Adopting the
Performance
Assessment of
Contributions and
Effectiveness of
Speech-Language Pathologists
An Alternative to Value Added Assessment
Presentation provided by
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2012
Purpose of this Presentation
This power point is intended to present the
PACE to others who will be involved the
decision making process regarding the
adoption of an evaluation system for SLPs.
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Agenda
• Review of the PACE
• Rationale for PACE
• Component objectives for PACE
• PACE portfolio
• Next steps
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What is the…
Performance Assessment of Contributions
and Effectiveness of
Speech-Language Pathologists (PACE)?
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PACE
• PACE is a method for determining:
• the value and contributions that an SLP
makes to individual students, families
and the school community
• the effectiveness of SLPs
• professional development priorities for
SLPs.
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Why PACE?
• Ensures that the evaluation measures accurately reflect
the speech-language pathologist’s (SLP) unique role in
contributing to a child’s overall performance.
• Ensures that the SLP is contributing to the success of the
school community.
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Why PACE instead of VAA?
• Research to date has primarily focused on implications of
use of VAA with classroom teachers.
• Notable concerns surfaced, such as difficulty linking
student outcomes to one teacher and uncertainty about
the accuracy of imputation models for missing student
data.
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Why PACE instead of VAA?
• Value Added ratings can’t disentangle the many
influences on student progress.
• Value Added models of teacher effectiveness are
inconsistent.
• Teachers are advantaged or disadvantaged based
on students they teach.
Darling-Hammond, L., Amrein-Beardsley, A.,
Haertel, E., Rothstein, J. Evaluating Teacher
Effectiveness Kappan, March 2012, (8-15).
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Why PACE instead of VAA?
• The goals of both teachers and SLPs are related, but
• Goals of an SLP typically address foundational skills
that support learning
• Goals of a teacher targeting specific subject areas
• Collaboration opportunities are different
• Classroom teachers have the opportunity to
collaborate and consult with others teaching the same
grade or subjects
• Typically there is only one SLP in a school, and that SLP
often serves a variety of students across teachers and
may be assigned to multiple schools
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Why PACE instead of VAA?
ASHA’s Value-Added Working Team was not
able to identify any VAA models that
specifically incorporated SLPs.
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Why PACE instead of VAA?
Evaluating the value that an SLP brings to the school or
connecting their value to specific student performance
is a challenge when compared to a classroom teacher.
• An elementary classroom teacher
spends between 4-5 hours a day
providing direct instruction to the
same group of students.
• An SLP typically spends
approximately 1 hour per week
with students on the caseload.
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Why PACE instead of VAA?
• PACE is reflective of
• The unique roles and
responsibilities of a schoolbased SLP, based on Roles and
Responsibilities of SpeechLanguage Pathologists in the
Schools (ASHA,2010)
• The unique working
environment of the SLP
• Multiple measures of
performance
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Considerations for Evaluation Systems
• Optimal features in accountability measures include a
comprehensive and rich overview of classroom activities
and behaviors; and application across teachers, subjects,
and context for both formative and summative
assessments.
• Of all of the measures reviewed, the most flexible
measures of the unique role of the SLP include:
• portfolio assessment
• “classroom” observation
• “teacher” self-report
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PACE System
The PACE system is comprised of:
1. Professional Performance Review Process for
the School-Based Speech-Language
Pathologist (ASHA, 2006)
• “Classroom” observation
• “teacher” self-report
2. Performance Assessment of Contributions
and Effectiveness of SLPs (PACE) Matrix
• portfolio assessment
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PACE System
• The PACE system is
objective based.
• The targeted
objectives are
fundamental to the
success of the SLP
and describe the
specific skills
necessary to provide
quality services.
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PACE System
• The system is a portfolio based evaluation.
• Sources of information to be included in the SLPs
portfolio include:
• Observation notes from a qualified supervisor
• Surveys of teachers and parents
• IEP documents
• Schedules
• Self assessments
• Case files
• Other forms of documentation
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PACE System
Evaluation Objectives
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Demonstrate knowledge in the subject area of
speech-language pathology and related areas
An SLP needs to :
• be knowledgeable in the assessment and treatment of
the full range of communication disorders
• understand the impact of communication disorders on
academic and social performance
• understand the specific laws and regulations that are
fundamental to providing services in the school setting
• have knowledge about practice ethics
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Provide educationally relevant services
reflecting evidenced based practice
• In addition to understanding how to assess and treat
individuals experiencing communication disorders,
SLPs must embed the student’s curricular materials
and objectives into the sessions.
