Preparing for a School Placement

Off-campus clinical placements are an exciting and necessary experience during graduate school (also known as externships, internships, or clinical practicums). The exact number of placements varies by the graduate program. Sadly, some clinicians think of a school placement as being monotonous or “easy.” 😳 However, that is not the case! Schools are challenging, fast-paced, and have diverse caseloads. Below are tips for preparing for a school placement in Speech-Language Pathology.

Clinician Characteristics

Some of the best clinicians I know work in schools. They are equipped to handle large caseloads, juggle paperwork, and work with clients with an array of goals! Not to mention, there are a variety of types of schools- public, private, charter, and specialty schools that serve students from preschool thru high school.

In order to be successful in any school placement setting, there are specific traits that are beneficial. Clinicians who excel in these placements usually are:

• Flexible
• Intrinsically motivated
• Good communicators
• Self-reliant
• Creative
• Comfortable with behavior management
• Good with scheduling

Also, speaking a second language may be beneficial, so be sure to let the supervisor know during the interview what other languages you speak. Large school systems such as Arlington County Public Schools will have lots of bilingual students with a variety of second languages.

Before Beginning Placement

To succeed in any school placement, you need to have a diverse range of interests in Speech-Language Pathology. On any given day, you may work with a group of students on articulation, then spend an hour inside of an autism classroom, and then finish two IEPs. Prior to beginning the placement, I strongly recommend you do the following:

• Develop soft skills (i.e., interpersonal communication, empathy, etc.)
• Review RTI and common core state standards
• Familiarize yourself with other disciplines and co-treatment strategies (e.g., OT, PT, Psy, SPED)
• Review common pediatric assessments (e.g., PLS-5, CELF-5)
• Ask the externship supervisor what materials will be available and then review them
• Ask what populations are primarily seen and research information on them (e.g., motor speech disorders, bilingual language development, developmental delay, autism, AAC, literacy, feeding, etc.)

During Placement

Schools are most famous for their paperwork. IEPs involve lots of documentation and meetings that have strict deadlines. Schools are also a bit unique in that you may have more groups of students than individual students.

Once you are in the middle of the placement, you will be glad that you did some prep work beforehand. There are still things that you can do to minimize your stress and keep yourself organized throughout the placement. In order to have a rewarding experience, clinicians should be:

• Comfortable with paperwork (i.e., IEP process, possible accommodations, recommendations, classroom strategies, data collection)
• Comfortable with behavior management (for groups and individuals)
• Adept at scheduling
• Able to link classroom content into sessions
• Willing to accept feedback during sessions
• Proactive in researching information
• Able to work collaboratively with other SLPs and related professionals (OT, PT, SPED, GenEd)
• Open to various supervision styles as you may have multiple supervisors
• Creative with materials and assessments

In the comments below, let me know if you are a student or supervisor and what skills you think are necessary for excelling in any school placement. 👇 Be sure to check out my other posts:

How to Have a Successful Clinical Practicum (Part 1)
How to Have a Successful Clinical Practicum (Part 2)
Preparing for a Private Practice Placement