PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine school speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) experiences regarding students' eligibility for services in public schools within the United States. METHOD Fifteen school SLPs participated in online focus groups to examine the complex nature of SLPs' participation within decision-making teams and describe practice experiences in U.S. schools. SLPs worked in one to 10+ schools serving students from pre-K through 12th grade. Data were analyzed using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT; Engeström, 2015). RESULTS School SLPs' practice is impacted by rules, community, and division of labor in schools. Participants discussed the following: culture of the work setting, interaction between team members, desire to assist families and children, knowledge of regulations, evaluation practices, and the impact of poverty, and cultural and linguistic differences. Nine major tensions were identified: need for greater SLP empowerment and advocacy, documentation of educational impact, complexities of students learning English as an additional language, concerns about evaluation data for decision making, SLPs' concerns regarding outcomes of eligibility decision making, overuse of speech-language impairment for students who do not qualify, parents' involvement in decision making, disagreement between team members, and administrations' adherence to rules. CONCLUSIONS Within the schools, the CHAT framework was useful to identify tensions and opportunities for change at the individual and institutional levels, impacting team decision making for eligibility, SLPs' provision of services, and student outcomes. Acknowledgment of tensions and opportunities for change regarding students' eligibility for services may guide public policy; preservice training; and individual, local, and national advocacy.

中文翻译：

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美国公立学校言语和语言服务的资格确定：经验和紧张。


目的 本研究的目的是调查学校言语病理学家 (SLP) 关于学生在美国公立学校获得服务的资格的经验。方法 15 所学校 SLP 参加在线焦点小组，以考察 SLP 参与决策团队的复杂性，并描述美国学校的实践经验。 SLP 在 1 到 10 多所学校开展工作，为学前班到 12 年级的学生提供服务。使用文化历史活动理论（CHAT；Engeström，2015）对数据进行分析。结果 学校 SLP 的实践受到学校规则、社区和分工的影响。参与者讨论了以下内容：工作环境文化、团队成员之间的互动、帮助家庭和儿童的愿望、法规知识、评估实践、贫困的影响以及文化和语言差异。确定了九个主要矛盾：需要加强 SLP 赋权和宣传、教育影响的记录、学生学习英语作为附加语言的复杂性、对决策评估数据的担忧、SLP 对资格决策结果的担忧、过度使用言论-不符合资格的学生的语言障碍、家长参与决策、团队成员之间的分歧以及管理部门对规则的遵守情况。结论 在学校内部，CHAT 框架有助于识别个人和机构层面的紧张局势和变革机会，影响团队的资格决策、SLP 提供的服务和学生的成绩。 承认学生服务资格方面的紧张局势和变革机会可以指导公共政策；职前培训；以及个人、地方和国家的宣传。