• The methods and strategies
must also be evidenced-based
to the greatest degree possible.
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Provide services that are consistent with state
and federal regulations for students with IEPs
• IEP goals need to be appropriate and relevant to the needs
of students and related to the common core standards .
• Documents need to be written as required by regulations,
and processed within appropriate time lines, using
appropriate form.
• IEP team members must be invited to contribute to the
documents .
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Demonstrate the ability to conduct appropriate
comprehensive evaluations and assessments of
students experiencing or at risk for a variety of
speech and language and swallowing disorders
• Assessments should contain information from standardized
tests, curriculum based assessments, observational reports,
classroom performance measures and should also include
input from parents and teachers.
• Information collected should be presented professionally and
comprehensively and include recommendations for service
delivery and goal attainment.
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Provide a variety of appropriate and
dynamic service delivery methods
• The number and length of sessions provided and the
location of the services (service delivery) should change
throughout the school year, based on the needs and
progress of the student.
• The SLP should demonstrate the ability to vary service
delivery accordingly.
• SLP should be working within the general education
classrooms as well as in the therapy room.
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Demonstrate the ability to work with
classroom teachers and other professionals
• SLPs need to collaborate with classroom teachers,
administrators, and other service providers to:
• Ensure that services are relevant and facilitate
progress with the curriculum
• Provide information to staff regarding communication
facilitating strategies that can be used in the classroom
• Understand how to best integrate therapy goals into
the child’s full school experience
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Provide opportunities for families to be
involved in the student’s SLP services
• SLPs should be in communication with families to:
• Collect input for diagnostic information
• Acquire input for the design of the IEP
• Report progress
• Provide information regarding how families can
support the therapy program within the home
environment
• Respond to questions and concerns
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Earn sufficient continuing education or
professional development units necessary to meet
ASHA requirements for certification maintenance
as well as state requirements
• SLPs need to participate in continuing education
designed to meet their specific needs
• Although participation in district in service training
is appropriate, they also need
training specific to their unique
roles and responsibilities
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Contribute to various building or
district initiatives
• An SLP is encouraged to be involved in :
• Response to Intervention initiatives at all three tiers
• Presentations to staff and parent groups
• Various building and district committees
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Portfolio
The portfolio, which is fundamental to the PACE,
should include the following:
• A sampling of case files containing:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Assessment and IEP documents
Progress reports
Therapy log reports
Therapy schedule
Reports to parents
Staff communications
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Portfolio
The portfolio should include the following:
• Reports of observations conducted by individuals
knowledgeable about the practice of speech-language
pathology
• A sampling of IEP documents
• Teacher surveys
• Parent surveys
• Narrative input from the SLP
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Portfolio
The portfolio should include the following:
• Record of participation in professional
development programs
• Copy of the SLP’s schedule at the beginning,
middle and end of the year
• Samples of presentations
• Samples of RTI contributions
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Other Considerations
• Caseload/workload
• Any evaluation process should take into account the
workload of the individual being evaluated.
• The workload should be reasonable enough to allow
the SLP to provide appropriate services and to account
for the wide range of activities and responsibilities that
contribute to effective service provision.
• ASHA’s workload resources can be found at:
www.asha.org/slp/schools/resources/schools_resources_caseload.htm
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Other Considerations
Adequate resources
• An SLP needs adequate resources to provide appropriate
services. These resources should include:
• Dedicated workspace with a computer, storage and furniture
• Updated testing and therapy materials
• A schedule that allows for time to consult and collaborate
with colleagues and families
• Access to general education curricular materials (e.g.,text
books, teacher’s lesson plans)
• Assistive technology for students
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Evaluation Conclusion
• Any evaluation system should be viewed as a tool to
determine the strengths and limitations of professionals
providing services.
• An evaluation should be conducted by supervisors who
have knowledge of the specific practice area.
• Evaluations should assist professionals in identifying
areas for targeted professional development.
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PACE
To learn more about and to download the components of
the PACE go to:
www.asha.org/Advocacy/state/Performance-Assessment-ofContributions-and-Effectiveness/
• Many states/school districts are developing VAA systems
for teachers and eventually other professions. To learn
about what you state or local district is doing go to
Appendices B and C of the document
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Next Steps
• Review the PACE resources
• Use the PACE system to evaluate SLPs on a trial basis
• Determine the strengths and limitations of the PACE
system
• Adopt the PACE system (either the original or an
adapted version) for your district and/ or state
• Use the PACE as a resource for developing systems to
evaluate other related service providers
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