Elementary School Speech-Language Pathologists' and Classroom Teachers' Collaboration Experiences

Reviews of evidence have shown that elementary school students show enhanced speech, language, and/or literacy outcomes when speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and classroom teachers collaborate in planning and delivery of services. However, such collaboration is uncommon. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to examine the experiences and views of elementary SLPs and classroom teachers in collaborating with one another.

Semistructured interviews using matched sets of prompts were used to investigate the experiences and opinions of 13 SLPs and 16 elementary teachers regarding collaboration, specific scenarios of collaboration, and preferred collaborative models. A qualitative analysis was used to analyze the interviews.

The results support previous research findings that SLPs and teachers spend a low proportion of their time collaborating, and SLPs are rarely involved in classroom-based intervention. Teachers were favorably disposed toward classroom-based intervention. Both SLPs and classroom teachers expressed a wish to collaborate, but noted challenges including time, difficulty targeting goals in the classroom, and classroom distractions. Building relationships can increase the likelihood of collaboration occurring.

Both SLPs and classroom teachers agree that collaboration is desirable for supporting student success and that current practices are not ideal. SLPs and classroom teachers noted the importance of building relationships and expressing their willingness to engage in collaboration.