Evaluating therapeutic specialists with the Danielson Framework

Occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech language pathologists in schools carry evaluation and re-evaluation, direct and consultative therapy, IEP goal writing, and documentation that has to satisfy Medicaid as well as the district.

They are clinicians working in an education setting, and a teaching rubric describes neither the clinical judgement nor the documentation burden.

What we provide

A rubric written for this role on the same four-domain structure your administrators already use, in both the 2013 and 2022 editions.

• Components address clinical assessment and therapy planning
• Consultative service to teachers counts alongside direct therapy
• IEP goal quality and progress reporting are part of the rubric
• Documentation standards are treated as professional responsibility

The rubric derives from Danielson consulting work published by state education agencies. The 2022 edition is our own.

The 2022 rubric at a glance

22 components across 4 domains, written for this role rather than borrowed from the classroom teacher rubric.

Planning and Preparation

• 1a Applying Knowledge and Skill in Therapy Practice
• 1b Setting Goals for the Therapy Program
• 1c Knowing Regulations and Guidelines
• 1d Using Resources Effectively
• 1e Planning a Coherent Therapy Program
• 1f Designing Program Evaluation

Learning Environment

• 2a Cultivating Rapport with Students
• 2b Organizing Time Effectively
• 2c Maintaining Clear Procedures for Referrals
• 2d Maintaining Standards in the Therapy Setting
• 2e Organizing Spaces for Therapy and Evaluation

Therapy Practice

• 3a Responding to Referrals and Evaluating Student Needs
• 3b Developing and Implementing Treatment Plans
• 3c Engaging Families and Communities
• 3d Documenting Student Progress
• 3e Responding Flexibly to Student Needs

Principled Practice

• 4a Engaging in Reflective Practice
• 4b Collaborating with Educators
• 4c Maintaining Data and Records
• 4d Contributing to School Community and Culture
• 4e Growing and Developing Professionally
• 4f Acting in Service of Students

Each component carries level-of-performance descriptors in all four levels, written in first, second and third person so self-assessments and evaluations read correctly from the same source. Ask us for the full rubric and we will walk you through it.

More than the rubric

Evidence can come from therapy sessions, consultation and IEP goal progress. The rubric is not a document you print and fill in. It is built into software that runs the whole cycle: observations scheduled and recorded, rubric language inserted into the evaluation for you, self assessments and professional development plans running against the same rubric, and district reporting at the end of the year.

Plenty of districts already have the right rubric sitting in a filing cabinet. The work is in running the cycle with it. See how the software works → See the other 13 roles

Evaluating therapeutic specialists this year?

Tell us which therapy roles you employ, and we will show you how clinical practice and IEP goal quality are evaluated rather than adapted from a teaching rubric. If we are not the right fit for your district, we will tell you that too. Talk with us about OT, PT and speech evaluation →