Interprofessional Practice Aligns with New California Teacher Performance Expectations for Students with Complex Communication Needs.

Educators are bound to encounter students with a broad range of speech-language and communication needs in their respective classrooms. According to federal mandates, current and future teachers are required to implement inclusive practices, which involves providing access to communication for all students. This practitioner-focused article shares an interprofessional practice collaborative project developed between a university teacher preparation program and the speech-language pathology division of a large urban school district. As part of a requisite credential course on language development and early literacy skills, pre-candidate students in the education specialist credential program complete a course assignment led by a school-based speech-language pathologist with clinical specialization in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). As a result, pre-service educational specialists gain valuable knowledge about integrative AAC practices for classroom purposes as aligned with the new California Teacher Performance Expectations for students with complex communication needs (CCN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]