Based on lengthy data provided by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Indiana, from the year 2000 to 2012, has been the worst state in the nation for the highest average caseloads for school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). This data demonstrates a major inability statewide to negotiate and regulate reasonable caseloads at the local level. This problem is evidenced by data than spans over 12 years; thus, regulation of this issue at the state level is reasonable and necessary.

High caseloads may have a detrimental effect on student outcomes, group size, teacher collaboration, consultation, service delivery options, SLP recruitment, and SLP retention (ASHA, 2014). According to ASHA’s 2012 Schools Survey on SLP Caseload Characteristics, Indiana had the largest median caseload in the nation with a median of 72 (ASHA, 2012a). In 2012, the national median for caseloads was 47 (ASHA, 2012a). In 2010, Indiana’s median caseload was reported as 80 (ASHA, 2010). The national median for caseloads was 50 in 2010 (ASHA, 2010). According to ASHA’s School Survey Report on Caseload Characteristics Trends from 1995 to 2012, Indiana, from 2000 through 2012, had the largest median monthly caseload size (of 74 to 80 students) in the nation (ASHA, 2012b). These numbers only reflect an average; thus, there are school-based SLPs who have 90 to 100 or more students on their caseloads. From 1995 through 2012, the national median caseload for school-based SLPs was 50 students per SLP (ASHA, 2012b).

In 2008, 2010, and 2012, the majority (79%–81%) of SLPs indicated that a caseload approach was used to determine the number of students they served (ASHA, 2012b). Indiana is surrounded by states in the Midwest that have caseload caps for school-based SLPs: Illinois with 60, Kentucky with 65, Michigan with 60, and Ohio with 80. Ohio has a stipulation that if the caseload is exclusively preschool and/or children with multiple disabilities, the cap is 50. In addition to the caps, Ohio also has an embedded workload approach. Illinois also mandates schools implement workload approaches with the caseload regulation. In order to ensure students with disabilities in Indiana are receiving speech therapy services that are comparable in quantity and quality to those speech therapy services that are being provided in other states, and in order to ensure reasonable working conditions for school-based SLPs, a legislative bill for caseload/workload regulation in Indiana is strongly recommended.

Other states that have caseload caps include: Arkansas with 45, California with 55, Georgia with 55, Louisiana with 75, Maine with 50, Mississippi with 48, Nevada with 50, New Mexico with 60, New York with 65, North Carolina with 50, Oklahoma with 55, Pennsylvania with 65, South Carolina with 60, Utah with 60, Virginia with 68, and West Virginia with 50. Alabama has a caseload recommendation of 30. In summary, 20 of the 50 states have caseload caps. Many states have developed combined caseload/workload models for regulation purposes.

                                                          References

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2010). 2010 schools survey: SLP caseload characteristics. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/Schools10Caseload.pdf

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012a). 2012 schools survey: SLP caseload characteristics. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/Schools-2012-Caseload.pdf#search="2010"

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012b). School survey report: SLP caseload characteristic trends 1995-2012. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/Schools-2012-SLP-Caseload-Characteristics-Trends.pdf#search="2010"

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2014). Professional issues: Caseload and workload. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589934681&section=Key_Issues