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Hi from Downeast Maine!

Thanks for the poll on caseload. I wish you would provide an option to indicate part-time or full-time. I work 17 hours a week and have a caseload of 36.

Yes, I had the same issue as Elaine. I couldn't indicate part-time.

my caseload is currently 41 and I work full time

I agree. I provide additional consultation on AT so my caseload isn't representative either.

Ditto on part time/full time

Yes. The slides will be available following this program

I'm "retired" and so also work PT.

I’m an administrator and we try to cap our SLPs at 55 but with the staffing shortage I regret to say that many are over caseload

I agree

Could ASHA perhaps DO some of that research about what is a "reasonable" workload/caseload? We need to have some objective standard to aim for!

I'm in two buildings and started the year in mid 70s

In Michigan, our recommended caseload size per the state is 60, which was written in 1975. I’d say it is quite out of date.

I am in 2 buildings as well and have close to 125 students between the 2.

The problem also lies in the nationwide shortage of SLP's and SLPA's and the continued referrals received for children.

Would also like the opportunity to notate how many we have in Intervention/RTI/Child Study. Whichever your district calls it.

Can this Power Point be emailed to participants after this training?

Good point Melissa--I negotiated a new cap for our department last year and I had to get creative with my rationale for the numbers I presented to admins!

Power to the SLPs with 55+ students-rockstars!

SLP

working in schools during COVID has been even more stressful

crazy caseload #, Tonya (125!). What's your trunk look like?

The caseload hasn't changed since I stared 25 years ago but I am doing 2 to 3 times the amount of paperwork.

SLP's are just exhausted and overworked so the quality of service may suffer.

SLPAs do more and more therapy while the SLP does the paperwork and attends meetings

There is so much assessment to catch up on this school year with students returning to in person learning

Could the accessibility features please be turned on for closed captioning, please?

I'm surprised that accessibility features aren't already enabled.

As a special ed administrator and former SLP, we need to get more SLPs into administration! :0)

https://www.asha.org/slp/schools/workload-calculator/

Pandemic has been a TOTAL challenge! Right??

I completed my administration certification, but very difficult to get a job...hiring often done with the person they want in mind! But I agree.

3 weeks for direct services and 1 week for indirect, collaboration, observations, assessments etc.

my system is now going by sessions and not times per week. this helps.

Also it seems like SLP shortage makes it challenging for SLPs to move into admin roles...they don't want to lose us in our SLP roles!

Does anyone know of an amplifier / mic system that will allow the children to project. It is so hard to hear them with the masks on Help!!!!

Sharon, what do you mean by sessions and not times/week?

56 sessions per year....vs. writing 2x30 weekly....

it allows for a session here or there to be missed for sickness, field trips, assemblies, etc. without being out of compliance on the IEP

My admin won't let us do yearly for legal reasons; she is okay with monthly, though ..

But monthly only goes so far

We also write sessions per marking period which give us flexibility to see the students and keep compliant.

"yearly" implies the full IEP year, not Sept to June

One challenge from COVID is having to keep groups from one classroom, because my grade school is staying in cohorts due to possible quarantining. Lots of mixed groups.

Sometimes this type of frequency is hindered because of the billing system that is linked to the IEP frequency (requiring minutes per month, rather than number of sessions per IEP cycle).

I've seen that be misunderstood to use "year".

Whats not being addressed is getting admin to not just understand SLP roles but also how to problem solve at the district level across schools. SLP's are often left to scramble between scheduling, observation, testing, etc.

Is anyone's district doing minutes per month vs. per week? If so has that helped with managing your responsibilities outside of direct therapy?

Per 9-week grading period seems to be accepted.

One of the school districts in which I worked also incorporated a high school student assistant (interested in pursuing SL major in college). That HS student was an asset (and is now in an SLP program at a University in FL)!

We're being asked to provide compensatory services and remote learning for students who are quarantined.

We do monthly also. But with all the days off its sometimes even difficult to manage compliance that way.

I asked about grading period and that was a no go, too...

The problem is that many SLPs are willing to continue working under these conditions without speaking up. If enough people stay silent, nothing will change.

We do minutes per year over 30 weeks. So 900 minutes over 30 weeks= 30 minutes a week

Ilene - we have teachers using this system and it seems to really help. I'm wondering if mic covers could be exchanged out between students for sanitation? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KJ3TD6W/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

For example

True Sharon.

