A Survey of the Extent to Which Speech-Language Pathologists Are Employed in Preschool Programs

Abstract

This report describes a mail survey of general early childhood educators to determine the extent to which they employ speech-language pathologists. Respondents represented a variety of programs, including Head Start, public school pre-kindergarten, public school kindergarten, and community preschool/child care. Participants were selected randomly from the nine U.S. Bureau of the Census regions. Of the 893 mailed questionnaires, 483 (54.1%) were returned and coded. The respondents indicated that (a) with the exception of the community preschool/child care programs, a majority of the other program types enrolled children with speech-language impairments; (b) mainstreamed programs were more likely to employ speech-language pathologists than non-mainstreamed programs; (c) the employment of speech-language pathologists was not distributed evenly across the four program types; and (d) more programs enrolled children with speech-language disorders than employed speech-language pathologists, even on a part-time, consultant basis. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.