Stakeholder Buy-in: Improving Collaboration in the School Setting

Physical therapists working in school settings function within an educational team to promote student success in their education. A school-based physical therapist must effectively collaborate with the educational team in order to fulfill their role. There is growing evidence of collaboration between PTs and special educators, as well as mounting guidance from professional organizations supporting collaborative practices in the schools. Yet, one essential component of collaboration is an understanding of the perception of all stakeholders. This presentation examines the perspective of special educator teachers on collaboration with school-based physical therapists. The presentation will include original findings from a survey of over 300 special education teachers documenting the types of collaboration occurring in the school system with PTs and the perceived benefit of those collaborative activities. Learners will gain insight into the most effective and well-perceived forms of collaboration, and will have the opportunities to reflect on their own practices from the perspective of special educators. Finally, learners will explore a definition of collaboration that reaches beyond indirect PT services in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the wide reaching role of the school-based PT. This presentation is applicable to both PTs and PTAs.