OFFICE OF QUALITY PROFESSIONALS AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS Summary of State Board of Education Items April 17-18, 2008

Transcription

1 OFFICE OF QUALITY PROFESSIONALS AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS Summary of State Board of Education Items April 17-18, 2008 EDUCAT LICENSURE 27. Approval to begin the Administrative Procedures Act Process: To Approve a New Five-Year Non-Renewable License and New Endorsement Code for Speech/Language Teacher as Recommended by the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure Development Specifications: The Certification Commission is recommending approval of a new fiveyear non-renewable (one time only) license for Speech/Language Teacher, along with a new licensure endorsement code #214 for this license. Applicants for this license must have a bachelor s degree in Speech Pathology or Communication Disorders and must have passed all parts of the Praxis I. This five-year license would allow school districts to hire Speech Pathologists on the bachelor s level to perform limited services while they are completing master s degree programs in Speech Pathology to become fully certified as a Speech/Language Clinician (215). The Commission approved this proposal originally on January 4, The Commission again discussed the proposal on March 7, 2008, and considered other options. The decision was made by the Commission to recommend this proposal to the State Board as originally approved. Background: Proposal for New Endorsement Code and New Five-Year Non-Renewable License for a Bachelor s Level License in Speech Pathology We currently have 798 Speech Pathologists working in Mississippi schools with students that have problems in Communications Disorders. Of these 798, 125 of these clinicians are working on emergency licenses. There are many districts that cannot find licensed Speech/Language Clinicians to service the number of students that need this service for their district. Because of this, the district requests emergency certification for clinicians that only hold a bachelor s degree in Speech Pathology or Communication Disorders. Current licensure guidelines for fully certified Speech /Language Clinician (license 215) requires, according to ASHA standard, a master s degree in Speech Pathology or Communication Disorders or Speech and Hearing Science from an ASHA accredited program. There 1

2 Proposed Five-Year Non-Renewable License for Speech/Language Teacher and New Licensure Endorsement Code 214 for Speech/Language Teacher: FIVE YEAR EDUCAT LICENSE SPEECH/LANGUAGE TEACHER (214) This is a non-renewable five-year license issued on the bachelor s level for Speech Pathology. This license will allow the educator five years to be admitted and complete a master s degree program in Speech Pathology, Communication Disorders or Speech and Hearing Sciences and meet the requirements for the 215 standard renewable five-year license as a Speech/Language Clinician. The Speech/Language Teacher must be monitored by a certified Speech/Language Clinician License Requirements Validity Renewal Class A 1. Licensure application 2. Complete an approved bachelor s degree program from an accredited institution in Speech Pathology, Communication Disorders or Speech and Hearing Sciences 3. Praxis I (Pre-Professional Skills Test- PPST) 5 years NON-Renewable Candidate has 5 years to complete a master s degree program in Speech Pathology With this new license, a bachelor s level Speech Teacher would be limited to the type of services that they could provide to students. A bachelor s level Speech Teacher could provide Articulation therapy, articulation testing, write IEP s and provide speech therapy. They could not provide language therapy, language assessments, voice or fluency or their corresponding assessments and they could not chair any type of eligibility determination committee. These bachelor s level Speech Teachers must be monitored by a master s level fully certified Speech/Language Clinician. 4

3 Our current MS Licensure Guideline for Speech Pathology licensure: FIVE YEAR EDUCAT LICENSE SPEECH/LANGUAGE CLINICIAN (215) License Requirements Validity Renewal# Class AA 1. Complete an approved master s degree 5 years Three (3) semester program for speech pathology (American hours in content or Speech Language Hearing Association- job/skill related ASHA) area 2. Praxis I (Pre-Professional Skills Test-PPST) Praxis II (Specialty Area for Speech Five (5) continuing Pathologist) education units (CEUs) in content 1. Complete an approved master s degree or job/skill related program for speech pathology (American Speech Language Hearing Associationarea ASHA) 2. Original ASHA Membership Card Class AAA 1. Meet the requirements for a Five Year 5 years Same as for AA Class AA License 2. Specialist degree in speech pathology Class AAAA 1. Meet the requirements for a Five Year Class AA License 2. Doctoral degree in speech pathology 5 years Same as for AA 5

