2019 Edition - SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH, POLICY & PRACTICE

SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH, POLICY & PRACTICE

Mohammed

SiddiqAhmed,andHamadHamdi

BenjaminS.RidenandAndreaV.McCloskey

November15,2019 Volume3,Issue1

Editorial Board of Reviewers

AllmembersoftheHofstraUniversitySpecialEducationDepartmentwillsitontheEditorial Boardforthe SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH, POLICY & PRACTICE. Eachofthe facultywillreachouttoprofessionalsinthefieldwhomhe/sheknowstostarttheprocessof buildingalistofpeerreviewersforspecifictypesofarticles.Reviewerselectioniscriticaltothe publicationprocess,andwewillbaseourchoiceonmanyfactors,includingexpertise, reputation,specificrecommendationsandpreviousexperienceofareviewer.

Editor

GeorgeGiuliani,J.D.,Psy.D.,HofstraUniversity

HofstraUniversitySpecialEducationFaculty

ElfredaBlue,Ph.D.

StephenHernandez,Ed.D.

GloriaLodatoWilson,Ph.D.

MaryMcDonald,Ph.D.,BCBA

DarraPace,Ed.D.

DianeSchwartz,Ed.D.

EditorialBoard

MohammedAlzyoudi,Ph.D.,UAEU

FaithAndreasen,Ph.D.,MorningsideCollege

VanceL.Austin,Ph.D.,ManhattanvilleCollege

AmyBalin,Ph.D.,SimmonsCollege

Dana Battaglia,Ph.D.,AdelphiUniversity

BrookeBlanks,Ph.D.,RadfordUniversity

Kathleen Boothe,Ph.D.,SoutheasternOklahomaStateUniversity

NicholasCatania,Ph.D.Candidate,UniversityofSouthFlorida

LindseyA.Chapman,Ph.D.Candidate,UniversityofMiami

MorganChitiyo,Ph.D.,DuquesneUniversity

JonathanChitiyo,Ph.D.,UniversityofPittsburghatBradford

HeidiCornell,Ph.D.,WichitaStateUniversity

LesleyCraig-Unkefer,Ed.D.,MiddleTennesseeStateUniversity

AmyDaviesLackey,Ph.D.,BCBA-D

JoshDelViscovo,MS,BCSE,NorthcentralUniversity

JanetR.DeSimone,Ed.D.,LehmanCollege,TheCityUniversityofNewYork

LisaDille,Ed.D.,BCBA,GeorgianCourtUniversity

WilliamDorfman,B.A.(MAinprogress),Florida InternationalUniversity

BrandiEley,Ph.D.

TraceyFalardeau,M.A.,OklahomaStateDepartmentofEducation

DanielleFeeney,Ph.D.Candidate,UniversityofNevada,LasVegas

LisaFleisher,Ph.D.,NewYorkUniversity

NeilO.Friesland,Ed.D.,MidAmericaNazareneUniversity

TheresaGarfieldDorel,Ed.D.,TexasA&MUniversitySanAntonio

LeighGates,Ed.D.,UniversityofNorthCarolinaWilmington

SeanGreen,Ph.D.

