(Rockville, MD – September 11, 2008) Co-chaired by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services recently launched the Web site www.specialedpros.com which addresses personnel shortages of educators of special needs children, including audiologists and speech-language pathologists and helps educators recruit and retain qualified personnel.
Currently, less than 20 percent of the 17.5 million children and youth in need of mental health services receive care, with shortages continuing to grow. Examples of these shortages are nationwide; 71 percent of schools reported the need for more qualified speech-language pathologists, and the ratio of students to audiologists is more than seven times the recommended number.
Information on the site is geared toward administrators, school officials, policymakers, and others interested in mitigating the staff shortages in special education and related student services. Specialedpros.com addresses this need and provides information on advocacy, resources, and ratio data concerning specialized instructional support services personnel such as, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, school psychologists and counselors, and more.
Specialedpros.com also includes current data on supply and demand across the special education and student services professions, certification and licensure requirements, model job descriptions, advocacy materials, and related resources.
For more information on ASHA or the Coalition, contact Susan Karr at skarr@asha.org or Phoebe Gillespie at phoebe.gillespie@nasdse.org of the Personnel Center at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.
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About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders.
About the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services
Established in 2005, the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services represents more than 30 national, state, and local organizations. The Coalition continues to develop and share information related to personnel shortages among member organizations and engages in advocacy at the federal, state and local levels to strategically and permanently remedy shortages and persistent vacancies, as well as monitor and track relevant data and information.
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