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

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. 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?

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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 with students who are English language learners (ELLs) and 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.

An SLPA should engage in the following activities when performing necessary tasks related to speech-language service provision:

Service Delivery

• self-identifying (e.g., verbally, in writing, signage, titles on name badges, etc.) as an SLPA to students, patients, clients, families, staff, and others;

• exhibiting compliance with federal, state, and local regulations including: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); reimbursement requirements; and state statutes and rules regarding SLPA education, training, and scope of practice;

• administering and scoring screenings for clinical interpretation by the SLP;

• assisting the SLP during assessment of students, patients, and clients (e.g., setting up the testing environment, gathering and prepping materials, taking notes as advised by the SLP, etc.);

• administering and scoring assessment tools that (a) the SLPA meets the examiner requirements specified in the examiner’s manual and (b) the supervising SLP uses to verify the SLPA’s competence in administration, exclusive of clinical interpretation;

• administering and scoring progress monitoring tools exclusive of clinical interpretation if (a) the SLPA meets the examiner requirements specified in the examiner’s manual and (b) the supervisor has verified the SLPA’s competence in administration;

• implementing documented care plans or protocols (e.g., individualized education plan [IEP], individualized family service plan [IFSP], treatment plan) developed and directed by the supervising SLP;

• providing direct therapy services addressing treatment goals developed by the supervising SLP to meet the needs of the student, patient, client, and family;

• adjusting and documenting the amount and type of support or scaffolding provided to the student, patient, or client in treatment to facilitate progress;

• developing and implementing activities and materials for teaching and practice of skills to address the goals of the student, patient, client, and family per the plan of care developed by the supervising SLP;

• providing treatment through a variety of service delivery models (e.g., individual, group, classroom-based, home-based, co-treatment with other disciplines) as directed by the supervising SLP;

• providing services via telepractice to students, patients, and clients who are selected by the supervising SLP;

• documenting student, patient, or client performance (e.g., collecting data and calculating percentages for the SLP to use; preparing charts, records, and graphs) and report this information to the supervising SLP in a timely manner;

• providing caregiver coaching (e.g., model and teach communication strategies, provide feedback regarding caregiver-child interactions) for facilitation and carryover of skills;

• sharing objective information (e.g., accuracy in speech and language skills addressed, participation in treatment, response to treatment) regarding student, patient, and client performance to students, patients, clients, caregivers, families and other service providers without interpretation or recommendations as directed by the SLP;

• programming augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices;

• providing training and technical assistance to students, patients, clients, and families in the use of AAC devices;

• developing low-tech AAC materials for students, patients, and clients;

• demonstrating strategies included in the feeding and swallowing plan developed by the SLP and share information with students, patients, clients, families, staff, and caregivers;

• assisting students, patients, and clients with feeding and swallowing skills developed and directed by the SLP when consuming food textures and liquid consistencies.

Administrative Support

Depending on the setting, adequate training, and guidance from the supervising SLP, the SLPA may:

• assist with clerical duties and site operations (e.g., scheduling, recordkeeping, maintaining inventory of supplies and equipment);

• perform safety checks and maintenance of equipment;

• prepare materials for screening, assessment, and treatment services.

Prevention and Advocacy

Depending on the setting, adequate training, and guidance from the supervising SLP, the SLPA may:

• present primary prevention information to individuals and groups known to be at risk for communication disorders and other appropriate groups; promote early identification and early intervention activities;

• promote early identification and early intervention activities;

• advocate for individuals and families through community awareness, health literacy, education, and training programs to promote and facilitate access to full participation in communication—including the elimination of societal, cultural, and linguistic barriers;

• provide information to emergency response agencies for individuals who have communication and/or swallowing disorders;

• advocate at the local, state, and national levels for improved public policies affecting access to services and research funding;

• support the supervising speech-language pathologist in research projects, in-service training, public relations programs, and marketing programs;

• participate actively in professional organizations.

State laws vary. Check specific state regulations to determine the tasks that a particular state permits SLPAs to perform. For example, some states do not permit the use of support personnel.

An SLPA should NOT engage in any of the following activities:

• representing themselves as the SLP;

• interpreting assessment tools for the purpose of diagnosing disability, determining eligibility or qualification for services;

• administering or interpreting feeding and/or swallowing screenings, checklists, and assessments;

• diagnosing communication and feeding/swallowing disorders;

• developing or determining the feeding and/or swallowing strategies or precautions for students, patients, and clients;

• disclosing clinical or confidential information (e.g., diagnosis, services provided, response to treatment) either orally or in writing to individuals who have not been approved by the SLP to receive information unless mandated by law;

• writing, developing, or modifying a student's, patient's, or client's plan of care in any way;

• making referrals for additional services;

• assisting students, patients, and clients without following the individualized plan of care prepared by the ASHA certified SLP;

• assisting students, patients, and clients without access to supervision;

• selecting AAC systems or devices;

• treating medically fragile students, patients, and clients without 100% direct supervision;

• performing procedures that require specialized knowledge and training (e.g., vocal tract prosthesis shaping or fitting, vocal tract imaging);

• providing input in care conferences, case conferences, or any interdisciplinary team meeting without the presence or prior approval of the supervising SLP or other designated SLP;

• providing interpretative information to the student, patient, client, family, or others regarding the student’s, patient’s, or client’s status or service;

• signing or initialing any formal documents (e.g., plans of care, reimbursement forms, reports) without the supervising SLP’s co-signature;

• discharging a student, patient, or client from services.

State laws may differ. Check specific state regulations to determine which tasks fall outside the scope of responsibility for SLPAs in a particular state.

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.