DeborahW.Hartman,M.S.,CedarCrestCollege

ShawnnaHelf,Ph.D.,WinthropUniversity

NicoleIrish,Ed.D.,UniversityoftheCumberlands

RandaG.Keeley,Ph.D.,NewMexicoStateUniversity

HyunUkKim,Ph.D.,SimmonsCollege

LouisaKramer-Vida,Ed.D.,LongIslandUniversity

Nai-ChengKuo,PhD.,BCBA,AugustaUniversity

RenéeE.Lastrapes,Ph.D.,UniversityofHouston-ClearLake

DebraLeach,Ed.D.,BCBA,WinthropUniversity

MarlaJ.Lohmann,Ph.D.,ColoradoChristianUniversity

MaryLombardo-Graves,Ed.D.,UniversityofEvansville

PamelaE.Lowry,Ed.D., GeorgianCourtUniversity

MatthewD.Lucas,Ed.D.,LongwoodUniversity

JayR. Lucker,Ed.D.,HowardUniversity

JenniferN.Mahdavi,Ph.D.,BCBA-D,SonomaStateUniversity

AlysonMartin,Ed.D.,FairfieldUniversity

MarciaMontague,Ph.D.,TexasA&MUniversity

ChelseaT.Morris,Ph.D.Candidate,UniversityofMiami

GenaNelson,Ph.D.Candidate,AmericanInstitutesforResearch

LawrenceNhemachena,MSc,UniversidadeCatolicadeMozambique

MariaB.PetersonAhmad,Ph.D.,WesternOregonUniversity

ChristinePowell.Ed.D.,CaliforniaLutheran University

DeborahReed,Ph.D.,Universityof Iowa

KenReimer,Ph.D.,UniversityofWinnipeg

DanaReinecke,Ph.D.,LongIslandUniversity-C.W.Post

DeniseRich-Gross,Ph.D.,UniversityofAkron

BenjaminRiden,ABD-Ph.D.,PennState

MaryRuno,Ph.D.,KenyattaUniversity

EmilyRutherford,Ed.D.,MidwesternStateUniversity

CarrieSemmelroth,Ed.D..,BoiseStateUniversity

PamelaSchmidt,M.S.,FreeportHighSchoolSpecialEducationDepartment

EdwardSchultz,Ph.D.,MidwesternStateUniversity

MustafaSerdarKOKSAL,Ph.D.,InonuUniversity

EmilyR.Shamash,Ed.D.,TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity

ChristopherE.Smith,PhD,BCBA-D,LongIslandUniversity

GregoryW.Smith.Ph.D.,UniversityofSouthern Mississippi

EmilySobeck,Ph.D.,FranciscanUniversity

ErnestSolar,Ph.D.,MountSt.Mary’sUniversity

Gretchen L.Stewart,Ph.D.Candidate,UniversityofSouthFlorida

RobenTaylor,Ed.D.,DaltonStateCollege

JessieSueThacker-King,ArkansasStateUniversity

JuliaVanderMolen,Ph.D.,GrandValleyStateUniversity

CindyWidner,Ed.D.Candidate,CarsonNewmanUniversity

KathleenG.Winterman,Ed.D.,XavierUniversity

SaraB.Woolf,Ed.D.,QueensCollege,CityUniversityofNew York

PerryA.Zirkel,J.D.,Ph.D.,LehighUniversity

Paraeducators’ Understandings of Problem Behavior and Positive Behavior Supports Strategies for Students with Autism

MiguelE.Ampuero,MA. RachelE.Robertson,PhD.

UniversityofPittsburgh

Abstract

Theroleofparaeducatorshasbecomeofextremeimportanceintheeducationofstudentswith autismandotherdisabilities.Thisisdue,primarily,totheoverwhelminglyincreasingnumbers ofstudentsinneedofspecialeducationservices,lawrequirements,andtheshortagesofspecial educators.However,itisunclearhowparaeducatorsunderstandtheirroles,responsibilities,and practicestheymayemploy,especiallywhensupportingstudentswithchallengingbehavioral needsinspecialeducationclassrooms.Inthisstudy,threeparaeducatorswerequalitatively interviewedinordertoexaminetheparaeducators’viewstowardsproblembehaviorsandthe strategiestheyusedtosupporttheirstudents.Severalprominentthemeswereidentified, includingparaeducatorsemployingintuitiontorespondtoproblembehaviorandattributingthe causeofproblembehaviortointernalfactorssuchasanxietyandfrustration.Implicationsof findingsforparaeducatorsimplementingpositivebehaviorsupportsarediscussed.

Keywords:paraeducators,problembehavior,positivebehaviorsupports,disabilities,special education,autism

Paraeducators’ Understandings of Problem Behavior and Positive Behavior Supports Strategies for Students with Autism

Moststateshavepermissivelanguagewherebydistrictsmayhirebothcertifiedandnon-certified professionalpersonneltocarryoutschoolprograms(French,2003).Thetermparaeducatoris usedtodescribearangeofserviceproviderswhoworkunderthesupervisionofcertifiedor licensedschoolpersonnel(Adolphson,Hawken,&SteinCarroll,2010).Otherterms synonymouswithparaeducatorincludeparaprofessional,classroomaides,educationalassistants, learningsupportassistants,technicians,orsimplyassistants(Adolphsonetal.,2010).Asthe numberofstudentswithdisabilitiesreceivingspecialeducationservicesingeneralandspecial educationclassroomshasincreased,paraeducators’levelofdirectinvolvementwithstudentshas alsoincreased(Giangreco&Broer,2005).

TheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationAct(IDEA)of2004specifiedthatparaeducators whoare appropriatelytrainedmayassistindeliveringspecialeducationandrelatedservices. Moreover, IDEAof2004alsoindicatedthatparaeducatorservicesmustbeprovidedtostudents withdisabilities(includingone-on-oneservices)if theseservicesarenecessaryforastudentto receiveafreeandappropriatepubliceducation.Basedonthisfederalmandate,paraeducatorsin theUSarenow chargedwithmeetingtheindividualizedneedsofchildrenwithdisabilitiesin

generalandspecialeducationsettings.Thecriticalshortageofspecialeducationteachersandthe useofparaeducatorsasacost-savingmeasurebyschooladministratorshavealsocontributedto increasednumbersandresponsibilitiesofparaeducators(Giangreco,Edelman,Broer,&Doyle, 2001;Killoran,Templeman,Peters,&Udell,2001;Mueller&Murphy,2001;Patterson,2006).