Some districts in CT are having SLPs miss PD days to make up sessions, no school days for missed sessions-a huge union issue.

true. A few SLP's in a school advocating will not change things at the district level.

Yes, I'm in Delaware and I have also written minutes per month which has helped with those artic kiddos that I could see more frequently (independently) for 10 min. It also translated into better student outcomes.

Regardless of the budget allocation for additional teachers and SLP's ...there is a nationwide shortage of SLP's...

Amen, Sharon. My team almost didn't get a decrease in caseload because they weren't speaking up about how hard they were working (due to years of seeing too many students)!!

I fear it is going to get worse as it is 10.27 and SLPs are burnt already.

In my district in CT we do a minimum number of sessions. So if you miss, then you do not "make-up". No more 2x week. but 55 times a year

Some states ( New York) does not use SLPa's which would be helpful

...meaning a shortage of SLPs willing to work in the setting....or just in general?

in the schools Donna.

Advocates and parents are not happy with a sessions schedule. They giveus much grief at IEP meetings if we deviate from 30 times 2 or 1 time a week.

yes!

"educational impact" is broad semantics.

we have advocates trying to dictate which classes we cannot push into or pull out of during IEP meetings, It's been CRAZY. WHO IS THE PROFESSIONAL HERE ANYWAY!!

Honestly..... SO MANY OF US HAVE TRIED TO UTILIZE A WORKLOAD MODEL. ADMINISTRATORS WON'T GO FOR IT NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE TRY TO EDUCATE THEM. ????? WHY CAN'T ASHA WORK WITH STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS? THE DISTRICTS FOLLOW WHAT THE STATE ED DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS.

Great point of focusing on what is happening in the classroom!

curriculum materials make generalization so much easier-teachers then see us a collaborators opposed to fun and games speech.

And services need to be more for early learners and we need to be telling parents from day 1 that contact time will be decreasing if their kiddo stays in therapy. My goal in Jr Hi/Middle School is to start decreasing their time. Workload/Caseload should be less in the secondary settings.

I second using curriculum-based materials!

We enjoy being a part of each teacher's Google classroom for assignments and collaborations,

https://seacdc.org/contact-us.html

We're supposed to be supporting their education!

KAREN Totally agree. As a unified professional body with the assistance of ASHA more can be done to address these issues with Stae Ed Depts and regs.

Can ASHA please work with states to advocate for change in the laws that to address very old caseload minimums. This is what administrators are adhering to and NOT to workload recommendations from its employees. It has been fruitless on our level and very frustrating no matter how many workload calculators and educational impact statements I provide.

I would love to do more push-in and collaboration, but the students are scattered across so many classrooms. How are you all handling this issue?

Ditto question from Laura Talavera

Has anyone worked with their district unions when the contracts are being revised? That is a time we can get involved at the district level.

Suzette, I agree with you in terms of litigious cases with advocates. It is very hard to change the model of services

If states had a maximum amount of students who can be on the SLPs caseload, that would be a great start.

Our SLPs are lumped in with all teacher's for contracts with bargaining unit.

Added issue to pull-out services is that we are being limited to HOW many students and grouping to co-horts because of COVID precautions. That has made my entire day seeing students. No time for paperwork at all at school.

Even with caseload caps, the SLP shortage is real.

Same in CT Suzette. Ihave been part of the negotiating and bringing awareness to the demands-incremental steps, but steps.

what about adding SLPA's to help with case loads?

For Sharon from CT: Is 55 times a year a "one size fits all" or do you have the professional decision to provide more/less time based upon the student's diagnosis and projected prognosis?

How can we get the states to understand the need for flexible minute requirements on an IEP. In New York we do not have any flexibility as our sessions must be written as 30 minute sessions provided weekly with a 1 time a week as a minimum.

I have had positive experience in using a communication severity scale to determine minutes and explain to IEP team why the minutes are what they are.

It's disheartening to hear this caseload/workload discussion go on for so many years

One of the keys to providing in-classroom services is working with the school principal so that students needing services are grouped in 2 or so classrooms per grade rather than in all classrooms. There was a great deal of district-level training for school administrators and general ed teachers along with special educators when the district I worked in began doing inclusive services decades ago.

When I have looked at the ASHA caseload-workload survey, I realized we have therapists not doing the indirect things (ie: AAC programming) to support students because it simply does not fit in the extended hours that are already put in

In Wisconsin, we can't negotiate any working conditions. We lost all that power when ACT 10 took place in Wisconsin in 2011.

