Interview with Barbara Moore-Brown Ed.D., Director of Special Youth Services, Anaheim Union High School District, Anaheim, California
Share:
Beck:Hi Barbara. Thanks for your time today. Moore-Brown:Hi Doug. Thanks for the kind invitation.Beck:You're welcome. Before we get to the topic of the day, I was hoping you would give me a thumbnail sketch of your professional education?Moore-Brown:Absolutely. I earned my Bachelor's in Communicatio
Beck:Hi Barbara. Thanks for your time today.
Moore-Brown:Hi Doug. Thanks for the kind invitation.
Beck:You're welcome. Before we get to the topic of the day, I was hoping you would give me a thumbnail sketch of your professional education?
Moore-Brown:Absolutely. I earned my Bachelor's in Communication Disorders and Linguistics from California State University in Fullerton. I earned my master's degree from Whittier College, also in California, and also in Communication Disorders, and I earned my doctorate (Ed.D) in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California in 1998.
Beck:Barbara, I wonder if you would tell me a little about the current and upcoming speech-language pathologist (SLP) shortage?
Moore-Brown:Yes, of course. There is an increasing shortage of SLPs in all areas of practice, and this is a hardship on the schools seeking SLP employees, and also on the patients that would benefit from their services. In fact, SLP shortages are pervasive across the country. Nonetheless, our survey was based on staffing needs across California, and that's the information I presented last year (2005) at ASHA.
Beck:OK. Please tell me what you found with specific regard to California, based on your survey?
Moore-Brown:We sent a survey out through the California Speech-Language and Hearing Association, and so it's not really scientifically balanced but we had about 110 responses, so it is representative of a good sample, and it does indicate some common trends and concerns.
Beck:Sure, I understand. In other words, you sent it to a prescribed mailing list of members, and so there is skewing of the data, based on who is and who is not a member...but as you said, it does help identify a trend, and frankly, 110 responses seems pretty good to me!
Moore-Brown:Thank you. Well, of the 110 responses, those 110 would have been ready, willing and able to hire another 230 SLPs, if they were available. Interestingly, that survey was completed in November, and of course, the next large graduating class would not be ready until the following May or June, so the shortage is apparent.
Beck:Would you please relate that number, to the number of SLPs that graduate annually in California?
Moore-Brown:I believe that in total, we have some 15 training institutions in California and they graduate some 200 SLPs annually. So, our small snapshot indicates a likely pervasive and significant problem with regard to an SLP shortage, and of course, one can imagine that if the entire State of California was actually surveyed, the shortage would look dramatically larger.
Beck:I see, and I do understand that you cannot make declarative statements about the entire state or the nation, but based on your work and study, I wonder...Do you think the problem is that we have too few schools or perhaps, are the classes not large enough?
Moore-Brown:It appears to be a multi-factorial problem. As you and I discussed off-air, Doug, the Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education completed by the was actually brought to the state's congressional body for review in a report in 2002. The U. S. Department of Education report reviewed the study and basically and they were alerted and even said...If you think the problem is bad now, just wait! They noted we had limited quantities of training programs, limited numbers of people getting into doctoral SLP studies, we have limited resources and very expensive SLP programs requiring clinics, electronic equipment, academic classrooms, equipment, professors, externships and on and on...Frankly, it costs a lot to educate SLPs, and we don't exactly have an overabundance of resources, personnel or locations. So the bottom line is we have a shortage of SLPs.
Beck:What about "retention" in the profession?
Moore-Brown:That's another major issue. We do lose SLPs. Some become moms and choose to stay home. Others leave the profession for alternative careers, some leave because the professional conditions or the pay are not in accordance with their preference, and so on. So yes, retention is an issue. Some leave when they have to take on larger caseloads, or take work home, and that just exacerbates the issue and we lose more people.
Beck:So what are the solutions? Clearly we don't want too many SLPs, but it would be great to have the annual quantity of graduates approximate the annual quantity of openings. I should note that both quantities (graduates and openings) are dynamic and I assume the solution will need to address the current status quo, but will also have to be flexible and dynamic?
Moore-Brown:Yes, I think so, too. I hate to be repetitive, but as you implied, the solution set appears to also be multi-factorial. We have assembled an Ad Hoc committee within ASHA to quickly evaluate and address the issue and determine a solution set, and a California statewide effort is underway to address this, too. So we think it will have to be addressed, locally, statewide and nationally.
Beck:Is it reasonable to examine alternative training models?
Moore-Brown:Good question. The answer is "maybe." "absolutely." One possibility is to use pull from teachers or others within the school, who already have an established and unique interest in SLP issues. We have a program that is being developed at California State Dominquez Hills, to help train special-ed teachers to work in difficult and challenging physical locations, in an "SLP-like" capacity, as teachers. that will use the intern model that has been so successful in training special education teachers. One major benefit is the retention of these professionals is extremely high in these scenarios. So this may offer a start on a non-traditional SLP-training model. We're hopeful this program could actually become a model program that can be replicated across the state and the nation.
Beck:What about the use of SLP assistants?
Moore-Brown:Well, I believe SLP assistants make sense in many situations. I believe the numbers will show that we need to reach an ever-growing population of students and recipients of our care and knowledge, and a well trained and supervised SLP assistants offer reasonable relief for the professional and the students.