Thelaw,however,doesnotaddresstheskillsoftheparaeducatorswhowillbehiredtowork withchildrenwithdisabilities.Theeducationrequirementdoesnotspecifyeducationthatwould provideknowledgerelatedtothejobtasksofworkingwithstudentswithvarioustypesof disabilities.Researchhasindicatedthatparaeducatorstendtoassumehighlevelsof responsibilityformanagingacademicandbehavioralneedsforspecialeducationstudents (Giangreco,Suter,&Doyle,2010;Marks,Shrade,&Levine,1999). Withthisideainmind, sometimes,withnotmanyhoursoftrainingandwithoutclearlydefinedexpectations (Mackenstadt,2001),paraeducatorsareexpectedtoimplementcomplexinterventions(e.g., positivebehaviorsupport(PBS)strategies,applicationofbehavioralprinciples,behavior modificationtechniques)orfulfillrolesthatclearlygobeyondthescopeof theirtraining (Griffin-Shirley&Matlock,2004).

PositiveBehaviorSupport

Someoftheexpectedresponsibilitiesparaeducatorsneedtofulfillinclassroomsinvolvethe implementationofPBSstrategies.PBSisanappliedsciencethatuseseducationalmethodsto expandanindividual’sbehaviorrepertoireandsystemchangemethodsto assessandreengineer anindividual’slivingenvironmenttofirstenhancetheindividual’squalityoftheirpersonal, social,andprofessionallifeandtominimizehisorherproblembehavior(Carretal.,2002; Horner,2000).AmajorcontributortothephilosophyandpracticeofPBSandimplementationof PBSstrategieshasbeenthefieldofappliedbehavioranalysis(ABA).PBSisindebtedtoABA forthenotionofthethree-term-contingency(stimulus-response-reinforcingconsequence), stimuluscontrol,generalization,andmaintenance(Mayer,Sulzer-Azaroff,&Wallace,2019),as wellasstrategiessuchasfading,shaping,chaining,prompting,reinforcementcontingencies,and awidearrayofproceduresforreducingproblembehavior(Mayeretal.,2019).These,andother concepts,haveservedasacriticalspringboardfortheelaborationanddevelopmentofPBSin generalandspecialeducation(Carretal.,2002).

Paraeducators,ProblemBehavior,and PBS

Limitedresearchhasattemptedtoinvestigatetheparaeducators’understandingsoftheir students’problembehavior(Downing,Ryndak,&Clark,2000;Feuerborn,Tyre,&Beaudoin, 2017).Theavailableliteraturehassuggestedthatparaeducatorsconsidersomeproblembehavior displayedbytheirstudentstobecausedbydeficitsincommunicationandinfluencedby classroomdemandsandinteractionswithotherstudents(Downingetal.,2000).Similarly, researchhassuggestedparaeducatorsoftenviewproblembehaviorascausedbylimited disciplineathomeandbelievethatrewardsshouldbereservedforexceedingratherthanmeeting expectations(Feuerbornetal.,2017).

PreviousliteraturehasalsoexploredtheadvantagestotrainingparaeducatorstoimplementPBS strategiesandthepositiveoutcomesthistraininghasonbothparaeducatorsandstudents

(Bessette&Wills,2007;Bolton&Meyer,2008;Brock&Carter,2011;Nigro-Bruzzi& Sturmey,2010;Rosales,Stone,&Rehfeldt,2009;Sarokoff&Sturmey,2007;Wood,Luiselli,& Harchik,2007).However,asmallbodyofresearchhasalsosuggestedthatparaeducators struggletoimplementPBSeffectively(Downingetal.,2000;Feuerborn, Tyre,&King,2015; Feuerborn&Tyre,2016;Feuerbornetal.,2017;Lohrmann,Forman,Martin,&Palmieri,2008). Forexample,Downingandcolleagues(2000)foundthatparaeducatorstendtoimplement practicesbasedondiscussionswithcolleaguesorinstinct.Researchalsohasindicatedthat paraeducatorsperceivetheuseofspecificpositivestrategies(e.g.,positivereinforcement)as bribery,ordetrimentaltotheirstudents,andrelyonpunitivestrategiesastheprimaryresponseto problembehavior(Feuerbornetal.,2015;Lohrmannetal.,2008).Furthermore,researchhas identifiedlackofstaffbuyinasamajorbarrierto implementationofPBSinschools(Filter, Sytsma,&McIntosh,2016;Frey,Faith,Elliot,&Roger,2006;Kincaid,Childs,Blasé& Wallace,2007). IfstaffbeliefsandunderstandingsareincongruentwiththePBSphilosophy, implementationmaybehindered(Feuerbornetal.,2015).

Consideringtheveryhighdemandsinspecialeducationandthefactorsthatmayimpactthe performanceofparaeducatorswhenservingstudentswithspecialneeds(e.g.,educationlevel, buyin,training,jobexpectations,salary,responseeffort),thisstudyattemptedtogainasenseof whatparaeducatorsattributeascausalfactorsfortheoccurrenceofstudentbehaviorproblems,as welltheirunderstandingofPBSandtheirimplementationorlackofimplementationofPBS strategies.Therefore,thepresentstudyattemptedtoanswerthefollowingresearchquestions:(1) Whatareparaeducators’understandingsoftheproblembehavioroftheirstudentswithautism? and(2)Whatareparaeducators’understandingsofPBSandimplementationofPBSstrategies?

