Professional Development Requirements for Certification Maintenance of the ASHA CCC-A and CCC-SLP

For maintenance of the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A) and Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP), the Council for Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CFCC) has established professional development requirements under the 2020 audiology and speech-language pathology certification standards to foster lifelong learning in topics that go beyond the core academic knowledge requirements to enhance person-centered care. These requirements reflect the importance of remaining engaged with current topics and considerations that enhance professional practice within the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD).

Required Professional Development Hours (PDHs) for Certification Maintenance

Effective: January 1, 2026

Individuals who hold ASHA certification—the CCC-A and/or CCC-SLP—are required to earn and report at least 30 PDHs during each 3-year certification maintenance interval. Professional development activities selected must include the following content areas:

• Content Area 1: 1 PDH in ethics
• Content Area 2: 2 PDHs in topics that strengthen the ability of ASHA-certified individuals to
  • provide services that align with the unique histories, values, and circumstances of individuals, families, communities, and /or
  • enhance capacity for self-reflection, adaptability, and collaboration with colleagues, students, externs, Clinical Fellows, assistants, professionals, care partners, and others, as appropriate.

Why? The CFCC acknowledges the importance of lifelong learning about the unique needs of others to better inform the practice of ASHA-certified individuals. This learning includes ongoing training to support clients/patients with a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This learning also supports improved professional collaboration with students and colleagues from a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences. The broad scope of acceptable topics allows certified individuals to determine which areas will provide the most impactful growth in their day-to-day practice.

Next Steps

• These certification standards changes are effective January 1, 2026.
• If you have met the maintenance requirement for your current interval, you do not need to do anything further.
• If you are in the 2023–2025 interval and have not yet met the maintenance requirement, you may complete the PDHs under either the current standard or the new standard.

Content Area 1

The CFCC has created a list of approved professional development content that meets requirements. The list of suggested course content serves as a guide, but it is not all-inclusive. The learner determines if a professional development activity falls within acceptable topic areas and applies to their professional interactions and practice setting.

• Ethical/moral development
• Ethical theories and models
• Values, character, morals and ethics
• Professionalism, Interprofessional professionalism
• Interprofessional collaboration and ethics
• Codes of ethics, interpretation, application
• Understanding codes of ethics; preventing ethical violations; reporting violations, whistle-blowing
• Ethical decision-making; models and methods of ethical decision-making
• Reflection and ethical decision-making
• Ethics and patient/student care
• Ethics and relationships with patients/students and family members
• Ethics and research, human subjects
• Managing your practice in an ethical way; ethics and practice management (HIPAA, etc.)
• Ethical issues related to business, administration, leadership, supervision, student/faculty relationships
• Representation of services, competency
• Confidentiality, conflicts of interest, competition, competence, boundary issues
• Ethics related to advertising; marketing; social media
• Ethics related to technology platforms for client/patient records and security
• Ethical considerations and decision-making as it applies to a specific disorder or treatment
• The integration of professional ethics, business ethics, and the ASHA Code of Ethics in professional practice settings
• Multicultural and/or cross-linguistic issues related to ethics and ethical decision making
• Interprofessional education and interprofessional practice related ethics and ethical decision making

Content Area 2

The CFCC has created a list of approved professional development content that meets requirements. The list of suggested course content serves as a guide, but it is not all-inclusive. The learner determines if a professional development activity falls within acceptable topic areas and applies to their professional interactions and practice setting.

