Congratulations to Marie Ireland who has had an exciting week. First she learned the excellent result of her PhD by Prior Publication. Second, she learned that the following manuscript based on a chapter in her PhD has been accepted for publication:
Ireland, M., McLeod, S, & Verdon, S. (2023, in press). Eligibility determinations for speech and language services in United States public schools: Experiences and tensions. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.
Here is the abstract:
Purpose: To examine school speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) experiences regarding students’ eligibility for services in public schools within the United States.
Method: Fifteen school SLPs participated in online focus groups to examine the complex nature of SLPs’ participation within decision-making teams and describe practice experiences in U.S. schools. SLPs worked in 1-10+ schools serving students from pre-K through 12th grade. Data were analyzed using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 2015).
Results: School SLPs’ practice is impacted by rules, community, and division of labor in schools. Participants discussed: culture of the work setting; interaction between team members; desire to assist families and children; knowledge of regulations; evaluation practices; and the impact of poverty, cultural and linguistic differences. Nine major tensions were identified: SLPs’ concerns regarding outcomes of eligibility decision-making; documentation of educational impact; need for greater SLP empowerment and advocacy; complexities of students learning English as an additional language; overuse of the diagnosis of speech-language impairment (SLI) for students who do not qualify; administrators’ adherence to rules; parents’ involvement in decision making; disagreement between team members; and concerns about evaluation data for decision making.
Conclusion: Within the schools, the CHAT framework was useful to identify tensions and opportunities for change at the individual and institutional level impacting team decision-making for eligibility, SLPs provision of services, and student outcomes. Acknowledgment of tensions and opportunities for change regarding students’ eligibility for services may guide public policy, pre-service training, and individual, local and national advocacy.