4 Amended Proposal Proposed Five-Year Standard Renewable License for Speech/Language Teacher and New Licensure Endorsement Code 214 for Speech/Language Teacher: FIVE YEAR EDUCAT LICENSE SPEECH/LANGUAGE TEACHER (214) This is a five-year license issued on the bachelor s level for Speech Pathology. The bachelor s level Speech/Language Teacher would be limited to the type of services that they could provide to students. A bachelor s level Speech Teacher could provide articulation therapy, articulation testing, write IEP s and provide speech therapy. They could not provide language therapy, language assessments, voice or fluency or their corresponding assessments and they could not chair any type of eligibility determination committee. The bachelor s level Speech/Language Teacher must be monitored by a master s level fully certified Speech/Language Clinician. License Requirements Validity Renewal Class A 1. Licensure application 2. Complete an approved bachelor s degree program from an accredited institution in Speech Pathology, Communication Disorders or Speech and Hearing Sciences 3. Praxis I (Pre-Professional Skills Test- PPST) 5 years Ten (10) continuing education units (CEUs) in content or job/skill related area Three (3) semester hours in content or job/skill related area AND Five (5) continuing education units (CEUs) in content or job/skill related area Six (6) semester hours in content or job/skill related area Completion of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards process 6

5 are several issues involved causing the lack of school certified Speech Pathologists: Speech Pathologists with ASHA certification that could qualify for licensure can make much larger salaries in clinical settings than in school districts MS approved masters programs in Speech Pathology have high admission requirements per ASHA guidelines and many applicants are rejected each year MS approved masters programs must have instructors with PhD s per SACS accreditation requirements and these are very hard to find. Therefore, the teacher/student ratio in these programs is small due to the lack of qualified instructors MS approved masters programs only admit a small number of participants each year. These programs require 400 hours of clinical internships in different settings including schools, clinics and hospitals. Many speech pathologists are not able to quit their jobs to complete the required clinical hours. Requirements by Surrounding States: Some of the information presented to the Commission and to the subcommittee involved licensure from surrounding states in the area of Speech Pathology. Those states are dealing with similar problems regarding this area of licensure and provided information on how they are dealing with this problem. Speech Pathology Licensure in Other States Alabama: Arkansas: Florida: Master s degree no provision for bachelors Began to require master s degree in 1992 with Praxis II test. No plans to return to bachelors degree *Standard Speech Language Impaired requires masters or higher *2-year temporary bachelor s degree *5-year non-renewable SLI at bachelors level for those enrolled in master s program *Speech/Language Associate certificate issued at bachelors level and must serve as assistant to standard SLI teacher Kentucky: Standard is master s in Communication Disorders with Praxis SLP-Assistant has bachelors in CD with Praxis South Carolina: Master s degree and Praxis Still have 2 colleges with 2

6 bachelor s programs and they do license them on the bachelor s level. They are required to upgrade to masters by They do issue bachelors Speech Path licenses by reciprocity Tennessee: Speech Pathologist requires masters Speech/Language Teacher endorsement requires bachelors Four of the six states polled, do issue a provisional license on the bachelor s level. Conclusion: With this new license, a bachelor s level Speech Teacher would be limited to the type of services that they could provide to students. A bachelor s level Speech Teacher could provide Articulation therapy, articulation testing, write IEP s and provide speech therapy. They could not provide language therapy, language assessments, voice or fluency or their corresponding assessments and they could not chair any type of eligibility determination committee. These bachelor s level Speech Teachers must be monitored by a master s level fully certified Speech/Language Clinician. Back-up Material: Attached Recommendation: Approval with Recommended Amendment Amendment Change language from Non-renewable five-year license to Renewable five-year standard license. 3