom sub may interfere with the SLP’s availability to (a) attend scheduled IEP meetings and (b) conduct necessary screenings and assessments.
• When SLPs miss sessions, it means that the school is not implementing RTI with fidelity.

Teaching Certification and State Licensure

• Are you in a state that requires a separate teaching certificate or teaching license? Review your contract, job description and bargaining agreement regarding roles and responsibilities. Understand the ED's requirements for teacher certification. Is acting as a substitute included? Help your administrator understand your responsibility to uphold ASHA's Code of Ethics and your state's code of ethics.
• Look closely at your state licensure laws. If you are licensed by the state, you must abide by your state’s speech-language pathology practice act, which includes the scope of activities that your state deems an SLP is qualified to perform. In general, SLPs will need to meet additional or separate qualifications.to function as a classroom teacher.
• Review ASHA's Issues in Ethics statement, Ethics and Delivery of Care in Public Health and Safety Emergencies, which includes considerations for when SLPs are asked to perform tasks that are in critical demand but are not clearly delineated in their contract, job description, and bargaining agreement.

Additional Considerations

• Determine how your school district funds SLP positions and if funding is tied to working with students with special needs, such as IDEA Part B.
• Also, your ASHA State Education Advocacy Leaders (SEALs) (one of ASHA's State-Based Advocacy Networks) may help determine if SLPs are being used as classroom subs across your state.
• If you are requested to serve as a full or partial sub due to teacher vacancies, then check your bargaining agreement to determine whether you are eligible to receive an administrative premium or supplement.

What is the SLP's role in literacy (reading and writing)?

SLPs' knowledge of normal and disordered language acquisition—and their clinical experience in developing individualized programs for children and adolescents—prepares them to assume a variety of roles related to the development of reading and writing (literacy). Appropriate roles and responsibilities for SLPs include but are not limited to

• preventing written language problems by fostering language acquisition and emergent literacy;
• identifying children at risk for reading and writing problems;
• assessing reading and writing;
• providing intervention and documenting outcomes for reading and writing; and
• assuming other roles, such as providing assistance to general education teachers, parents, and students; advocating for effective literacy practices; and advancing evidence-based knowledge of literacy.

These roles are dynamic and have implications for research and professional education. See ASHA's Practice Portal page on Written Language Disorders.

What is the role of the SLP in serving students with feeding and swallowing disorders?

SLPs play a central role in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of infants and children with swallowing and feeding disorders. The professional roles and activities in speech-language pathology include (a) clinical/educational services (diagnosis, assessment, planning, and treatment); (b) prevention and advocacy; and (c) education, administration, and research. See the following two ASHA resources: Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology and ASHA's Practice Portal page on Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.

What is the role of the SLP in serving students who are English language learners?

As indicated in ASHA's Code of Ethics, audiologists and SLPs are obligated to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to their clients and patients, regardless of the clinician's personal culture, practice setting, or caseload demographics. School-based SLPs play an integral role in serving English language learners (ELLs) who have speech-language disorders. SLPs evaluate and treat these students while using all available resources to ensure that the students are neither over-identified nor under-served. ASHA offers many resources to guide SLPs in serving students who are ELLs, including the following:

• Bilingual Service Delivery
• Collaborating With Interpreters, Transliterators, and Translators
• Cultural Competence
• Learning More Than One Language
• Cultural Competence Check-Ins

Why are school districts hiring "unqualified personnel" to fill the role of an SLP?

Significant changes were made in the reauthorization of IDEA 2004. Under this law, qualifications for related services personnel, including speech-language pathologists, must now be consistent with ANY state-approved or state-recognized certification, licensing, or other comparable requirement applicable to a specific professional discipline. States are now allowed to establish requirements for school-based personnel which may be significantly less rigorous than qualifications and credentials required for ASHA certification (CCC) and/or state licensure. In short, it may be permissible for a district to hire personnel who do not meet ASHA's requirements to practice speech-language pathology.