Service Delivery Models Used With Adolescents: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose: I surveyed ASHA-certified speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in Virginia public schools to determine current practices used to treat the adolescent population.Method: I used survey methodology to gather data. The survey was researcher-developed and focused on service delivery models used by SLPs working in the public school system in the state of Virginia.Results: Results from this study revealed that SLPs who work in the public school system in Virginia continue to predominantly use traditional methods when serving adolescents.Conclusions: Traditional models have proven less effective, and therefore, the development of different service delivery models—collaborative models, integrated models, and peer models—to help teach and reinforce content area material has been necessary. Implementing these new models has proved challenging. Therefore, the traditional pull-out model appears to be the service delivery model that SLPs continue to use when working with the adolescent population.