Method

Participants

ThreefemaleparaeducatorsfromtwodifferentschooldistrictsintheNortheasternpartofthe US,servedastheparticipantsforpurposesofthepresentstudy.RitawasaCaucasianfemalein herlate50s.Sheservedasaparaeducatorinanautismsupportclassroominapublicelementary school.Ritawasassignedtosupporttwoboysdiagnosedwithautismthroughoutthe instructionalday(i.e.,oneboyinthemorningandoneboyintheafternoon).Ritaspentaportion ofthedaywithherstudentinthegeneraleducationclassroomaswellasa portionofthedayin theautisticsupportroom.Additionally,Ritareportedholdinganassociatedegreefromcollegeas herhighesteducationaldegreeattained.Susanalsoservedasaparaeducatorinaspecial educationclassroomatapublicelementaryschool.SusanwasaCaucasianfemaleinherlate 40s.Shewasonlyassignedtoonestudentdiagnosedwithautismforsupportduringthe instructionalday.Shereportedspendingmostoftheinstructionaldayinthegeneraleducation classroom;however,sheandherstudentwouldreturntothespecialeducationclassroomfor portionsofthedayforsomespecializedinstruction.Additionally,Susanreportedhavingason withspecialneedsandholdingahighschooldiplomaasherhighesteducationaldegreeattained. Lastly,Annetteservedasaparaeducatoratapublicelementaryschool,specialeducation classroom.AnnettewasCaucasianfemaleinhermid-30s.Annettewasnotassignedtoaspecific

studentforsupport,instead,shewasassignedtotheclassroom.Annetteworkedunderthe supervisionofaspecialeducatorinherclassroomandworkedwithallthestudentsinthe classroomatdifferenttimesoftheinstructionalday.Annette’sresponsibilitiesconsistedof deliveringspecializedlanguagetrainingforchildrenautismandotherintellectualdisabilities. Annettewouldworkwithstudentswhowereabletotalkaswellasstudentswhousesignor picture-basedsystemstocommunicate.Annettereportedhavingahighschooldiplomaandsome collegeexperience.

ParticipantSamplingStrategy

Withapprovalandsupportfromauthoritiesintwopublicschooldistricts,paraeducatorswere contactedviaemailandprovidedadescriptionofthestudy(i.e.,studyinformationalscript)for voluntaryparticipation,asrequiredbyInstitutionalReviewBoard(IRB).Paraeducatorswere automaticallyexcludedfromthestudyifthey:(a)wereunder18 yearsofage;(b)didnotserveat leastonestudentwithautismorotherdisabilitiesintheirdailyroleasaparaeducator;(c)ifthey didnotholdthetitleofparaeducator;classroomassistant;instructionalaid;personalcare assistant;paraprofessional;(d)didnotspendatleast50%oftheirworkingdayinaspecial educationclassroom.Thisinformationwasobtainedviaparaeducators’andteachers’reports.

DataCollectionStrategyandInterviewProcedures

Facetofaceparticipantinterviewsservedasthemainsourceofdataforthepurposesofthis researchstudy.Aninterviewprotocolwasdevelopedandusedduringinterviewswith participants.ThisinterviewprotocolwasconsistentwithSeidman’s(2012)approachto phenomenologicalinterviewing.Theinterviewprotocolconsistedof24rootquestionsregarding earlypersonalexperiences(e.g.,thinkingbackto yourchildhood,whatwasitlike?),experiences asastudent(e.g.,canyoutellmeaboutanyearlyexperience(s)thatwassalienttoyouduringthe timeyouwereastudent?),perceptionsofstudents/individualswithdisabilities(e.g.,whatdo you thinkofstudentswithdisabilities?),aswellasspecificquestionsregardingtheparaeducators’ ideasaboutproblembehaviorandimplementationofpositivebehaviorsupportstrategies(e.g., tellmeaboutatimeyouhadtoassistastudentwithdisabilitieswhileheorshewasengagingin inappropriate,aggressiveorself-injuriousbehavior;can youexplainwhydoyouthinkthe studentengagedinproblembehavior? WhenIsaypositivebehaviorsupports,whatcomesto mind?).Theinterviewprotocolalsocontainedsetsofquestionsthatwerecloselyrelatedtothe rootquestionthatallowedtheinterviewertoobtainmoreinformationregardingthecontextof thequestionasked.Anaudiorecordingdevicewasusedforthepurposesofrecordingeachofthe interviewswithallthreeparticipants.Eachinterviewlastedapproximately40-60minutesin length.Participants’interviewstookplaceatdifferentpublicandprivatelocations.Participants’ interviewstookplaceatpublic,socialestablishments(e.g.,coffeeshop).Interviewswere conductedoutsideoftheparticipants’workinghourssothattheirparticipationinthepresent studywouldnotinterferewiththeirprimaryworkresponsibilities.Inaddition,theparticipants were askedtoelaborateontheirresponsesiftheanswerwasnotclear,oriftheinterviewer wantedtofindoutmoreregardingaspecificresponsefromtheparticipant. SeeTable1for interviewprotocol.

