Educators’ Opinions About Speech-Language Pathology Services in Schools

Abstract

This study examined 628 educators’ opinions about the role and performance of school speech-language pathologists. Regular and special education teachers, elementary school principals, and school psychologists from four states responded to a 78-item survey about speech-language pathologists’ academic preparation, collaborative efforts, and service provision. Overall, results indicated that educators have positive opinions about speech-language pathologist services; however, responses suggested some uncertainty about speech-language pathologists’ roles with certain student groups and the adequacy of their training in behavior management, reading, multicultural issues, and teaching English as a second language. Educators gave neutral responses about the amount of time speech-language pathologist spend with students and the efficacy of various service provision models. Also, despite positive overall responses about speech-language pathologists’ contributions toward collaborative efforts, classroom teachers’ responses were less favorable than those of other professionals. Results of the current study were compared to earlier research on educators’ opinions about speech-language pathologist services in school settings.