Beck:OK, well thanks so much for your time and for walking through these issues with me. This is a fascinating area of discussion, and I will look forward to learning more about this.
Moore-Brown:Thank you, too. Doug.
Moore-Brown:Hi Doug. Thanks for the kind invitation.
Beck:You're welcome. Before we get to the topic of the day, I was hoping you would give me a thumbnail sketch of your professional education?
Moore-Brown:Absolutely. I earned my Bachelor's in Communication Disorders and Linguistics from California State University in Fullerton. I earned my master's degree from Whittier College, also in California, and also in Communication Disorders, and I earned my doctorate (Ed.D) in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California in 1998.
Beck:Barbara, I wonder if you would tell me a little about the current and upcoming speech-language pathologist (SLP) shortage?
Moore-Brown:Yes, of course. There is an increasing shortage of SLPs in all areas of practice, and this is a hardship on the schools seeking SLP employees, and also on the patients that would benefit from their services. In fact, SLP shortages are pervasive across the country. Nonetheless, our survey was based on staffing needs across California, and that's the information I presented last year (2005) at ASHA.
Beck:OK. Please tell me what you found with specific regard to California, based on your survey?
Moore-Brown:We sent a survey out through the California Speech-Language and Hearing Association, and so it's not really scientifically balanced but we had about 110 responses, so it is representative of a good sample, and it does indicate some common trends and concerns.
Beck:Sure, I understand. In other words, you sent it to a prescribed mailing list of members, and so there is skewing of the data, based on who is and who is not a member...but as you said, it does help identify a trend, and frankly, 110 responses seems pretty good to me!
Moore-Brown:Thank you. Well, of the 110 responses, those 110 would have been ready, willing and able to hire another 230 SLPs, if they were available. Interestingly, that survey was completed in November, and of course, the next large graduating class would not be ready until the following May or June, so the shortage is apparent.
Beck:Would you please relate that number, to the number of SLPs that graduate annually in California?
Moore-Brown:I believe that in total, we have some 15 training institutions in California and they graduate some 200 SLPs annually. So, our small snapshot indicates a likely pervasive and significant problem with regard to an SLP shortage, and of course, one can imagine that if the entire State of California was actually surveyed, the shortage would look dramatically larger.
Beck:I see, and I do understand that you cannot make declarative statements about the entire state or the nation, but based on your work and study, I wonder...Do you think the problem is that we have too few schools or perhaps, are the classes not large enough?
Moore-Brown:It appears to be a multi-factorial problem. As you and I discussed off-air, Doug, the Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education completed by the was actually brought to the state's congressional body for review in a report in 2002. The U. S. Department of Education report reviewed the study and basically and they were alerted and even said...If you think the problem is bad now, just wait! They noted we had limited quantities of training programs, limited numbers of people getting into doctoral SLP studies, we have limited resources and very expensive SLP programs requiring clinics, electronic equipment, academic classrooms, equipment, professors, externships and on and on...Frankly, it costs a lot to educate SLPs, and we don't exactly have an overabundance of resources, personnel or locations. So the bottom line is we have a shortage of SLPs.
Beck:What about "retention" in the profession?
Moore-Brown:That's another major issue. We do lose SLPs. Some become moms and choose to stay home. Others leave the profession for alternative careers, some leave because the professional conditions or the pay are not in accordance with their preference, and so on. So yes, retention is an issue. Some leave when they have to take on larger caseloads, or take work home, and that just exacerbates the issue and we lose more people.
Beck:So what are the solutions? Clearly we don't want too many SLPs, but it would be great to have the annual quantity of graduates approximate the annual quantity of openings. I should note that both quantities (graduates and openings) are dynamic and I assume the solution will need to address the current status quo, but will also have to be flexible and dynamic?
Moore-Brown:Yes, I think so, too. I hate to be repetitive, but as you implied, the solution set appears to also be multi-factorial. We have assembled an Ad Hoc committee within ASHA to quickly evaluate and address the issue and determine a solution set, and a California statewide effort is underway to address this, too. So we think it will have to be addressed, locally, statewide and nationally.
Beck:Is it reasonable to examine alternative training models?
Moore-Brown:Good question. The answer is "maybe." "absolutely." One possibility is to use pull from teachers or others within the school, who already have an established and unique interest in SLP issues. We have a program that is being developed at California State Dominquez Hills, to help train special-ed teachers to work in difficult and challenging physical locations, in an "SLP-like" capacity, as teachers. that will use the intern model that has been so successful in training special education teachers. One major benefit is the retention of these professionals is extremely high in these scenarios. So this may offer a start on a non-traditional SLP-training model. We're hopeful this program could actually become a model program that can be replicated across the state and the nation.
Beck:What about the use of SLP assistants?
Moore-Brown:Well, I believe SLP assistants make sense in many situations. I believe the numbers will show that we need to reach an ever-growing population of students and recipients of our care and knowledge, and a well trained and supervised SLP assistants offer reasonable relief for the professional and the students.
Beck:OK, well thanks so much for your time and for walking through these issues with me. This is a fascinating area of discussion, and I will look forward to learning more about this.
Moore-Brown:Thank you, too. Doug.