Melinda, what is the communication severity scale?

Had a state auditer ask me to rationalize 30 minutes/2x per week for so many of the students on my caseload. Really made me look at things differently from then on.

Our unions assist SLPs in a VERY limited way unfortunately. We have no one advocating for us and our administration is “over-ruling” recommendations from our SLPs on student minutes when parent “complains”

Melinda Aldrich, Could you share your communication severity scale or where you found it? My district is interested in using/developing something like this. Thank you.

My question about the communication severity scale is that it seems like it proposes way MORE minutes for complex kids than is typical, rather than looking more toward collaboration/consultation. Am I missing something?

It's basically a matrix that allows you to notate how impaired a student is and from there it gives you a point scale which helps you determine how many minutes of service is appropriate.

I am retired. Can someone let me know what 3 to 1 model?

Do your districts have a certain score for qualifying students, like -2 standard deviations in one area or -1.5 in two areas. Where I used to work, this was the case. Now, we have no defined rule at all

Communication Severity Scale is wonderful. Out of San Diego USD

In Illinois, ISHA worked long and hard to get the state dept. of ed. To reduce the caseload max from 80 t0 60. This was years ago and it is outdated. It also does not take severity levels into account. I agree with previous comments that

Yeah! What is a 3 in 1 model?

Yes, can you describe what a 3:1 model is please?

3 weeks of therapy on and one week off

San Diego County Office of Education has a Communication Severity Scales. San Diego California really helps to frame discussions on student needs

3 weeks of direct therapy and the 1 week of the month of indirect services

Three weeks of direct services and one week of flex scheduling for paperwork, testing, meetings, all the other things we do.

Is there a max number of students that we can see in a pull out group?

so hard to dismiss those /R/ leftover kids. We have to really say there is no educational impact.

ASHA needs to work directly with state boards of ed to develop a severity matrix to determine workloads and require that districts follow it.

What do write on an IEP when using a 3:1 model

https://leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/full/10.1044/leader.SCM.24052019.36 3:1 Work Model article

What if you have an administrator that overrides or challenges your recommendations for a dismissal? Despite using data to drive decision making

Antoinette- it varies by state

Antoinette--my agency's max is 6

Our 3-1 model works as 3 weeks of direct service to students and 1 week per month for indirect service, evaluations, meetings, make-up sessions...

Elaine I agree

I have been trained on administrating this one: https://www.sdcoe.net/student-services/special-education/niser/Pages/CSS.aspx

I find older kids tend to get embarrassed when you push in

Shirnett and Jodie- Thank you!!

When using 3:1, how many times see students per week when using 3:1?

The IEPs are written X sessions/month. A student seen twice per week is seen 6x per month on the IEP

Our state told us we could not implement the 3:1 model in our district

Does the workload calculator indicate an appropriate percentage/ratio of direct time to indirect services/paperwork time?

Amazing Verna!!! No duty!!!

would hiring an SLPA be helpful for a SLP's case load management?

If you write minutes per month, you get your minutes in the first 3 weeks and then have the 4th week for other things. OR, it doesn’t have to be weeks, it could be therapy 4 days and other things on the 5th day (like Friday)

we do sessions per year

We started writing sessions/year

MY SUPERVISER TOLD ME CONSULT IME COMES OUT OF MY PLANNING TIME

This is one that you may find helpful as well: https://prakovic.edublogs.org/files/2015/10/Speech_Eligibility_Criteria-1cxgolo.pdf

What does MTSS stand for?

multi tiered systems of support

Each state has different guidelines for SLPA supervision. It was easy in Georgia, but all you need to be a SLPA there is a high school diploma. In California, the SLPAs are educated, but I was going to my own IEPs + the SLPA IEPs + supervision and it was TOO MUCH!

Thanks Melinda!

we cannot write minutes per month as it significantly reduces the funding we receive if we don't report weekly minutes

So many intelligibility issues this year for the kids with a sound error or two now that they are masked all day. I have had so many referrals already this school year.

We have several therapy models: 30 minutes time 1 or 2 amonth, 30 times per month and or 30 minutes per semester--tracking.

What is MTSS?

