Certificate in Advanced School-Based Speech-Language Pathology

• U of A
• Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Certificate in Advanced School-Based Speech-Language Pathology

Online Post-Master’s Certificate

Speech-language pathologists in K-12 schools can advance their careers and update skills by enrolling in the nation’s first post-master’s certificate program designed specifically for their field

School-based speech-language pathologists will gain graduate-level coursework hours that some school districts recognize when awarding pay increases beyond merit or experience.

By enhancing your skills, you will improve the quality of speech therapy services you can provide to your students. Coursework can also be counted toward professional development hours.

The university's Online Programs website has further details on the program. The program starts in the fall of each year and the deadline to apply is each Aug. 1.

Interested in taking a single course?

Students interested in taking a single course or courses in the certificate program may have the opportunity to do so. Single spots in courses are dependent on cohort sizes of the certificate program. To inquire about availability or be put on a waitlist for a course, please email cdis@uark.edu.

Prospective students for single course(s) need to apply to the Graduate School as non-degree seeking students to active their student account. After the student account is activated, students are welcome to enroll in the desired course(s) or can request assistance to enroll in courses by emailing cdis@uark.edu.

Advance Your Career with an Education Specialist (Ed.S) Degree

Distinguish yourself academically and professionally by earning this post-master’s degree. Build your overall curriculum and instruction skills with at least 15 hours of foundational courses and also develop specialty skills by completing at least 15 hours of concentration coursework. The post-master’s certificate in advanced school-based speech-language pathology counts as a concentration of the Ed.S. degree program.

Designed for Arkansas educators, this practitioner-focused program will equip you with the overall skills and knowledge needed to be an instructional leader in various educational settings. It also enables you to gain specific knowledge within your chosen concentration.

This specialist degree program meets financial aid guidelines, allowing students to seek assistance in funding their studies. Consult an academic advisor prior to enrollment in classes to assure requirements are met.

Students interested in completing the Advanced School-Based Speech-Language Pathology Certificate as a concentration of the Ed.S. degree program must apply to both programs. Students will select the certificate as a concentration of the Ed.S. degree program when they apply. For questions about applying, email online@uark.edu.

Courses

• Fall 1 — CDIS 6103 — Literacy for Learning in Educational Settings
• Fall 2 — CDIS 6203 — Advanced Assessment & Intervention for Fluency Disorders
• Spring 1 — CDIS 6303 — Effective Augmentative and Alternative Communication Services in Schools
• Spring 2 — CDIS 6403 — Pediatric Dysphagia
• Summer — CDIS 6503 — Behavior Management in Educational Settings

Fall Course 1 — CDIS 6103 — Literacy for Learning in Educational Settings

Professional Development Information

Course Instructor: Lisa Bowers, Ph.D.

Learner Outcomes: See Course Competencies Registration: Participants must register for the certificate through the Graduate School. Participants must complete the course to earn a grade from the instructor. An attendance record is maintained through completion of course assignments.

Continuing Education Units/Hours Offered: ASHA/2.7 Advanced, Professional; ADE/10 hours. Professional development hours are accrued from Aug. 21 — Oct. 10.

Presenter Disclosure:

1. Financial: Dr. Bowers receives a salary as an associate professor at the University of Arkansas.
2. Non-financial: None to report.
3. Content disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.

Course Description

An examination of language-based literacy skills, including consideration of development, disorders, assessment and intervention

Course Competencies

Professionals who have successfully completed this course will demonstrate competencies in the following areas:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of a speech-language pathologist in assessment, intervention and prevention of reading and writing disorders
• Define terminology related to literacy, including: phonological awareness, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, and understand their interconnections to written language
• Determine the appropriateness of literacy assessment tools, standardized and non-standardized, for different age groups
• Distinguish between different types of written language disorders including dyslexia
• Discuss the SLP's role in Response to Intervention (RtI)
• Describe the implications of state law and rights of individuals with disabilities
• Describe multicultural considerations in assessing written language disorders
• Write session plans and demonstrate evidence-based intervention techniques (including development of materials) for a variety of intervention targets including phonemic awareness, sound-symbol correspondence, phonological awareness, decoding, encoding and composition

Course List at Top

Fall Course 2 — CDIS 6203 — Advanced Assessment & Intervention for Fluency Disorders

Professional Development Information

1. Course Instructor: Andy Bowers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
2. Learner Outcomes: See Course Competencies

Registration: Participants must register for the certificate through the Graduate School. Participants must complete the course to earn a grade from the instructor. An attendance record is maintained through completion of course assignments.

1. CEUs/Hours Offered: ASHA/2.5 Advanced, Professional; ADE/10 hours. Professional development hours are accrued from Oct. 11 — Dec. 7.
2. Presenter Disclosure:
   1. Financial: Dr. Bowers receives a salary as an associate professor at the University of Arkansas.
   2. Nondisclosure: None to report.
   3. Content disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.

Course Description

This course provides an in-depth examination of fluency disorders including theory, etiological factors, and development. In addition, the course is designed to address assessment and management of fluency disorders consistent with evidenced-based practice for prospective speech-language pathologists.

Course Competencies

By the end of the semester, the student will be able to:

• Define stuttering, cluttering, disfluency/dysfluency
• Describe the characteristics of each stage in the progression of stuttering
• Describe development of normal fluency and frequency of disfluency for all age groups
• Evaluate available tests and methods for assessing fluency in children and adults
• Design appropriate intervention strategies for dysfluent children, adolescents and adults
• Compare and contrast assessment and intervention factors inherent in different clinical settings
• Describe elements important to conducting an effective home program and including significant others
• Critique theories of etiology of stuttering, providing research evidence that supports or contradicts each
• Describe the etiology and characteristics of cluttering
• Describe current diagnostic & treatment options for cluttering

Course List at Top

Spring Course 1 — CDIS 6303 — Effective Augmentative and Alternative Communication Services in Schools

Professional Development Information

Course Instructor: Christine Holyfield, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Learner Outcomes: See Course Competencies Registration: Participants must register for the certificate through the Graduate School. Participants must complete the course to earn a grade from the instructor. An attendance record is maintained through completion of course assignments.

