Reduce the time you spend on the referral process and simultaneously improve your referrals and your relationship with teachers. Successful speech referral processes can be quickly and easily implemented. This research-based case study profiles how to 1) achieve successful referrals while 2) reducing workload and 3) improving professional relationships. This presentation explains the step-by-step process that made this transition possible and profiles free online referral documents to begin immediately.

2. Click for Audio-over-Powerpoint Presentation

3. Scott Prath CCC-SLP is
employed by Bilinguistics,
Inc.
Disclosure:
Financial — Salaried by
Bilinguistics, Inc.
Nonfinancial — None
Additionally,
This presentation is
made with 10% real
fruit juice.
Disclosure Statement:

4. How this information came about:
2,461 pageviews – January

6. How this information came about:
We work in multiple districts and get to
see MANY different solutions for the
same problem.
I reached out to our blog community
and asked SLPs if they were struggling
with the referral process and if I could
call them.

7. Do you need Continuing Education or want
to listen to this course live?
Click here to visit
the online courses.

8. The
Referral
Process
“I shouldn’t
be doing
this but…”
Interactions
with
teachers
“I feel
awful…”
Data
Collection
“I can’t keep
track of the
students…”
Dismissals
“I have too
many kids
on my
caseload to
do…”

10. The
Referral
Process
“I shouldn’t
be doing
this but…”
Interactions
with
teachers
“I feel
awful…”
Data
Collection
“I can’t keep
track of the
students…”
Dismissals
“I have too
many kids
on my
caseload to
do…”

11. All of the documents and charts in this
presentation can be downloaded from our Free
Resource Library.
Click here to visit the Resource Library

12. Interactions with Teachers

13. We need to remember why we are
here and what we are truly after.

14. Our Relationships Our Evaluations
• We are here to serve.
• We are here to help kids.
• We are here to have great
relationships with these people
on campus every day.

15. How are we currently trying to solve
these problems?
Response to Intervention
• Referral Team (RT)
• Student Success Team (SST)
• All Children will Learn
(ACWL)
• Impact Process
• Student Progress Monitoring
• Database Decision Making
• …

16. Are Teachers Referring the
Right Students?
Research on agreement between teachers and
SLPs
• Numerous studies have explored the rate of agreement
between teachers and SLPs about who should receive
speech services (Friberg, 2008).
Diehl & Sinnet (1959) – 60%
James & Cooper (1966) – 40%
Clauson & Kopatic (1975) – 18%
Davis and Harris (1992) – 81%
Cartwright-Gard, Harmon & Bryne (2002) – 58%
• On average, teachers- SLP agreement is 60%.
• Research indicates that 40% of students who should be
referred are not (Mosheim, 2009)

17. Teacher confidence
• Cartwright-Gard, Harmon & Bryne (2002)
surveyed teachers and found:
▫ 75% of teachers reported low confidence in
making referrals
▫ 80% of teachers indicated a desire for more
training to improve their referrals
• Many teachers report very low confidence when
making referrals for bilingual children
Are Teachers Referring
the Right Students?

18. Why referrals might be
daunting to teachers
• Multiple Causes
▫ There are 27 common speech outcomes
▫ There are 7 common language outcomes
• There are 12 steps across 3 tiers
• Referral Manuals can be 12-58 pages
• Teachers on average receive less than 2 hours of
training per year

19. Gather Student Information
1. Name
2. Date of Birth
3. Grade
4. Teacher
5. Vision and Hearing
6. Parent Concern and History
7. Teacher Concern
1. I can’t understand my student
2. My student doesn’t speak enough, is
confusing, or can’t understand me

20. Click here to download this chart as a pdf.

21. Initial Data
• Hearing Concern
• Parent Concern
• Teacher Concern
• I can’t understand the
words that my student
uses.
• My student doesn’t speak
enough, is confusing, or
can’t understand me.
Part A - Everyone
Part B – Which best describes
your student
Click here to download this chart as a pdf.

22. Speech and Language Concerns

23. Speech and Language Concerns
The Language Information
generates data about each area
of possible concern.
Teachers read it from top to
bottom
SLPs read it from left to right

25. Example Letter - No Speech Concern
Hello,
Thank you for the
information that you
provided on the sounds
that your student
produces. As children
get older, they are
expected to produce
more and more
sounds…
Thank you for all that
you do!

26. Example Letter - No Speech Concern
Hello,
Thank you for the data
that you provided on this
student’s communication.
Some of the sounds that
you identified should be
produced by a child at
this age. We would like
to see if your student can
make the corrections of
the sounds….

28. Great Resources on
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

29. Analyze Student Difficulties
1. I can’t understand my student.
2. 27 common outcomes (not including
multiple issues, 2nd language, or age).

30. “Articulation is not the problem, teachers
know when they can’t understand a
student or I can hear it. They need some
help knowing it the sound is ok for that
age. But language is the tough one. This
is where the students get stuck forever in
the referral process.”

31. Analyze Student Difficulties
1. My student doesn’t speak enough, is
confusing, or can’t understand me
2. 7 common outcomes across expressive
and receptive domains

34. Develop Strategies
1. What problem is a child having?
2. Example: Answering questions
Who wanted to
go to the ball?
What did
Cinderella
lose?
When did she
have to leave?
Where did the
prince live?

35. Evaluate Student Success
1. Example: Answering questions
2. How did he do?
Who wanted to
go to the ball?
What did
Cinderella
lose?
When did she
have to leave?
Where did the
prince live?

