Development and Implementation of a Supervisory Guide for School-Based Clinical Externships

Purpose: The purpose of this program development project was to address the gap in expectation clarity and consistency for supervisors of graduate students during clinical practicum experiences across varying school-based placement sites. Method: The development of the Supervisory Guide was completed by referencing the Clinical Skills Inventory. Opportunity amounts were classified as “optimal” or “suboptimal.” The Supervisory Guide was piloted across eight Ohio school-based externship sites to gain both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis to help answer the project question: Based on supervisor reports, how consistently are students across multiple school-based clinical placements getting optimal opportunities to practice specific skills required to be successful in their Clinical Fellowship experience? Results: The results indicated high variability between clinical placement sites. The least consistent subcategory on the Supervisory Guide was interprofessional practice. The subcategory of professional practice saw the most consistency. Conclusions: The variability found implies that some graduate students may not be adequately prepared to enter school-based settings after graduation due to a lack of opportunities to practice during clinical placements. Additional resources, guidance, and training are required to enhance consistency across clinical placements. Further studies should be done to increase generalizability and to continue considering how improving consistency in opportunities could boost self-efficacy and reduce burnout among new speech-language pathologists.