Teacher Standards and Practices Commission



Teacher Standards and Practices Commission250 Division Street NESalem OR 97301November 7-8, 2013ITEM:UPDATE ON SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY DEVELOPMENTSACTION:INFORMATION ITEMINFORMATION:The Commission has been working for nearly five years to align licensure practices for Speech Language Pathology endorsed educators with the requirements for the state’s Board of Examiners for Speech Language Pathology and Audiology.The problem both agencies is encountering is inadequately prepared applicants receiving licensure from TSPC to represent themselves as full Speech Language Pathologists (SLP).Fully licensed board SLPs have a master’s degree plus a year of clinical fellowship work and must obtain the equivalent of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) certificate of competence – referred to as the ASHA “C’s.”In the decades preceding the 1980s, there were educator preparation programs for speech language pathologists. These programs were bachelor’s degree programs in the education departments and teachers were engaged in direct services to special education students. Those programs slowly died out. Now, the SLP programs reside in other university departments at the University of Oregon; Portland State University and Pacific University.Additionally, the Board of Examiners licenses Speech Language Pathology Assistants (SLPAs). There is only one SLPA program in the state located at Chemeketa Community College. A feature of this program is 100 hours of supervised clinical experience working with speech-language populations. The SLPA, once licensed, then may perform many functions of an SLP, but must be supervised by a board-licensed SLP at least 15% of the time. The program of correction is developed by the SLP and can be implemented or delivered by the SLPA.All of this information is to contrast the practices the TSPC has inadvertently fallen into – that is allowing persons holding a bachelor’s degree in Communications Disorders or Speech Language Pathology to obtain a Restricted Transitional Teaching License as an Speech Language Pathologist.Bachelor’s degree programs do not contain any supervised clinical experiences. Thus, SLPAs prepared by Chemeketa have more clinical experience than the folks who have completed a solely academic program.Sandy Leybold, Executive Director of the Board of Examiners, and I met recently with Oregon Department of Education staff that have worked closely with the federal grant program that supports SLP candidates complete master’s degree programs. It is these candidates who are largely receiving the Restricted Transitional Teaching Licenses (RTTL). [Currently there are 49 people holding RTTLs for Speech Language Pathology.]Once a candidate has completed a master’s program, they are eligible for a provisional board license while they complete their clinical competencies. Once the clinical competencies are completed, they are eligible for full state SLP licensure.If TSPC full aligned with the state Board of Examiners, then we would not issue Restricted Transitional Teaching Licenses to underprepared candidates and would only offer licensure to fully board-eligible candidates.If the shoe was on the other proverbial foot, the Commission would want a sister agency to not undermine their requirements. Final thoughts: A significant portion of the identified SLP population includes children from underrepresented cultures or races. This adds an additional need to have only the best trained professionals working to help resolve their identified speech and hearing issues.Additionally, perhaps we ought to continuously apply a critical lens to these types of decisions. One such lens was recently proposed by Doris McEwen, Deputy Director for Curriculum and Instruction for the Oregon Education Investment Board – “How does your decision affect children?” Dr. McEwen also suggested we might ask: “Is there an adverse impact on under-represented populations?”Issues for Discussion:1. What are reasonable next steps?2. Would you like to hear directly from the Board of Examiners?3. Does TSPC have a continued role in licensing Speech Language Pathologists?4. Attached is the information piece sent to districts at the beginning of the school year. 3.4a Letter from Sandy Leybold and Vickie Chamberlain to District Superintendents ................
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