Posted 9/15/2008

Students likely to remain in rural settings
are prime targets of funding effort

The Arnold School’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD) has received a total of $1.6 million in two federal grants to help fill a critical need for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in South Carolina’s public schools.

Hiram McDade

Dr. Hiram McDade, Graduate Director for COMD, said the grants from the U.S. Department of Education will provide tuition assistance for 50 master’s-level students in speech-language pathology over the next four years.

The federal funds are in the form of two personnel preparation grants, including a recent award of approximately $800,000 on July 1, said McDade.

The tuition grants come with a condition that students work for two years in South Carolina schools for every year they receive tuition assistance, McDade said.

While there is no restriction as to which students are eligible to receive the tuition assistance, McDade said the grants utilize COMD’s distance education program to target rural areas of the state where the speech pathology vacancies are the greatest and where individuals native to those areas are likely to remain.

Arnold School Acting Dean Dr. Thomas Chandler said the latest grant was a substantial boost for the school. “These grants do every bit as much (or more) for the school as do research grants because they directly support many more students than a research grant can possibly support. Graduate students, and especially doctorals, are the engine of new scholarship and research” he said.

The services of speech-language pathologists are mandated under the 1976 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that ensures services to children with disabilities throughout the nation.

Moreover, the state of South Carolina, has set a Jan. 1, 2015 deadline requiring all persons providing speech-language services in South Carolina to have a minimum of a master's degree in speech-language pathology.

McDade said public schools often find themselves at a competitive disadvantage when attempting to employ speech-language pathologists who are actively recruited by hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, community clinics, and private practices.

The shortage of SLPs in the state could be a many as 2,000, whereas current numbers of SLPs are fewer than 1,000, said Dr. Susan Floyd, who works with SLP training and retention at the S.C. Department of Education.

Floyd said that 2007 data for South Carolina schools indicates "25,774 children have speech-language impairment as a primary disability; however, the number of children that receive services for speech-language impairment is much greater because a large percentage of the 103,731 children with disabilities also have speech-language impairment as a secondary disability."

"These 'hidden' numbers of children with speech-language impairment increase the need for speech-language service providers substantially," she said.