Speech-Language Evaluations with Adolescents
Ever test a behavioral teen? Landing on your face from jump street really sucks! You rarely get to start over. Here's how to perfect your game… Evaluating students occurs every three years once on an IEP or when any significant change indicates the need. In my experience, this process is quite different with adolescents than with younger students. When I started a new job in an alternative school for behaviorally challenged ados, I quickly learned that "speech", "testing", and "evaluations" were wicked evil words. Several students had even signed themselves out of services, either on their own at age 18 or through persevering insistence that their parents sign out for them. Such a shame… I asked one student why he refused to work with the SLP who preceded me and he replied "because she was a bitch!" Mind you, this woman now teaches yoga to toddlers… she may have had anxiety, but she wasn't a bitch.
So here's the recipe for success:
Never use the word "speech" (e.g. speech therapy, speech pathologist, speech lady, speech time, speech teacher, you get the point…).
Never use the words "test", "evaluation", or "assessment".
If at all possible, never pull out! LOL
Never show up unannounced!
OK so that's enough negatives right? Here is what I do to increase participation, motivation, compliance, etc.
I call myself a "teacher specialist in communication". I briefly explain that communication entails just about everything, including interpreting visuals, reading, listening, speaking, writing, body language, and more.
If it's a new eval, I tell students that his/her teacher has requested that I gather some information to help the teachers do the best job they can at teaching. I advise him/her that while I do work with students, a bigger part of my job is to help the teachers to be successful with all kinds of learners. I tell them that it helps me to know what their strengths and challenges are so that I can train the teachers accordingly. Even if you don't do consult, your report will contain recommendations for instruction, right?
If it's a three-year eval, I tell the students that every three years the district is required by the state to collect information about the student's progress. I help with that process by gathering information and to do that I will need to sit with them for a couple class periods.
I allow the students to choose when they work with me, particularly if they have a class that they don't want to miss, or a class they can't stand sitting through…
I let students know when I will be there and I try to sit with them in their natural habitat. I work in an alternative school with very small class sizes so this works. I just ask the other students to go somewhere else. In a more traditional setting, I would try to find a comfortable spot, rather than the nurses exam room which has been offered to me in some places...
I review my findings with students before the team meeting so that they are not surprised to hear me say that their vocabulary needs development.
I provide a lot of positive feedback and tangible rewards (we have a token system with "bonus bucks") for participation, but free time works nearly as well.
I keep it light; smile, laugh, and generally act in a way that is not at all like a teacher!
This approach takes practice. I always want to say "let's move on the the next subtest". But that would be violating the rule of NEVER say "test". Rather, I will tell the student "we only have one more section to complete". I work with a population that tends to be keenly aware of their deficits. This makes evaluating a very sensitive topic. My duty is to get representative data however. And to do this, I have refined my approach. I hope these suggestions work for you as well!
Cheers from the "teacher specialist"!