36. First Round of Data gets us in the
right general language area.
We know we have a language issue and we roughly know which
specific language areas are affected. This is good data!

37. Second Round of Data: We need to
use the classroom materials.
Articulation:
/r/ & /l/

38. Second Round of Data: We need to
use the classroom materials.
Language:
WH?
Who was
Clifford
playing with?
Where were
they?

39. Find on www.bilinguistics.com under Free SLP Resourse

40. Data Collection – Tracking Students

41. “There is no way that I can keep up with
the students who are in the referral
process.”
“Teachers ask me what the status is a kid
they told me about and I don’t know what
to tell them.”
“I have a 60 +30 caseload, so 90 students. I
have my speech kids and then I see 30
other ones that are in the RTI process in
articulation groups.”

42. 10 AM
10 AM
10 AM
10 AM
21 days

43. Following Progress and tracking
students
Download this
Spreadsheet
Below.

44. Beginning the Referral Process

45. Beginning the Referral Process

46. Beginning the Referral Process
OCTOBER 15th

47. Beginning the Referral Process
OCTOBER 15th

48. Trying things out in the classroom

49. Trying things out in the classroom

50. Trying things out in the classroom

51. Trying things out in the classroom

52. What is the outcome?
• Administration satisfaction
▫ Are the children getting served?
▫ Are the teachers supported?
• Teacher Satisfaction
▫ Are my concerns being addressed?
▫ Are the students’ needs being met?
• SLP satisfaction
▫ Is the amount of work less?
▫ Is the data and outcome better?

53. The
Referral
Process
“I shouldn’t
be doing
this but…”
Interactions
with
teachers
“I feel
awful…”
Data
Collection
“I can’t keep
track of the
students…”
Dismissals
“I have too
many kids
on my
caseload to
do…”

54. This next section is brought to
you courtesy of the:
That’s Nice But I Can’t Do It
Brigade

55. Hmm…What if I
apply this stuff just
to my caseload
rather than the
campus??

56. Hmm…What if I
apply this stuff just
to my caseload
rather than the
campus??

57. Analysis of a District’s Population
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
% of Special Education Students
860 Districts Over-
Identifying
8.0%

58. Future Thinking: Can we apply this same
process to the students on our caseloads?

59. September 9 - 24 students 24/24 = 100%

60. October 10: - 2 students 22/24 = 92%

61. November 2 : - 3 students 21/24 = 88%

62. Determining (Continued) Eligibility
We don’t want
to test someone
who will
continue to
qualify.
If we do test
and they are
disqualified we
can move them
off the caseload.

63. How do we get as close to a
guaranteed dismissal as possible?
Language Speech
Narrative Sample Intelligibility and Sound
Production
Informal Assessment

64. Informal Language Capture

65. Informal Language Capture
Type and record

66. Analyze the story
English Spanish
• Then he get like a bee
• And then like the bee poke at
his tongue
• And his father give her mother
coffee
• And the frog get in the basket
• Then the frog touch the
mother
• Then grab it because he love
her
• The frog like her
• And then he just look at the
girl and boy
• And the frog jump at the boat
• [Habia una vez] que el sapo
estaba en una jarra
• Y luego el perro estaba
viendolo en la jarra porque
• Quiere ver lo que está
haciendo
• Y no mas estaba sentado
• Y luego cuando se durmió el
niño y el perro,
• El sapo se fue
• Miraron que no estaba allí
• Luego el perro miró en la jarra
• Luego el perro se cayo y
quebró la jarra

67. Analyze the story
English Spanish
• Then he get like a bee
• And then like the bee poke at
his tongue
• And his father give her mother
coffee
• And the frog get in the basket
• Then the frog touch the
mother
• Then grab it because he love
her
• The frog like her
• And then he just look at the
girl and boy
• And the frog jump at the boat
• [Habia una vez] que el sapo
estaba en una jarra
• Y luego el perro estaba
viendolo en la jarra porque
• Quiere ver lo que está
haciendo
• Y no mas estaba sentado
• Y luego cuando se durmió el
niño y el perro,
• El sapo se fue
• Miraron que no estaba allí
• Luego el perro miró en la jarra
• Luego el perro se cayo y
quebró la jarra

68. Check the narrative components
Download
Below

69. Check the syntax components

71. Informal Speech Capture
Use a narrative and count Xs
If you have Speech AND
language goals this is the only
way to go.
Capture sound errors at the
sound, word, and phrase level
and compare to age.

72. December 8: - 5 students 19/24 = 79%

73. January 15: - 6 students 18/24 = 75%

74. January 30: - 7 students 17/24 = 70%

75. There are other concerns, he is on
CONSULT until LD testing is completed.

76. March 2017 Predicting: -8 students 16/24 = 66%

77. Results
• 33% Reduction in caseload
• 252 30-minute sessions I don’t have to do this
spring OR 7560 minutes of services I won’t
provide
• I did have to hold extra meetings and conducted
5 more evaluations
• There are 11 new children in the referral process
to be tested this Spring (Spanish & English, not
all mine)
I have room for them on my caseload and
the time to test!

79. Click to visit
www.bilinguistics.com

80. Difference or Disorder?
Understanding Speech and Language
Patterns in Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse Students
Rapidly identify speech-language
patterns related to second
language acquisition to
distinguish difference from disor
der.