DataAnalysis

Coding.Codingofparticipants’interviewtranscriptsoccurredintwocycles.Duringthefirst cycleofcoding,participants’responseswerecodedusinginvivocoding(Saldaña,2015). In vivocodinguseswordsorshortphrasesfromtheparticipant’sownlanguageinthedatarecord ascodes.Itmayincludefolkorindigenoustermsofaparticularculture,subculture,ormicroculturetosuggesttheexistenceofthegroup’sculturalcategory(e.g.,in aschool,youmayhear thewordsclass,period,IT,support;Miles,Huberman,&Saldaña,2014).Forthepurposesof thisstudy,eachoftheparticipants’transcriptswerecarefullyreadbytheprimaryinvestigator. Participants’ownwordsorphraseswereusedascodesforspecificsectionsofthetext(e.g., “I don’thaveanyeducation,butIgothiredbecausetheyknewthatIhadexperiencewithitandI understoodit”).Fourhundredandsixty(n=460)invivocodesresultedfromthisfirstcycleof codingacrossthethreeinterviews.

Focusedcoding(Saldaña,2015)wasusedasasecondcycleofcodinginordertoreducethedata obtainedduringthefirstcycleofcodingandtodevelopasenseofcategoricalorthematic organizationfromanyarrayoffirstcyclecodes.Itisimportanttonotethatthistypecoding strategyisfrequentlyusedafterinvivocoding(Saldaña,2015).Specificcategoriesemerged frominvivocodes.Invivocodesthatwererelevanttoaspecificidentifiedcategorywere clusteredtogetherunderthatsamecategory.Forexample,iftheparticipantresponsewasrelated tohisorherstudent’sproblembehaviorortheirideasregardingthenatureoftheproblematic behaviorinstance,thenthecodewasassignedtotheproblembehaviorcategory.Someofthe codesfitintomultiplecategories,inwhichcase,thecodewouldbeassigntothosetwo categories.Forinstance,ifaparaeducatorparticipantresponsewasrelatedtothesupport receivedbypeersinher/histeam,thenthecodewouldbeassignedtoidentifiedcategoriessuch asrelationshipsandsupports.Forthosecodesthatdidnotfitwellintoaspecificcategory,they remainedasits/theirowncategoryorwerere-evaluatedinattemptstomatchthemintoaspecific codingcategory. Initially,35categorieswereidentifiedfrominitialsecondcycleofcoding acrossfiveinterviewtranscripts(e.g.,problembehavior;vocation;lowpay;feelings;rewarding job;expectations;relationships;difficultkids;support;emotionallytaxing). Inattemptsto furtherreducethedata,categoriesthatsharedcontentorcontextualcharacteristics(e.g.,triggers andproblembehavior;performance,andknowingwhattodo)werecombinedintoasingle categoryortheme,thatforanalyticpurposesmadethemostsense.Thisprocessresultedinthe datareducedtofive(n=5)maincategoriesorthemes(i.e.,problemsolving/intuition;behavior supportonly;triggers;communication;andrewards).Twoadditionalthemes,basedon participants’responseswereidentifiedandreported(i.e.,lovethekids;higheffort).

Thefollowingstepaftertheanalyticalcodingprocesswastodeterminehowthethemesobtained answeredthespecificquestionsofthecurrentstudy.Whilehighlyinterpretative,someofthe generatedthemesalignedtotheresearchquestions(i.e.,whatareparaeducators’understanding ofproblembehaviorofstudentswithautism? Whatareparaeducators’understandingof implementationofPBSandstrategies?),inadditiontoshowingsomerelationshiptoother identifiedthemes.Supportfortheinterpretationsandsubsequentrelationshipsbetweenand amongthemeswas groundedinthedataandreinforcedbytheactualparticipantresponses.

Reliability

Consultationsessionswereheldwithanexperiencedprofessionalinqualitativeresearch methods,inwhichpartsofthedatacodedweresharedanddiscussedtoestablishalevelof agreementwiththeemergenceofaspecifictheme(s)duringthedataanalysisprocess,orthe interpretationgiventoaspecificthemewhenconsideringthefindings.Thesesessionswere conductedinordertoincreasethetransparencyandcredibilityofthedataanalysisprocessinthe presentstudy,assuggestedbyBrantlinger,Jimenez,Klingner,PugachandRichardson(2005).

Results

Fivemainthemesemergedfromparticipantsinterviews. Thestrongestthemesdescribedby paraeducatorparticipantsthatrelatedtotheirunderstandingoftheirimplementationofPBSand thenatureofproblembehaviorincluded:(a)problemsolving/intuition(b)behaviorsupportonly; (c)triggers;(d)communication;and(e)rewards.Additionalthemesidentifiedanddescribedin resultsinclude(a)higheffort,and(b)lovethekids.

