Governor Mikie Sherrill • Lt. Governor Dr. Dale G. Caldwell

Determination of Eligibility for Speech-Language Services (N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.6)

Eligible for speech-language services" means a speech and/or language disorder as follows:

  • A speech disorder in articulation, phonology, fluency, voice, or any combination, unrelated to dialect, cultural differences, or the influence of a foreign language, that adversely affects a student's educational performance; and/or
  • A language disorder that meets the criteria at N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.5(c)4 and the student requires speech-language services only.

The evaluation for a speech disorder shall be conducted pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.4(g). Documentation of the educational impact shall be provided by the student's teacher. The speech disorder must meet the criteria at 1, 2, and/or 3 below and require instruction by a speech-language specialist:

On a standardized articulation or phonology assessment, the student exhibits one or more sound production error patterns beyond the age at which 90 percent of the population has achieved mastery according to current developmental norms and misarticulates sounds consistently in a speech sample.

The student demonstrates at least a mild rating, or its equivalent, on a formal fluency rating scale and, in a speech sample, the student exhibits disfluency in five percent or more of the words spoken.

On a formal rating scale, the student performs below the normed level for voice quality, pitch, resonance, loudness, or duration and the condition is evident on two separate occasions, three to four weeks apart, at different times.

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