Have you wondered why speech-language pathologists from New York state have TSSLD after their names? I thought TSSLD was related to being bilingually certified in the state of New York. But actually, I was only partially correct.
What is TSSLD?
TSSLD stands for Teaching Students with Speech-Language Disabilities. In New York speech-language pathologists who work in schools need to have the TSSLD license (reference). The TSSLD certification is earned after taking a series of courses. These courses are included in the curriculum of speech pathology graduate programs in the state of Illinois. However, depending on the graduate program, a couple courses might be additional to core requirements of the masters program. In general, the courses cover child development and school-based information necessary for working in educational settings. After graduation and completion of the coursework and other requirements, speech pathologists can use TSSLD after their credentials. Lehman College lays out the TSSLD requirements clearly.
Bilingual Extension to the TSSLD Certification
New York state is one of the few states that has a specific certification for bilingual speech-language pathologists. Any speech-language pathologist looking to get the bilingual certification needs to take a series of courses related to bilingual education. The bilingual courses consist of foundations of bilingual education, methods and materials for teaching bilingual students, literacy in ESL students, and possibly assessment of bilingual students.
Additionally, there is another requirement from the state of New York for speech-language pathologists who would like to have the bilingual certification. They must pass a test proving their ability to speak, understand, and write in the targeted language. Once you have taken the coursework and passed the language test, you can use the credentials TSSLD-BE. For more information about bilingual certification coursework, check out this chart from Adelphi.
Bilingual Certification in Illinois
Although the TSSLD certification is exclusive to New York state, in the state of Illinois the bilingual teacher certification has similar course requirements. Most speech pathologists in the state of Illinois have “non teaching” teaching licenses, but I have an old school “teaching” license. I completed the requirements to earn both the ESL and bilingual endorsements to my professional educator license (PEL) here in the state of Illinois. Both of those endorsements are additional to my speech-language pathologist endorsement. I also passed the Illinois State Board of Education ISBE test in Spanish. The coursework was affordable due to a grant provided to the Illinois Resource Center by the state of Illinois.
If you would like more information regarding the coursework and process I went through to earn my ESL and Bilingual endorsements, check out these two blog posts about the process:
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