ProblemSolving/Intuition

Theparaeducatorsinterviewedviewedtheirmainresponsibilitiesassociatedwithproblem behavior.Thenatureoftheirroleisconstantlyproblemsolvinganddoingthebesttheycanto solvethesituation.Trialanderrorseemstobethemostpowerfultoolusedtonavigatethrough theirdaysand“getthroughtheday.”However,theuseofspecificprocedurestoteachorsupport thestudentstheyservewasnotfrequentlymentionedbyparaeducatorsintheirresponses, consideringthehighneedsofthestudentstheyserveandthepreciseandintensiveinstruction theyneedinordertolearnskills.Moreover,participantresponsesledtothenotionof paraeducatorshavingto “dothingsfortheirstudents”inordertohelpthembesuccessfulat variousactivitiesthroughouttheinstructionalday.Inordertodoso,thisnotionofproblemsolvingleadsparaeducatorstobehavein“intuitive”waysinordertoaccomplishtheirgoalsor objectiveswithstudents.Problemsolving/intuitionappearedtobeacentralthemethatrelatedto bothparticipants’implementationofprocedureswhenteachingstudentsspecificskillsaswellas whenmanagingproblembehavior.Annette,aparticipantinthisstudy,exemplifiedthisnotionby thefollowing:

From an educational standpoint, I like having the terminology behind what I do. A lot of what I do, I do intuitively, just having been with children forever. Just seems like that’s what I do. I have my own children, I’ve been working with other people’s children in private settings and schools and community settings since forever. I mean, whatever that child needs is what I need to educate them – is what I need to know…

Anotherparticipant,Rita,alsoexemplifiedthisspecificthemebyreportingthefollowing information:

I’m a jokester. And I am starting to…I, I pride myself on teaching some special ed kids humor, I have done like, put your finger on his shirt and then go up the nose. They are doing it now. My…I, I try to work with humor a lot. You know, a joke or um,

a funny face, or, you know, I try to get them to, to smile, or laugh or you know which… when they are in a problematic situation, laughing is the last thing that they’re, they’re thinking of. And just me trying to be silly, or say a silly thing, do a silly thing, and you know, whatever, I’ll do it for them, you know, just to get them out of that bad behavior, and into maybe a positive behavior. It’s all trial and error…

BehaviorSupportOnly

Anotherthemethatarosefromtheanalysissuggestedtheparaeducators’notionofonly holdingabehaviorsupportonlyrole.Thereseemedtobeanawarenessofsupporting studentsthroughavarietyofactivitiesandtasks,includingacademictasks,howeverthe notionofsupportinthedeliveryofinstructionalpracticesorimplementationofspecific proceduresseemedvague.Evenawarenessofthespecifictasksorskillstheyneededto supporttheirrespectivestudentswithdidnotappearveryclear.Fromparticipantresponses thenotionof“inthemoment,youdothebestyoucan”totrytogettothenextstepappeared salient.Therewasalmostnorelationtothespecificactivitiesinwhichtheyengagedinand instructionaltasks.Paraeducatorssawtheirrolemoreintermsofsupportofproblem behaviororconsideredtohaveahighlevelofresponsibilitywiththeprovisionofsupport whenproblembehavioroccursratherthanattemptingtoassiststudentsinperformanceof specificskills.Ritadescribedthenatureofhertypicaldayatworkasfollows:

Oh, my day?...my day would be to get a student off the bus, um, help direct him to the right place, get him settled, have him calm. When he's in the classroom, redirect his attention, help him sit for long periods of time, uh, giving him breaks, uh,to calm himself or just to get outta the classroom. At the playground, trying to help him socialize a little bit. In school, I walk around and help him maybe speak to other people if language is a problem. When he's having a meltdown, try to calm him down and redirect him. Ugh, it – it's different every single day. So mostly just redirecting, monitoring him, making sure he's safe, not putting things in his mouth. So. And I'm wa– I am a one-on-one with somebody. So, it's a very intense job where I have to follow somebody around all day…

Triggers

Anotherthemethatemergedfromparaeducatorparticipantswasrelatedtothecircumstances thatoccasionallytriggerproblembehaviorsintheirstudents.Theyseemedtohaveareally stronginteresttofindoutwhatthosetriggerswereaswellasreceivetrainingrelatedtohowto identifythespecifictriggersforproblembehavior.Afrequentresponseinrelationtoproblem behaviorandtriggersrelatedtothenotionof“everychildbeingdifferent”.Participants consideredtriggerstobestudentspecific,however,noneofthepotentialtriggerslistedby participantswereinstructionrelated,norwasastrongassociationmadebetweenproblem behaviorortriggerstoproblembehaviorandenvironmentalchanges.Someoftheparticipants attributedproblembehaviortobecausedbyinternaleventsorhealthproblems.Withrespectto thisspecifictheme,Susan,oneoftheparticipantsinthisstudy,reportedthefollowing:

