Speech and Language Pathologists Supporting Educators and Students in Elementary School Classrooms

This Masters of Teaching Research Project is a qualitative study that addresses the topics of supporting students with speech and language disorders in the classroom, specifically within the topic of collaboration between the speech and language pathologists (SLPs) and educators in terms of the importance of early intervention. Although limited, the existing literature on collaboration between SLPs and classroom educators is successful on addressing the early intervention needs of the student however, lacking on how the SLP actually supports the educator in a classroom setting. With this in mind, this study aims to explore if collaboration exists and in what form, guided by the following research question: How does a sample of elementary school teachers and SLPs work together to support students in inclusive classrooms with speech and language disorders? Overarching themes include additional learning opportunities for educators in order to support students with speech and language disorders, as well as the different collaborative efforts used to support these students and challenges or potential challenges that may arise when working with SLPs. Ultimately, as a beginning teacher, I intend to discover the most beneficial way to support students with speech and language disorders and successful ways to learn and collaborate with SLPs