School advocacy resources from ASHA https://www.asha.org/slp/schools/schools_resources_advocacy/

mTSS==Multi Tiered System of Support

I can do minutes per month but our data prep person has to have it in minutes per week to put in our student system/schedule. I think if we do minutes per month we can state the minutes they get in a "typical" week.

Thank you!

Materials prep by high school kids would be lovely.

Are SLP's interested in hiring/working with SLPA's?

I am thinking maybe a rotating day each week to do "indirect service" ?

I am in CA and love working with SLPAs

thank you Anne :)

Kim, many SLPs I work with do therapy 4 days/week and have a paperwork/meeting day every Friday

In Utah, we call SLPAs SLTs. I love working with mine. I have found them to be very helpful.

CT eligibility Criteria booklet is from 2008. that's really outdated...

SLP-As ROCK!

We would love to have a paperwork/meeting day each week.

@ Jodie Palmer-yes/no-it depends on the level of expertise. I love working with SLPAs!!

Dedicating the same day for paperwork is fine if you only have one school and all your special ed teachers are willing to conduct IEPs on that day. If you have more than one schools, it is difficult to organize all IEPs on that day for 2 schools and maybe 8 Special ed teachers.

Thank you Alison

SLP Assistants are an integral and critical cohort on in our SLP Department! :-)

@Sharon Schlus-RIGHT????

You are correct, Suzette. It does not work for everyone.

Jill, our “meeting” day is filled with 7 hours of meeting- IEPs, METs, Ateams - no time for paperwork unfortunately :(. Hence I take time away from my own kids to get it done - 5 hours on the weekend.

Sorry Sharon Schloss I missed spelled your name. No update since 2008! It is another uphill march for CSHA and the RESC agencies. BTW we have met!

I am so sorry to hear that, Kim!

How do you do 6 day, if working only 5 days?

We have a six-day schedule. It can get cumbersome but you would see a child on, for example, Day 2 and 4, rather than Monday and Wednesday. It does provide more time in your overall schedule for therapy and other responsibilities.

We are paid on the teacher contract so we are bound to those duties!! UGH.

Yes Eva! The same - sound errors and masking has increased referrals.

On a six-day schedule, Day 1 may be on Monday, so that the following week, Day 1 would be on Tuesday. The days go through a cycle.

I am seeing students from other grades during lunches, recesses, etc. I have IEPs before and after school that interferes with bus duty.

I worked in a school with a 6 day schedule and it became a big problem about halfway through the year when the state informed the district we could not write IEPs that way - makeups had to be done across the board. It was awful.

how can you have meetings before and after school? not paid for that

Are any SLPs paid on a different lane/scale than a classroom teacher with the same years of experience?

Reposting this for both panelists and attendees: I am a PreK SLP in a high SES district. Many parents are learning that if they hire an advocate, right when their child turns 3 and transitions to public school, that the district will go above and beyond to avoid due process. I have 4 cases with advocates and IEE’s. One settled and I see her 5x/week for 45 minutes. How do I justify my recommendations for service delivery with objective data? Is there a matrix for service delivery for special populations? This issue is exponentially increasing my workload.

I spoke to my director and made a case for no duties for our SLP's as we are currently short 4 positions and time is very limited. I am grateful that my district has removed duties this year.

Same pay as teachers in my district. BUT teachers get a bump in pay for national certification however SLPs are not paid more if we have our CCCs. Double Standard.

We write our IEPs as “2x30 minutes over six days”

If you do 6 day schedule, is it like rotating when kids are seen, since 5 day week of school?

How does the 6 day schedule work when the classroom schedules (with art, gym, etc.) do not rotate on a 6 day schedule?

we have 36 weeks of school and write 25 sessions, 50-55 sessions, 75-80 sessions or 90 sessions.

Same here Jill no bump or extra for CCCs

In our school, the whole school is on a 6 day cycle, so there isn’t any conflict that way. Classroom schedules and specials (e.g. art, computer) are also on a six-day schedule.

Same in my district in WI. No bump for CCC's. We are expected to get the Master Educator License in WI.

YES Christina!!! Hey you get to play games with the kids while we teach math.

Joan, that is true. Some middle and high school s don’t want kids missing academic classes. So, rotating therapy sessions isn’t practical.

Could we get an example of a teacher vs SLP chart please?

When an administrator required me to do morning door duty and lunch duty, I presented my schedule and IEP schedule responsibilities. I asked the administrator to review both and suggest how to alter the (FULL caseload/workload) schedule to meet the mandated responsibilities. My lunch duty was reduced to one day for a couple of weeks; afterwards it was discontinued.