Things weren't going the way he expected them to go. There was a change. Whatever in his mind happened the day before or every other day – it was a different change. And he just – he couldn't control it. And so he just – he lashed out. He was young. He didn't know how to handle that yet. Just developmentally, he was not ready for that…

Ritaalsoillustratedherthoughtsregardingtheproblembehaviorofherstudentsbysaying thefollowing:

Something’s going on in their mind. I think they could, I think they could have a memory go and it was something that happened years ago that pops in their head, you know, that we don’t know what they’re, you know, what’s going on inside them. I, I, you know, who knows? Maybe …, he grabbed me because he thought of something bad that happened to him. I did find out later that the police were at this house like a week before this. But I don’t think that was, you know, that was the trigger. It’s… you can’ get inside their mind. And that’s the hard part. You just have to react to what’ happening. You know…

However,tacitly,therewassomeawarenessofthenotionofproblembehaviorbeing triggeredbytheirstudents’impairedlanguageortheirimpairedcommunicativerepertories. Withrespecttothistheme,Susanstatedthefollowing:

Language difficulties… Difficulties… handling their emotions. Because I think their emotions are way more extreme than anybody else’s. They really can’t control it. They have those expectations – I think they’re just kinda lost. It’s like being in a – in a different world. And you don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know what – they don’t have the ability to think about what’s gonna be next or what to expect, that things might change. That’s something they have to learn. And I think that people get really impatient with that, and I think they don’t realize that, developmentally, they’re not there yet. Just like other kids. And that you can’t expect too much from them. You can only give them the tools to get through that until they’re able to grasp those things. So it’s not like you’d expect a – a – a 5 year-old to do what a 10 yearold does. So I think just the whole world’s just really hard for them because they d –can’t control all that emotion. They don’t understand what they’re hearing. Every kid’s a little bit different in what they understand. Some of it’s a language problem too …

Communication

Despiteparaeducatorsmainlyattributinginternalfactors,orevents,asthecauseoftheir students’problembehaviors,theparaeducatorsinterviewedalso,almostalways,recognized communicationasafactorthatwouldhavetodoorberelatedtothenatureoftheproblem behaviortheirstudentsdisplayed.Thenotionofcommunicationasafactorrelatedtoproblem behaviorwasfrequentlymentionedbyparticipantshowever,itwasmentionedinrelationto

communicationdifficultiestoletothersknowwhattheyfeelorhowtheyfeel,aswellasgettheir needsmet.Susansaidthefollowing:

It could be physical. They could be sick, and they don't know how to tell you. It c –like I said, it could be the night before they didn't get enough sleep. Maybe they're hungry. Simple as that. They can't say that they're – what they feel. When you're hungry, you get either hyper or you get angry. And sometimes it's as simple as making sure they have a snack a certain time in the day. We may notice that, day after day, their behaviors are really bad right before lunch. Maybe they need a midmorning snack because they're actually hungry when they get to that point…

Rewards

ParticipantsequatedtheuseofrewardswithimplementationofPBS.Additionally,rewards appearedasthewordofchoicewhenparaprofessionalparticipantsinthisstudyreferredtothe useofpositivereinforcement.Theintentionofrewards, generallyspeaking,wastopraiseor reinforcedesiredbehavior.However,theuseofrewardsvariednotonlyin thewayparaeducators conceptualizedpositivereinforcementaswellastheiruseofpositivereinforcementas consequencetoincreasedesiredbehaviors.Generally,participantsconceptualizedpositive reinforcementnotasaconsequencetoincreasedesiredbehaviorsbutas“rewards”,giving somethingtothestudent,sometimesregardlessofthenatureofbehavior(e.g.,goodorbad behavior).Incases,theuseofrewardswasalsousedtoattempttogetstudentstonotengagein problembehaviorormakethemstopfromengaginginnon-desiredbehaviors.Someofthe paraprofessionalparticipantsacknowledgedtheusefulnessofcertainstrategies,forexample,the useofrewardstoreinforcepositivebehaviors,however,theconceptualizationorunderstanding astowhysuchstrategiesareimportantwasnotstrong.Ritaexemplifiedthispointbythe following:

I offer … I offer treats, or I offer extra time on the computer, or I offer him … longer time at recess. I offer him all positive things. Nothing and … "You're no … gonna get in trouble. You're gonna go to the principal." You don't reprimand them like that. You're trying to like, just get them to calm down. And why you calm down with good thing, you don't calm down with bad things. That's me and you both, you know. Would you calm down with bad things? No. You're gonna calm down with good things. So that's why I think that the positive behaviors … it does work in certain instances. Rewards. And I'm … I don't think, totally, it should all be rewards. You know, and each kid's different, you know. That's what I'm saying, it’s, it's … one kid it'll work, for one kid it won't. How about a kid that no … there's no carrots for him. He doesn't care. "I'll take you to Mr. … I'll take you to the principal's office." "I don't care." "I'll take your recess away." "I don't care." Or, you know what I mean? There's nothing that they care about that, they're gonna do what they're gonna do. And that's when you just, you wait it out. And … they'll tire out, eventually. You know, once you get them in a support room, and if they're going into a meltdown, a physical melt down, I'm taking on the ground, hitting,

throwing desks, stuff like that, it, it's a matter of him just burning out, and then it'll change. But, a lot of times … if you change the circumstances, his behavior changes…

