Program Overview

Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology

The Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences offers a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology program.

Program Policies and Procedure

The program has adopted policies and procedures to ensure that students are adequately prepared for professional practice in speech-language pathology.

Program Policy on Students with Differences in Dialects and/or Accents

The Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences has adopted a policy regarding students with differences in dialects and/or accents. The policy states that students and professionals in communication sciences and disorders who speak with accents and/or dialects can effectively provide speech, language, and audiological services to persons with communication disorders, as long as they have the expected level of knowledge in normal and disordered communication, the expected level of diagnostic and clinical case management skills, and if modeling is necessary, are able to model the target phoneme, grammatical feature, or other aspect of speech and language that characterizes the client's particular problem.

Implementation

Implementation of the above policy is consistent with ASHA Standard IV-B, which requires that the applicant must possess skill in oral and written or other forms of communication sufficient for entry into professional practice. Implementation is conducted on an individual basis with coordination between the Graduate Program Director, the Clinic Director, and the student.

Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has developed standards that must be met by students graduating from an ASHA-accredited university, in order to be eligible for ASHA certification. These standards must be monitored on a tracking form to measure students' achievement of knowledge and skills that prepare them for entry into professional practice in speech-language pathology.

Summative and Formative Assessment

Summative assessment is the comprehensive evaluation of learning outcomes at the culmination of educational preparation. Formative assessment is the ongoing measurement that occurs during educational preparation for the purpose of ensuring that students are achieving the stated learning objectives for all academic and clinical courses.

Examples of Assessment Measures

Examples of ways in which student learning outcomes (knowledge and skills) are assessed include:

• research, projects/paper
• collaborative work
• oral presentations
• clinical reports and session plans that reflect application of theory to clinical practice
• evaluation of clinical management strategies
• hands-on assignments
• mid-term and final examinations
• lab assignments demonstrating application and interpretation of instrumentation
• assignments demonstrating ability to apply relevant software

Obtaining ASHA Certification

Applicants for ASHA certification must meet seven broad standards. These standards are specified in the Certification and Membership handbook: Speech-Language Pathology. Briefly, the standards are as follows:

1. A master's degree must be obtained from an accredited institution (Standards I, II)
2. Students must possess a minimal level of knowledge and skills related to the profession (Standards III, IV)
3. Knowledge and skills must be assessed both formatively throughout the student's educational career using the KASA or equivalent tracking system, and summatively at the end of school, by way of the Comprehensive exam and PRAXIS exam (Standard V)
4. A clinical fellowship must be completed (Standard VI)
5. Certification must be maintained through ongoing education (Standard VII)

Departmental Minimal Criterion for Mastery of Each Standard

Students must demonstrate competency for all ASHA standards to be eligible for ASHA certification. The departmental minimal criterion for mastery of each standard is as follows:

1. Successful completion (B- or better in all academic courses, and B or better in all clinical courses) of learning activities/objectives associated with the standard.
2. Successful completion of remediation activities in the event a student is failing or performing poorly for a standard or objective.
3. A standard is considered to be met when at least 90% of the objectives relating to that standard have been achieved.