Turning the page: Midwest SLPs' lived experiences providing literacy services in schools

Abstract

Click on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).School-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) from four midwestern states were surveyed about their knowledge and confidence regarding literacy intervention. To obtain accounts of lived experiences, SLPs who completed the survey were invited to a follow-up interview. Fourteen SLPs completed interviews with a member of the research team via a recorded Zoom meeting. The interviews were approximately an hour long and each question was presented on a shared screen. Interview data were transcribed and then analyzed using thematic analysis. Five overarching themes emerged: (1) SLPs are responsible for language services to support student literacy; (2) barriers of time, administrator knowledge, and instructional tools that support SLP literacy instruction; (3) collaboration and training would improve confidence; (4) how multi-tiered systems of support and Title I impact SLP literacy services; and (5) the role of other team members in literacy services. Overall, SLPs know that they can play an important role in literacy assessment and intervention but are unsure of how their specific skills fit into the greater school context. Training may improve confidence in serving students with literacy needs differently from other service providers. Future work could explore partnerships between SLPs and other professionals to best serve students with literacy needs. © 2025 Thieme All rights reserved.ESEAFor SLPs in the schools, opportunities to collaborate with other professionals such as Title I teachers and other multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) team members may provide additional support for SLPs providing literacy services. MTSS and Title I are two distinct frameworks within the public school setting. Title I is a federally supported program sponsored by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA, 2015) to support economically disadvantaged students by providing funding to ensure an \u201Copportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gap\u201D (National Center for Education Statistics, n.d.). One use of Title I funding is to hire additional staff. In some districts, Title I staff are part of the MTSS team, so these frameworks often merge through collaboration to support a student's literacy acquisition