Faculty awarded $799k to train speech-language pathologists with special ed focus

Two faculty members have been awarded a four-year, $799,602 grant by the U.S. Department of Education to train the next generation of doctoral leaders in speech-language pathology to provide better services to public school students with speech and language disabilities.

The grant to associate professor Mary Andrianopoulos of the Department of Communication Disorders and professor Mary Lynn Boscardin in the Special Education Concentration in the School of Education will support five doctoral students in speech-language pathology with a minor in special education. The competitive grant was awarded through the Department of Education’s Preparation of Leadership Personnel program.

According to a 2004 study by the Department of Education, approximately 65.4 percent of public school students ages of 3-21 receive special education services for communicative disabilities. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor projects a total of 49,000 job openings for speech-language pathologists between 2002 and 2012. It is also anticipated that there will be a shortage of qualified speech-language pathology faculty to train master’s-level clinicians to provide services to students with communicative disabilities in public schools, a situation the American Speech Language Hearing Association considers a national crisis.

According to Andrianopoulos, speech-language pathologists play a critical role in the assessment, intervention, and management of students with communicative disabilities in the public schools. They contribute to the development of academic interventions for students with communicative disabilities, which range from mild to severe.

“It is evident that when it comes to training speech-language pathologists who will serve these varied populations with communicative disabilities, it is the faculty who must not only be knowledgeable, but able to apply effective evidence-based interventions in general and special education settings,” she said.

According to Boscardin, speech-language pathology faculty must also be knowledgeable of special education practices, policies and laws so the students they train can better assist general and special educators and school administrators to meet the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

With the reauthorization of IDEA 2004, Boscardin said speech-language pathologists will be called upon to deliver services that employ scientifically-based research practices that increase educational outcomes for students with disabilities in general and special education settings. “As members of the special education workforce, IDEA 2004 and NCLB require that speech-language pathologists improve student achievement outcomes relevant to state standards.”

School-based speech-language pathologists who acquire a knowledge base and expertise in the use of valid and effective interventions will be able to contribute to improved student outcomes, she said.

Communication Disorders faculty members Shelley Velleman and Elena Zaretsky will also participate in the project.

Andrianopoulos and Boscardin credited the collaborative work and effort between several state and local officials and public school systems in securing the grant. They cited the strong support from Provost Charlena Seymour, U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, state Sen. Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst), off-campus colleagues in the Agawam, Amherst, Chicopee, Holyoke and Springfield public schools, the Medical School in Worcester and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center.

September 17, 2008.

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