Enhancing Speech-Language Pathologists' Performance Assessment for Optimal Student Support

1. Development of the Performance Assessment of Contributions and Effectiveness of Speech-Language Pathologists

2. Purpose This power point is designed to familiarize SLPs with components of the PACE and why it was developed.

3. Process Established a working group to produce a document regarding value-added assessment (VAA) Collected research data Consulted with members through virtual focus group, e-mail, phone conferences, peer reviews, etc. Developed a resource Sent the resource for peer review Revised the resource based on feedback

4. Working Group Janet Deppe, co-chair, director, state advocacy Deborah Dixon, co-chair, director, school services Jaumeiko Coleman, associate director, N-CEP Susan Karr, associate director, school services Neil Snyder, director, federal advocacy

5. What is Value-Added Assessment? • Value-added assessment a process to accurately and fairly assess a professional’s impact on student performance and overall success of the school community. • A comprehensive, statistical method of analyzing test data that measures teaching and learning.

6. Why is VAA Important? Federal grant programs encourage states to include VAA in grant applications VAA is viewed as an important accountability measure VAA is being adopted in many states

7. An Assessment Model For SLPs Ensures that the evaluation measures accurately reflect the speech-language pathologist’s (SLP) unique role in contributing to a child’s overall performance. Ensures that the SLP is contributing to the success of the school community.

8. Unique Roles of SLPs Provide appropriate assessment and treatment of students in all educational settings ranging from pre-kindergarten through high school, including transitional programs.

9. Unique Role of SLPs Serve students exhibiting a full range of communication disorders involving speech, spoken language, written language, swallowing, and hearing, as well as those who are at risk for developing a communication disorder.

10. Unique Role of SLPs • Address personal, social, and academic issues that have an impact on a student’s educational outcome. • Work with teachers and other school staff • SLPs offer assistance in addressing the linguistic foundations of the curriculum for students with disabilities as well as those at risk for school failure, including struggling learners in general education.

11. Research To date, research has primarily focused on implications of use of VAA with classroom teachers. Notable concerns surfaced, such as difficulty linking student outcomes to one teacher and uncertainty about the accuracy of imputation models for missing student data.

12. Research Considerations • Evaluating the value that an SLP brings to the school or connecting their value to specific student  performance is a challenge when compared to a classroom teacher. • An elementary classroom teacher spends between 4-5 hours a day providing direct instruction to the same group of students. • The SLP typically spends approximately 1 hour per week with students on the caseload.

13. Research ASHA’s Value-Added Working Team was not able to identify any VAA models that specifically incorporated SLPs.

14. Research • Given the dearth of research on the use of VAA with SLPs, other accountability mechanisms were reviewed: • classroom observation • principal evaluation • instructional artifact • portfolio assessment • teacher self-report • value-added models

15. Research • Optimal features in accountability measures include • a comprehensive and rich overview of classroom activities and behaviors • application across teachers, subjects, and contexts for both formative and summative assessments

16. Research • Of all of the measures reviewed, the following stood out as the most flexible measures of the unique role of the SLP • portfolio assessment • “classroom” observation • “teacher” self-report

17. Considerations • The goals of both teachers and SLPs are related, but… • SLP goals typically address foundational skills that support learning • Teacher goals focus on targeting specific subject areas • Collaboration limits • Classroom teachers have the opportunity to collaborate and consult with others teaching the same grade or subjects • Typically there is only one SLP in a school and that SLP often serves a variety of students across teachers and may be assigned to multiple schools

18. PACE • ASHA recommends the use of Performance Assessment of Contributions and Effectiveness of Speech-Language Pathologists (PACE) • PACE considers: • Specific and unique roles and responsibilities of a the school-based SLP as presented in the ASHA document Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists in the Schools (ASHA,2010) • Unique working environment of SLPs • Multiple measures of performance

19. PACE Elements • The PACE system is comprised of: • Professional Performance Review Process for the School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist (ASHA, 2006) • Classroom” observation • “teacher” self-report • Performance Assessment of Contributions and Effectiveness of SLPs (PACE) Matrix • Portfolio assessment

20. PACE Assessed Goals Demonstrate knowledge in the subject area of speech-language pathology and related areas

21. PACE Assessed Goals Provide appropriate, educationally relevant services reflecting evidenced-based practices.

22. PACE Assessed Goals Provide services that are compliant with state and federal regulations for children with IEPs Provide a variety of appropriate and dynamic service delivery methods

23. PACE Assessed Goals • Demonstrate the ability to conduct appropriate comprehensive evaluations and assessments of students experiencing or at risk for a variety of speech, language, and swallowing disorders.

24. PACE Assessed Goals Demonstrate the ability to work with classroom teachers and other professionals.

25. PACE Assessed Goals Provide opportunities for families to be involved in the student’s SLP services.

26. PACE Assessed Goals Earn sufficient continuing education or professional development units necessary to meet ASHA requirements for certification maintenance as well as state requirements.

27. PACE Assessed Goals • Contribute to various building or district initiatives • RTI • District committees • Presentations to teachers, parents, etc.

28. Resources A PACE document will be posted on the ASHA website shortly. The team will continue to review emerging research and will update the document if new information becomes available. Continue to provide ASHA with input on the document and VAA in your school district.

29. What’s Next? Familiarize yourself with the following documents • PACE • Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists in Schools • Professional Performance Review Process for the School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist

30. What’s Next? Determine how PACE can be adopted in your specific setting. Establish procedures for developing the portfolio assessment portion of PACE for your district.

31. What’s Next Become actively involved in the development of an assessment system to ensure it is appropriate for SLPs.

32. Advocate for PACE Form a group and assign roles/tasks Develop an action plan Identify the key decision makers and supporters Reach out to professional groups or other related service providers Develop talking points and a presentation to share with decision makers and other constituents

33. Our Future “Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future.” -Steve Jobs “The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on.” -Barack Obama

34. Questions