Variability in Interpreting "Educational Performance" for Children With Speech Sound Disorders.

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Special education
• Child development

Background:

• Speech sound disorders (SSDs) negatively affect literacy, social-emotional well-being, and life participation.
• Many public schools fail to provide adequate or timely services for children with SSDs.
• Inconsistent interpretation of "educational performance" under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) contributes to service gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the educational performance factors considered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when determining eligibility for children with SSDs.
• To investigate how public school SLPs interpret "educational performance" for children with SSDs.

Main Methods:

• A nationwide survey of 575 public school SLPs was conducted.
• Data were collected on the factors SLPs consider when assessing educational performance for SSD eligibility.

Main Results:

• Significant variability exists in how SLPs nationwide interpret "educational performance" for children with SSDs.
• Educational performance is viewed as multidimensional by SLPs.
• Variability in interpretation occurs both within and between states, indicating ambiguity in federal mandate implementation.
• SLP caseload size and years of experience influenced the educational performance factors selected.

Conclusions:

• There is substantial variation across the U.S. in factors defining "educational performance" for children with SSDs.
• This variability is linked to the quality and specificity of state-level guidelines and special education codes.
• Clinical and legislative recommendations are provided to address these inconsistencies.