Workload Analysis Flashcards
Role of School SLP
- Working across all levels (K-12)
- Serves a range of disorders
- Ensure educational relevance
—- Address all factors that impact education (social/emotional, academic, personal, and vocational)
- Curriculum contributions
—- Offer support on how to approach the curriculum with students with disabilities
- Language/literacy
—- Work on skills that improve literacy
- Culturally competent services
—- Ensure that CLD students receive proper services
Range of Responsibilities
- Prevention
— Helping to prevent academic failure
- Assessment
— Does a student need speech language services?
- Intervention
— Provide age and goal appropriate services
- Program design
— Collaborative classroom based intervention or pull out model?
- Data collection and Analysis
— Gather and interpret data to see if student is making progress
Other roles of SLPs
- Collaboration
Students
School professionals
Families
Community
- Leadership
Advocacy
Professional development
Parent training
Research
- Caseload
2. Workload
- Caseload: the number of students with IEPs or IFSPs served directly and indirectly by school SLPs; may also include students without identified disabilities receiving pre-referral intervention and other services
- Workload: all required and performed school-based SLP activities
- The total workload activities required and performed by school SLPs must be considered when setting caseload standards
- A workload analysis approach ensures that students receive the services they need instead of the services SLPs have time for
A Workload Analysis Approach for Establishing Speech/Language Caseload Standards in the School: Position Statement
- Approach principles: essentially, each student added to the caseload increases the SLPs workload; caseloads must allow for an SLP to complete their workload within working hours; education agencies must implement a workload analysis approach to setting caseload standards
- Large caseloads restrict the SLPs ability to engage in all necessary roles
- Large caseloads are related to poorer student outcomes (impeding the intent of IDEA in terms of services tailored to students’ individual needs and collaboration between professionals)
ASHA 2012 School Survey
- 79% of clinical service providers used a caseload approach
— Defined as based only on the number of students served
- 21% of clinical service providers used a workload approach
— Defined as based on the number of students served PLUS one’s additional duties
- In Kentucky, 85.7% of respondents reported using a caseload approach and 14.3% reported using a workload approach
Factors Affecting School SLP Workloads
- Caseload
- Idea Mandates
- State and local regulations
- State certification requirements
- Student Factors
- Unfunded mandates
- State and local budgets
- School Policies
- Professional Influences
Steps of workload analysis
Step 1: Analyze the current workload relative to the needs of students receiving services
Step 2: Is the workload balanced?
Step 3: Collaborate with SLPs, teachers, administrators, union representatives, parents, and others to address workload issues
SLP Workload in Public Schools 1
- Direct services: 20 to 30 minute therapy sessions
- Indirect services: Session notes, planning
- Evaluations/Screenings/Observations: Testing, scoring
- Phone Calls and emails
- Writing reports: IEPs and evaluations
- Pre-referral Meeting, Evaluation Meetings, and IEP meetings
SLP Workload in Public Schools 2
- Compliance and District Paperwork: notifying parents, sending IEP reports, and caseload updates
- Preparation of AAC: schedules, social stores, communication boards
- Scheduling students / rescheduling: it can be difficult to work around class schedules
- School specific requirements
- Work completed at home
KY Caseload Laws
SLP who works
- 5 days a week- 65 students
- 4 days a week- 52 students
- 3 days a week- 39 students
- 2 ½ days a week- 32 students
- 2 days a week- 26 students
- 1 day a week- 13 students
- Median KY caseload is 52 students
Challenges with Caseload
- Time Management: We have a lot of work to do in a little amount of time
- Hard to serve students appropriately in such large groups
- There is no federal mandate on caseload sizes so the matter is up to the state (number can go up)
- ASHA has recommended that caseloads should not exceed 40 students
Strategies for workload management
- organization
- create/find activities that can be reused
- field trips
- educational computer games
Different Intervention Techniques 1
- Complementary Teaching: SLP provides services in classroom
- Pros – allows curriculum based instruction, shared instruction, least restrictive environment, streamlines collaboration between teacher and SLP
- Cons – limited to one student at a time - Consultation: SLP works outside classroom to analyze, adapt, modify or create appropriate instructional material (for one or more students in a classroom).
- Classroom observations; SLP and teacher plan, monitor student progress, and make decisions about materials together
- Shared intervention responsibilities - Team Teaching: SLP, other special education specialists, and regular education classroom teachers work in teams on same IEP goals
- Shared intervention responsibilities
Different Intervention Techniques 2
- Resource Room: SLP teams with other special education specialists provide language, academic, and study skill support in a resource room one to two periods per day instead of students going to study hall. Special educators integrate the IEP goals into curriculum-based support as the students complete homework assignments.
- Speech Club: SLP assigned to lunchroom duty specific days and uses this time to monitor students on the caseload who are in carryover stages of their programs. Each student invites a classmate to join them at the Speech Club table and SLP monitors communication skills in unstructured setting. Note: this is not the SLPs lunch break.
- Teaming for Reading Instruction: SLP teams with other special education specialists for coordinated language and reading programs for students on caseload.
— Shared intervention responsibilities
— Each specialist focus on their area of intervention
