The IEP says: "Speech-language consult with classroom teacher, 30 minutes per month." The clinician talks with the teacher whenever the schedule allows, perhaps six times a month, mostly in the hallway. The log shows nothing for any of it.
Consultation is real work and often a real service on the IEP. It is also the work most likely to go unrecorded, because there is no session to log. This guide explains how to keep consult time on the record, separate from direct sessions, so that the log matches what the IEP promises.
How ASHA sorts the work
ASHA's practice page on caseload and workload describes four kinds of activity that school-based SLPs perform.
| Category | Examples named on the page |
|---|---|
| Direct services | Evaluating students, providing direct intervention, reevaluating students |
| Indirect services supporting educational programs | Consulting with families, contributing to IEPs, monitoring IEP modifications, training and overseeing assistants |
| Indirect activities supporting the least restrictive environment | Consulting with teachers, observing students in classrooms, consulting with outside entities, adapting curriculum and instruction |
| Compliance activities | Collecting and reporting student data, completing compliance paperwork, documenting Medicaid billing, participating in IEP meetings |
Consulting with teachers and with families sits in the indirect categories. ASHA's page also says it does not tell clinicians how indirect or consult time has to be documented or counted. It refers readers to its documentation guidance instead, and the practical rules come from your district and state.
What the IEP can say about consult
Section 300.320 requires the IEP to state the special education and related services, supplementary aids and services, and the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided, along with the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services. That is where consult can show up: as a listed service with minutes, or as a support for school personnel written into the plan.
How it is written controls how it should be logged.
| IEP wording | What the log should show |
|---|---|
| "Consult, 30 minutes per month" | A consult entry for each contact, with minutes, so the monthly total can be compared with 30 |
| "Support for teacher: strategies for classroom participation" | Dated entries showing when strategies were shared or modeled, and with whom |
| No mention of consult | Your district's own rule. A short dated note is still wise if the contact changed what the teacher does |
What a consult entry holds
A consult entry is shorter than a session note. It needs:
- Date, start and end time. Actual times, as in start and end times in session notes.
- With whom. The role, such as classroom teacher or parent, and the name if your district allows it.
- Student code. One student per entry, not a list.
- Topic. The strategy, observation, or question.
- Outcome. What the person will do, or what you will do next.
- Type. "Consult," marked so it can be filtered apart from direct sessions.
Keeping the two kinds apart
If consult and direct time end up in one column, the totals stop meaning anything. A direct session answers "did the student receive the service?" A consult answers "did the team receive the support?" They are different questions with different minutes.
| Entry | Weak | Stronger |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | "Speech, 30" | "Individual speech-language, 9:05 to 9:35, therapy room, goal 2" |
| Consult | "Talked with teacher" | "Consult, no student contact, 12:40 to 12:52. Teacher: seating and cue card for the speech goal. Teacher will try for one week." |
| Both on one day | One merged line | Two entries, each with its own times |
Billing and time studies
Whether consult is billable is a state and district question. CMS says states have their own documentation requirements and describes direct medical service claims as built from records of the service performed. Time studies, where used, sort staff time into categories set by the state, and how consult is categorized there is also set by the state. Ask your billing office and read random moment time studies: what clinicians do if your district takes part in one.
Using consult records for workload
ASHA's workload approach suggests working out the time each student-related service and activity takes, per day, week, or month. Consult entries give you real numbers. When you tell a supervisor that a caseload no longer fits in a week, six months of dated consult entries make a stronger case than a feeling. They also show a team how much of a student's progress is being supported outside the therapy room.
Privacy in consult records
A consult is a conversation about a student, so the privacy rules apply. Keep the entry to what is needed. Do not name other students in a consult about one. If you consult by email, use your district's approved system, keep the student's name out of the subject line, and say as little as is needed. See FERPA and session notes.
Consult-record slips
- Logging a consult as a direct session. It inflates delivered direct minutes.
- Counting five-minute chats toward a monthly total without writing them down. An unrecorded consult cannot be counted.
- Listing three students in one entry. Write one entry per student.
- Writing "discussed student" with no topic. A reader cannot tell what changed.
- Treating consult as optional when it is on the IEP. If it is promised, log it.
Questions to settle at the start of the year
- Does any IEP on my caseload list consult as a service, and with how many minutes?
- How does my district want consult entered in the log?
- Does consult count toward the minutes in the IEP, and toward any billing?
- Is there a form for teacher consultation, or do I use the general log?
- How do I record a consult that happens in passing?
Write the answers on your caseload sheet. For the weekly check of minutes against the IEP, see tracking IEP service minutes. Terms are in the glossary.