• Accommodations/adaptions of services to meet an individual's needs
• Administrative and regulatory issues and considerations related to
  • linguistic differences
  • culture
  • cognitive differences
  • learning style
• Communication differences
• Development and evaluation of nonbiased assessment tools and treatment programs
• Generational differences
• Guided reflection on professional topics
• Impact of religion on dietary considerations
• International populations
• Multilingual and multi-dialectal assessment and treatment issues
• Neurodivergent individuals, including considerations for clinicians, clients, caregivers, and colleagues
• Recruitment, retention, training, and career placement of faculty and students in the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology
• Religious awareness and sensitivity
• Second-language or second-dialect acquisition
• Transgender and gender-diverse populations
• Understanding the potential impact of service delivery based on:
  • age
  • ethnicity
  • gender, including gender identity and gender expression
  • religion, including considerations for working with individuals who are traditionally marginalized based on their faith
  • sexual orientation
  • socioeconomic status
  • working with cultural mediators, translators, and interpreters
• Veteran's health, including but not limited to
  • awareness of support services for informed referrals
  • caregiver support

Supervision

Under the 2020 audiology and speech-language pathology certification standards, requirements are in effect for ASHA-certified individuals who supervise students and/or act as Clinical Fellowship (CF) mentors. If you plan to supervise students for purposes of ASHA certification, please be sure that you first meet the supervision requirements listed below for the 2020 certification standards applicable to you.

Effective: January 1, 2020

Who? All clinical supervisor and clinical fellowship (CF) mentors providing supervision/clinical instruction for students and/or Clinical Fellows for purposes of ASHA certification.

What? Complete a minimum of 2 hours of professional development in the area of supervision/clinical instruction.

When? After being awarded the CCC-A or CCC-SLP.

How Often? One time.

Course Content for Supervision of Staff, Clinical Education of Students, CF Mentors

The CFCC has created a list of approved professional development course topics/content that meets the professional development requirements. The list of approved supervision course content serves as a guide; however, there may be additional topics that fall within the topic area. The learner may determine if a professional development activity falls within acceptable topic areas and applies to their professional interactions and practice setting.

• Knowledge and skills specific to clinical educators of undergraduates, graduate students, preceptors of audiology externs, mentors of clinical fellow in speech-language pathology, supervisors of support personnel, and supervisors of individuals transitioning to a new area of practice or reentering the profession
• Ethical issues related to clinical education and supervision, supervisor/staff and clinical instructor/student relationships
• Supervisory processes and clinical education including collaborative models of supervision and instruction, adult learning styles, teaching techniques, roles and responsibilities of clinical educator and student
• Research/evidence-based practice in clinical education Relationship development and communication skills related to working with staff and students including developing a supportive and trusting relationship between supervisor and supervisee or mentor and mentee
• Educating students and staff about management and clinical instruction processes including defining expectations, goal setting, and requirements of the relationship including ways to respond to legal and ethical issues
• Use of techniques to demonstrate recognition of and access to appropriate accommodations for staff and students with disabilities
• Demonstrating the use of technology, when appropriate, for remote supervision and clinical instruction and the use of case simulations
• Demonstrating the use of technology, when appropriate, for supervision of remote service provision, i.e., telepractice
• The role of the clinical educator in the use of alternative clinical experiences, i.e. case simulations and standardized patients
• Establishment/implementation of goals including developing goals/objectives with the student that allow for growth in critical thinking and problem solving; setting personal goals to enhance teaching skills
• Observation techniques, collecting and interpreting session data with the supervisee or student
• Providing supervisee or student objective feedback to motivate and improve performance; adjusting supervisory and teaching style based on level and needs of supervisee or student
• Analysis and evaluation related to clinical instruction including how to examine collected data and observation notes to identify patterns of behavior and targets for improvement
• Clinical and performance decisions including how to model/guide the supervisee or student to respond to ethical dilemmas, apply regulatory guidance in service delivery, access payment/reimbursement for services, and use reflective practice techniques to modify performance
• Creating and implementing plans for improvement
• Multicultural and/or cross-linguistic issues related to supervision and clinical education including but not limited to defining and demonstrating evidence of cultural competence and appropriate responses to different communication styles of the supervisee or student
• Interprofessional education and interprofessional practice related to supervision and clinical education, including but not limited to defining and demonstrating expectations for interpersonal and modes of communication

Questions?

Please contact the ASHA Certification Team at certification@asha.org.