NYC pays us more than teachers on the same line. It increases periodically. We make about 6K more

I had a few teachers that thought all we did in speech was fun and games-as the kids came back smiling and talking. Until I invited them into a session to see exactly what occurs-never heard those words again.

SC is a non union state

I work at Charter Schools so I do not think I have a union. Anyone work for Charter schools that have a union?

WI has a union but no right for bargaining

Iowa took away collective bargaining.

Nope, no union at my charter either

@ Lisa Potruch-charter schools do not have a union.

SLPs have to be in the union

WI took away collective bargaining.

How again do we receive CEU paper saying we attended this?

Yeah, I did not think so. Heavy sigh.

I’m in a union but work at a charter school through my district so the school does not have to honor the union contract.

Some NYC Charter schools are in the union

SLPs in our school district are part of the Bargaining Unit even if they do not JOIN or pay dues to the Union.

I was a union member for years; however, when negotiations came around, when things got tough, SLPs were always the bargaining chip and we were often just thrown under the bus.

When I worked, at first in union, then left union. When I retired, SLPs weren’t in the union.

@ Jill Bailey--a friend of mine works in a district that decided to encourage NBC and extra pay for teachers. The SLP's contacted ASHA. ASHA was very helpful and told the school district that the SLP's have WAY more training than the Board Certification process. The district included SLP's in the pay raise based on the training they already had.

It’s probably 50/50 here in terms of union members.

As SLPs, we teach everyone to speak but we still haven't learned to speak up for ourselves!

I agree Jill

At my previous district the union actively worked against SLPs being on a separate salary schedule from teachers, which made it sooo much harder to hire in our district than in neighboring districts with different rules

Yes, indeed!

@Jill Bailey-well said!

Jane Miller-what state do you work in?

Yes Jill, great comment.

Ashley Johnson--Illinois

my supervisor, who is NOT an SLP told me I had too much planning time. hhahahahahahahahaha

I am an SLP and I became the Assistant Director of Related Services. As an administrator, I told the principals that the SLPs could not do duty in the during academic time because it interferes with scheduling. As teachers, they were supposed to do duty. I agree that certain types of duty, does allow you to see the students in more naturalistic situations. When I was working as an SLP, I would negotiate to work in areas like breakfast duty to be able to see how the students were doing during that time.

I am an SLP and became a Related Services administrator. The staffing shortage has made it difficult to address the increased need of our SLPs and the students they serve especially after COVID

We have a huge increase in referrals and assessments

So do we significant increase in referrals and requests for assessments

We do as well

Ditto on increased referrals and assessments this year!

Same here in Vallejo , CA

How do we properly assess students when baselines are so different due to COVID

For those with the increase in referrals, have the students gone through MTSS/RTI/SRBI?

Same for huge increase in referrals and assessments in New Orleans. Huge staffing shortage as well

ASHA Workload Resources https://www.asha.org/siteassets/uploadedfiles/events/2021-workload-town-hall-resources.pdf

I fear that we are going to over identify students

Yes I have many more referrals this year.

Does anyone have a way to streamline the process?

All but Pre K students go through RTI

Jane Miller-would I be able to get your email address? We are trying to work on the exact same thing in our district with our union.

open and download this certificate for Professional Development Hours - https://www.asha.org/siteassets/uploadedfiles/events/2021-workload-town-hall-resources.pdf

Excellent panel members. Thank you.

Use this link for Certificate - file:///C:/Users/lmabrypr/Downloads/Virtual%20Town%20Hall%2010.27.2021%20(1).pdf

This certificate link is just the resources page

Great information

This was thought provoking and helpful! Thank you all!

There's no certificate

Lisa we can’t copy paste from the chat

That second certificate link is giving me an error

Can you make the link for Certificate a hyperlink?

the link isn't live

Me too

I cannot access the certificate

It’s an error link

Link for certificate doesn't work

Ashley Johnson

cannot access certificate

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We can't access the certificate

Cant access the certificate

Can't access certificate

Please email schools@asha.org if you have issues with the certificate

link is not working

Link is not working

thanks again!!

No certificate

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need help with certificate. wrong link.

no certificate

The link is just the agenda topics

Everyone is having trouble with the certificate

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The link is not giving a certificate

can you pin the certificate?

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