Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

1998

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Learning Sciences and Human Development

Committee Chair

Daisy E. Arredondo.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify supervisory behaviors that occurred and the extent to which they were perceived as necessary during supervisory interactions between licensed speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) and their supervising speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Surveys were mailed to the 173 licensed SLPAs in Louisiana, who were the population for this study, requesting information about the supervision received. Eighty-eight (51%) completed and returned the survey.;The survey consisted of three parts. Part I contained 29 statements that were each rated twice using a Likert-type scale. The first rating indicated the extent to which supervisory behaviors occurred and the second rating indicated the extent to which the behaviors were perceived as needed. Part II contained open-ended questions and Part III collected demographic data about the participants.;The items on Part I of the survey were grouped into three categories: instructional, interrelational and general. The instructional category contained items about technical and professional aspects of supervision, the interrelational category consisted of behaviors concerned with the interpersonal relationship between the assistant and the supervisor, and the general category included supervisory behaviors initiated by the assistants, e.g. requesting meetings with the supervisor, informing the supervisor when assistance was needed, and self-analyzing professional behavior.;Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and content analysis. No significant differences were found between supervisory behaviors that occurred and those perceived as needed for the instructional and interrelational categories. General category behaviors occurred significantly more frequently than were perceived as needed. Significant differences were found on three individual items on Part I of the survey: supervisor dominance in the conference setting which occurred more than needed, and dyad communication via journal writing and email that occurred less than perceived as needed.;The content analysis supported the findings in the objective portion of the study. The majority of SLPAs (81%) reported their supervisory needs were being met. They described their supervisors as patient, knowledgeable, available, supportive, professional and open-minded. However, for some, the supervision was perceived as inadequate. For them, comments reflected a lack of supervisor patience, knowledge, availability, support, professionalism and open-mindedness.

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