Tennessee Eligibility Standards for

Speech and Language Impairment

Current Tennessee eligibility standards state that for a student to be eligible for speech/language services in the public schools, an adverse effect on educational, social/emotional, or vocational performance must be documented. This information on adverse effect must be documented over a designated period of time and compiled from a variety of sources and settings. No student may be identified as Speeech/Language impaired solely on the basis of standardized test results.

For a student to be identified as speech impaired, his/her speech sound production errors, fluency/stuttering, or voice problems MUST interfere with educational performance in the general classroom and must be well-documented. "Educational performance" refers to a student's ability to participate in the educational process and must include consideration of the student's social, emotional, academic, and vocational performance. The presence of any deviation in speech sound production does not automatically indicate an adverse effect on the student's ability to function within the educational setting.

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