Schenectady City School District | Long Term Substitute Speech Language Pathologist

Speech Language Pathologist Role

This position reports to the Pupil Services Division and school principal in a midsize urban school district located in the Capital region of Upstate New York. The Speech Language Pathologist (Speech Therapist) will work with teachers, parents, and school leaders to develop plans and strategies. The Speech Language Pathologist will possess the competencies necessary for serving the linguistic and educational needs of children, adolescents, and families. This position requires a high degree of cultural responsiveness, continuous reflection, and creativity when it comes to addressing the needs of students.

Speech Language Pathologist Expectations

• Work across all levels to provide appropriate speech-language services in Pre-K, elementary, middle, junior high, and high schools with no school level underserved.
• Serve a range of disorders as delineated in the ASHA Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology and federal regulations - work with students exhibiting the full range of communication disorders, including those involving language, articulation (speech sound disorders), fluency, voice/resonance, and swallowing.
• Ensure educational relevance by determining whether the disorder has an impact on the education of students. Therefore, address personal, social/emotional, academic, and vocational needs that have an impact on the attainment of educational goals.
• Provide unique contributions to curriculum based on focused expertise in language. Offer assistance in addressing the linguistic and metalinguistic foundations of curriculum learning for students with disabilities, as well as other learners who are at risk for school failure or those who struggle in school settings.
• Highlight language/literacy by contributing significantly to the literacy achievement of students with communication disorders, as well as other learners who are at risk for school failure or those who struggle in school settings.
• Provide culturally competent services by ensuring that all students receive quality, culturally competent services. Use expertise to distinguish a language disorder from cultural and linguistic differences, socioeconomic factors, lack of adequate prior instruction, and the process of acquiring the dialect of English used in the schools.
• Help students meet the performance standards of a particular school district and state.
• Engage in preventing academic failure in whatever form those initiatives may take; for example, in Response to Intervention (RTI). SLPs use evidence-based practice (EBP) in prevention approaches.
• Engage in conducting assessments in collaboration with others that help to identify students with communication disorders as well as to inform instruction and intervention, consistent with EBP.
• Provide interventions that are culturally responsive and appropriate to the age and learning needs of each individual student and are selected through an evidence-based decision-making process.
• Engage in designing schoolwide programs that employ a continuum of service delivery models in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities, and provide services to other students as appropriate.
• Engage in data-based decision making, including gathering and interpreting data with individual students, as well as overall program evaluation are essential responsibilities.
• Ensure compliance with federal and state mandates as well as local policies in performance of their duties. Activities may include Individualized Education Program (IEP) development, Medicaid billing, report writing, and treatment plan/therapy log development.
• Engage in collaboration by working in partnership with others to meet students' needs.
• Complement and augment those services provided by other professionals who also have unique perspectives and skills. Work collegially with general education teachers who are primarily responsible for curriculum and instruction.
• Develop relationships with universities to exchange shared knowledge and perspectives.
• Develop community relationships with a variety of individuals and agencies (e.g., physicians, private therapy practitioners, social service agencies, private schools, and vocational rehabilitation) who may be involved in teaching or providing services to children and youth.
• Develop relationships with families by engaging families in planning, decision making, and program implementation.
• Develop relationships with students by engaging them in goal planning, intervention implementation, monitoring of progress, and self-advocacy appropriate to age and ability level.
• Advocate for appropriate programs and services for children and adolescents, including reasonable workloads, professional development opportunities, and other program supports.
• Play a vital role in inducting new professionals.
• Design and conduct professional development.
• Provide training to parents of students of all ages with regard to communication development and disorders. Strive to create a language- and literacy-rich environment.
• Participate in research to generate and support the use of evidence-based assessment and intervention practices.

Speech Language Pathologist Key Qualities

• Able to be empathetic by caring, understanding, and cultivating an empowering environment for all students.
• Demonstrates patience with serious issues, students, and families.
• Able to be dependable in ways that develop trust with students.
• Able to implement an organizational system to support both case management and student needs simultaneously.
• Being able to observe with skill and listen closely.
• Being able to make impartial informed decisions on behalf of students and families.
• Ability to be persistent and resilient when dealing with setbacks.
• Willing to be flexible and multitask as needed on demand.
• Ability to use a culturally responsive approach to develop relationships and execute interventions with fidelity.
• Willingness to learn, in order to be relatable, flexible, personable, and adaptable.
• Engages in continuous self-care.

Salary : Dependent on duration of appointment. (Daily rate $269.16-$277.28 if less than a semester)

About Schenectady City Schools

With a population of nearly 10,000 students, the Schenectady City School District is one of the largest in the Capital Region. With an incredibly diverse population, we are committed to ensuring that all children feel valued, are safe, and will learn. We place the highest priority on a culture of equity, ensuring that race, economics, and disability are never predictors of student achievement. Every child in our district counts and will be supported each step of the way, along the path to graduation.

The Schenectady City School District is committed to hiring members of protected classes and residents of the City of Schenectady. For more information on the District’s recruitment and hiring plan, please contact the Human Resources Office at 881-2000 ext. 40133. The Schenectady City School District does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, or gender. This policy is in compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Regulations and By-Laws of the Board of Education of the Schenectady City School District.

Minimum Qualifications

• NYS certification as a Speech Language Pathologist (Speech Therapist) is required.
• Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university.
• CSE experience preferred.
• Experience working in schools and with children preferred.