December 16, 2025
The Tennessee Department of Education's Special Education & Student Support Department recently published highlights of a partnership between Rutherford County Schools' Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) and classroom teachers.
The highlight reads:
“In a forward-thinking initiative, the Speech and Language Team, under the direction of Lead Speech-Language Pathologist Angela Shofner and Coordinator of Special Education, Dr. Annie Ralston, is enhancing student support by integrating speech-language pathologists into classroom settings. Rather than working solely in separate therapy spaces, SLPs are now collaborating directly with teachers within classrooms to address communication challenges that impact learning across the curriculum. This allows for a focus on improving outcomes for students with disabilities across the educational setting.
“This partnership enables SLPs to share strategies for promoting speech and language development, enhancing classroom discourse, and supporting students with speech and language needs in real-time. Teachers benefit from expert guidance on how to scaffold instruction, model language-rich interactions, and adapt materials to meet the diverse needs of learners.
Mrs. Shofner described two key components of enacting this initiative. Empowering the SLPs in Rutherford County to ensure individualized, student-centered decisions for IEP services are made alongside IEP teams is critical. This included equipping the Speech and Language Team with a roadmap for the “how” of working alongside general educators and the “why” of integrated services and their success for improving outcomes for students with disabilities. The second component is the importance of mentorship. The SLPs in Rutherford County have a mentorship mindset in which they support one another’s growth through coaching, modeling speech/language strategies, and brainstorming high-quality strategies for classroom success. This ongoing mentorship strengthens instructional capacity and promotes a shared understanding of how speech and language skills underpin academic success.
Rutherford County’s integrated approach to providing speech/language services to students with disabilities reflects a growing recognition that communication is central to learning. By empowering SLPs to partner alongside classroom teachers, Rutherford County is creating a more inclusive and responsive educational experience for all students.
Kudos to the Rutherford County Speech and Language Team! We appreciate all the work you do to ensure students with disabilities are successful in the educational environment!