Faculty/Staff Perceptions of a Standards-Based Exit Portfolio System for Graduate Students

Abstract

New standards for certification were recently developed for speechlanguage pathology graduate training programs by the American Speech-LanguageHearing Association. The new standards are outcomes-based rather than process-based. Using a collective case study approach, this article highlights the perceptions of faculty and staff regarding use of a standards-based exit portfolio system for students in a Speech-Language Pathology graduate program at a medium-sized, public university after two semesters of use.KEYWORDS: performance-based portfolio assessment; grading rubrics; knowledge and skills assessment.In the field of speech-language pathology, graduate programs are accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA). New standards for certification were developed for speech-language pathology graduate training programs that were required to be implemented in 2004 (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2001). As such, accredited programs have realigned their curricula with the new standards; the old standards were process-based, whereas the new standards are outcomes-based. Process-based standards require students to pass a certain sequence of courses. The process of taking and passing the courses is seen as evidence that the student has learned the required content of the courses. By completing the required courses, the process-based method assumes that the students have the knowledge Tena L. McNamara received a B.