CEUs/Hours Offered: ASHA/2.1 Advanced, Professional; ADE/10 hours. Professional development hours are accrued from Jan. 16 through March 5.

Presenter Disclosure:

1. Financial: Dr. Holyfield receives a salary as an associate professor at the University of Arkansas.
2. Non-financial: None to report.
3. Content disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.

Course Description

This course will support current speech-language pathologists in becoming more effective speech-language pathologists as it relates to the provision of augmentative and alternative services in schools. Throughout this course, students will (a) identify a barrier they wish to address relevant to their current service provision or their current caseload, (b) discover strategies for addressing that barrier and (c) develop a plan for improving their augmentative and alternative service provision through the implementation of those strategies in their own professional work.

Course Competencies

Throughout this course, students will gain the knowledge and skills to:

• Describe frameworks evaluating the quality of evidence
• Discriminate between evidence quality levels
• Apply techniques for evaluating evidence quality to information related to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
• Locate and identify evidence of varying levels of quality, determine evidence useful in informing clinicians and/or other stakeholders, distill the overall message from evidence and share the message through written and oral means
• Describe the characteristics and etiologies of individuals who may benefit from AAC
• Apply the current state of the science in AAC to writing and orally presenting an AAC assessment plan
• Apply the current state of the science in AAC to writing and orally presenting an AAC intervention plan

Course List at Top

Spring Course 2 — CDIS 6403 — Pediatric Dysphagia

Professional Development Information

Course Instructor: Sarah Lanning, M.S., CCC-SLP

Learner Outcomes: See Course Competencies Registration: Participants must register for the certificate through the Graduate School. Participants must complete the course to earn a grade from the instructor. An attendance record is maintained through completion of course assignments.

CEUs/Hours Offered: ASHA/2.6 Advanced, Professional; ADE/10 hours. Professional development hours are accrued from March 6 through May 2.

Presenter Disclosure:

1. Financial: Sarah Lanning receives a salary as an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas.
2. Non-financial: None to report.
3. Content disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to examine the oral sensorimotor skills and developmental processes associated with normal feeding and swallowing function, as well as impairments or deficits in those areas which may result in delayed or disordered skilll sets in the pediatric population. This course will involve discussion and application of relevant readings, critical evaluation of assessment and intervention materials and procedures, and interpretation of state laws which address the rights of individuals with disabilities, specifically in relation to the school-based setting for SLP's. This course encourages the conceptualization of opportunities to promote positive changes within that setting.

Course Competencies

By the end of this course, the student will be able to:

• Identify normal and abnormal anatomy and physiology as it relates to feeding and swallowing in the pediatric population.
• Identify the various etiologies associated with the characteristics of feeding/swallowing difficulties in the pediatric population.
• Describe and demonstrate various assessment techniques, including instrumental and clinical approaches, for pediatric clients with difficulties in feeding and/or swallowing.
• Identify a basic understanding of the principles of research and how to integrate these principles in the formation of evidence-based practices for the management of swallowing disorders.
• Identify the skills used to evidenced based practices to collect, analyze, and interpret assessment data to plan appropriate interventions or appropriate referrals for pediatric clients with difficulties in feeding and/or swallowing.
• Identify the rationale/criteria for patient progress and treatment efficacy for pediatric clients with feeding or swallowing difficulties.
• Identify the professional issues and ethical considerations and their impact on the assessment and treatment of children and their families when working with children with feeding and/or swallowing difficulties.

Course List at Top

Summer Course — CDIS 6503 — Behavior Management in Educational Settings

Professional Development Information

Course Instructor: Kimberly Frazier, Ph.D.

Learner Outcomes: See Course Competencies Registration: Participants must register for the certificate through the Graduate School. Participants must complete the course to earn a grade from the instructor. An attendance record is maintained through completion of course assignments.

CEUs/Hours Offered: ASHA/2.5 Advanced, Professional; ADE/10 hours. Professional development hours are accrued from May 31 — July 1.

Presenter Disclosure:

1. Financial: Dr. Frazier receives a salary as an associate professor at the University of Arkansas.
2. Non-financial: None to report.
3. Content disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.

Course Description

The course provides an introduction to behavioral management across a variety of settings highlighting best practices from organizing time, materials, and room space. Strategies for managing individual and large group student behaviors, transitions, and other arrangements will be presented in addition to basic federal and state laws as they pertain to the legal procedures for all professionals, including educators of students with disabilities and ESL students.

Course Competencies

By the end of this course, the student will able to:

1. List the six life skills that children need to successfully navigate and function in a social world.
2. Identify the social and emotional standards that are vital to early learning.
3. Analyze the importance of culture and diversity in understanding behavior and select strategies to help children develop the skills they need.
4. Identify strategies to maximize self-regulation.
5. Develop action plans to facilitate appropriate behaviors while minimizing challenging behaviors.

Course List at Top

Success Stories

"Fifteen years into my career, this advanced certificate program has me more excited about learning than ever before. I am immediately able to implement course content. My professors have been knowledgeable in the content they teach while being personable with their students. They are challenging while setting realistic expectations. I look forward to each new class and have already formed working relationships with my fellow classmates." — Deanna, Arkansas

"The Advanced School-Based Speech-Language Pathology program has been a phenomenal experience as a practicing clinician. The knowledge that I have gained from my courses is directly applicable to my caseload." — Amanda, New Jersey