UMN Partnership with K-12 Schools Combats Speech Therapist Shortage

What do you think one of the most in-demand jobs in K-12 schools is? Teachers? Custodians? Secretaries?

It turns out the answer for many districts nationwide is speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

In a mutual partnership created to fill this gap, the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences (SLHS) has begun working with local schools to provide SLP graduate students with internship experiences that may pique their interest in working in a school setting while the school has skilled SLPs to work with their students.

Filling the Gap

The collaboration came about as a result of discussions between Hopkins School’s director of special services and the University of Minnesota’s Director of Clinical Programs in Speech-Language-Pathology Rebecca Lulai. 

Minnesota’s shortage of SLPs creates challenges for districts to provide this kind of support for students and to meet state and federal obligations. To help meet the Hopkins district's speech therapy needs, the collaborative program allows for University of Minnesota graduate students to provide therapy on-site in the district under supervision of their University of Minnesota clinical supervisor. In return, the graduate students can fulfill credit hour requirements as they gain practical field experience. The students learn first-hand what school services are like while also helping support the district’s needs.

A Mutually Beneficial System

Kate Lamb, a speech-language pathologist, is stationed at Eisenhower Elementary School. She and SLHS graduate student Abigail ‘Abby’ Nelson have been collaborating through Nelson’s final rotation externship experience.

Lamb’s role is to help graduate students develop clinical competence through hands-on clinical experience under her supervision. “It’s really exciting to be in this position where I can help guide students to find the place that most interests them,” she says.

Built into this arrangement is dedicated time for Lamb and her graduate students to review what the student learned, what went well, and what their plan is going forward. This is in contrast to more traditional clinical internship arrangements where caseload demands limit frequent collaboration.

“There’s so much more of a focus that can be placed on the grad students, because that’s the point of the program,” Lamb says. “There is much more of a balance [in this program]. It’s a collaboration between the supervisor and the student.”

Lamb and Nelson have found that this partnership has been beneficial for their K-12 students as well. “Each kid at any given time is going to have at least two sets of eyes and ears on them,” Lamb says. “We’re collaborating constantly about each of these students.”

“We’re learning at the same time they’re learning,” Nelson adds. “I can bring different things I’ve learned to the table and try them out, and [Lamb] can teach me different activities.” The variety of techniques is very beneficial to the elementary-aged students, as it allows the pathologists to discover and apply what works best for each individual.

Together, Nelson and Lamb use a variety of techniques to assist children in the development of speech, language, and swallowing skills. Nelson remarked that the school position really allows her to practice her skills in a true-to-life environment. While graduate school teaches you the skills themselves, this practical setting allows one to dig into the ‘why’.

“I get to try more things and really know what therapy looks like,” she says. “It’s connecting the pieces, the ‘why’, and gathering more things in your toolbox.”

Exchange of Ideas

Within the district setting, building a professional network is as important as the students themselves.

“One of the biggest things is the community aspect,” Nelson says. Within the school environment, graduate students have access to other professionals like student psychologists, evaluation coordinators, school nurses, and social workers. These connections set them up for a broader perspective both in the field and outside of the classroom, as they are able to build relationships with an entirely novel set of professionals.

The Hopkins district’s monthly meetings for district-wide speech professionals also are a place for the graduate students to make connections in the field.

Beyond this, the graduate students themselves bring a variety of knowledge from their time in graduate school to the classroom. “I can think about problems in a different way than I would if it were just me here,” Lamb says.

The constant exchange of ideas enhances graduate students’ growth as future professionals. “I know that I have a support system and a community that I can reach out to in the field, but especially in schools,” Nelson said. “Just being in a school has opened my eyes and given me more opportunities.”

What’s Ahead?

Nelson, freshly graduated as of May 2025, has officially accepted a job offer for a local school district. “I’ve just really enjoyed working with the kids and getting to connect what I learned in classes into the school setting,” she says. The breadth and depth of the SLHS graduate program has set her up for a multifaceted career, no matter where her degree takes her.

Both the University of Minnesota and Hopkins schools are interested in continuing the partnership going forward and keeping this channel of mutual learning open. “That’s ultimately our goal—we want graduate students to find the place that fits them best and develop skills to be successful,” says Lamb.

With expansion will only come more opportunities to connect higher education with the Twin Cities community, and create beneficial learning environments for graduate and K-12 students alike.

This story was written by Rory Schaefer, an undergraduate student in CLA.