Susanalsoexemplifiedherviewstowardstheuseofrewardsbysayingthefollowing:

Verbal… maybe physical: pat, tickle. Um, maybe earning something, smiling, having a little fun. Things like that. Interacting in a fun way. Basically, that’s it. …

Lastly,Annettealsoexemplifiedherviewswithrespecttorewardsbyreportingasfollows:

On the basic level, we do a lot of edibles. Not a fan of the edibles, but I dig the Scooby snacks, I get it, they need that. Sometimes that’s just where we get it. That’s our first level, cool. Then the next level, just hey, good job, high five. Hey, why don’t we play with this since you did such a good job over here. So toys, just a lot of energy behind it…

Additionalthemesdescribedbyparaeducatorsduringtheirinterviewsincludedthefollowing:(a) lovethekidsand(b)higheffort.Thesethemes,however,didnotseemtobestronglyrelatedto theparticipantsunderstandingofthenatureoftheproblembehaviordisplayedbythestudentsor theirunderstandingoftheirimplementationofPBS.

LovetheKids

Itwasveryapparentthatthedrivingforcebehindparaeducators’workwithstudentswasthe levelofattachmentandrelationshipestablishedwiththeirspecificstudentsintheirdaily interactions.Inaddition,paraeducatorsdemonstratedahighsenseofcompassionfortheir studentsduetotheirinabilitytointeractinatypicalmannerwithothersintheirimmediate environments,thedifficultiestheyhavetogothroughduetotheirimpairments,andasenseof empathywiththewaytheirstudentsfeel.Inaddition,holdingapositionasaparaeducatorisa greatlyrewardingexperienceinthatitallowsthemtoseethegrowthoftheirstudents.Susan suggestedthisnotionaswellasattributingherpositivefeelingstowardswhatshedidtothe relationshipsestablishednotonlywithherstudents,butalsothehealthyworkenvironmentshe workedin.

… I love the kids. I really do love the kids …. I like the whole atmosphere of …just being in the school… like I said, the benefits that I get I don't think I could get anywhere else. That's really important to me. But …just seeing the kids improve in certain ways, and …the camaraderie within the other paras is really nice to be around.

Additionally,Annettealsoexemplifiedthisthemebyreportingthefollowing:

I enjoy…I just enjoy being with the children and I love to see them grow and to come into their knowledge that they have power, that they are powerful, and just

see that. Open them up and bring enlightment to them. It’ just so fun to watch them grow and be able to experience that with them. It is just amazing to know that you have an effect on the world and your life, especially with children who are – any children in general, but children who are not capable of verbalizing or explaining themselves or knowing how to get what they want. Because it’ a feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness that is not good. Don’t like it as an adult and to watch them get that they have that epiphany moment or have that moment of knowing and just being that they can do this and I can throw a rock into the water and I can make ripples is an incredible feeling to see when they light up.

HighEffort

Accordingtotheparaeducatorsinthisstudy,thenatureoftheirworkwithstudentswith disabilitiescanbeveryphysicallyandmentallychallenging.Thisisespeciallytruewhen workingwithstudentsthatpresentcomplexlearningandbehavioralchallenges,sothatit requiresincreasedengagementanddemandingalotofmovementandactivityfromthe paraprofessional.Inaddition,workingwithstudentsthatpresentwithphysicalimpairmentsalso demandsagreatdealofeffortfromtheparaeducators. However,thejobgetstypicallydone despiteeffortorotherfactors.Susanexemplifiedthisthemebysayingthefollowing:

When a student comes one day and you don’t know why they’re banging their head, they’re screaming, they’re crying all the time – maybe they didn’t sleep good; maybe they don’t feel good; probably one of the two – you know that day’s goanna be exhausting, and you have to kinda step back a little and have – lower your expectations and maybe just try to get through the day…running after the kid, sometimes getting bit or hit or whatever is very physically exhausting. Trying to stop them from running run way, and you run and… it can be very physically exhausting…

Annetteillustratedthedifficultiesofherday,andthechallengesshegoesthroughinher roleasaparaprofessionalbyreportingthefollowing:

When the kids are having a good day, we’re having a good day. We have some behavioral problems where we have some elopements and dropping. These are a litter rougher and then we have to standoff where we have all have to earn our street credit with each other. Got to show who’s got the upper hand and those are some of the down days where, you know, one child throws himself on the floor and then everybody else can’t handle it, so then we are all in mass pandemonium…

Ritaalsoexemplifiedthisthemebysayingthefollowing:

It’s hard. It’s hard. You have to have patience. And, you know, there’s times um, a couple of paras help each other. You know, like if I’m really having a hard time with one, and there’s a para that’s, you know, maybe having a little of downtime, I’ll say, “can you keep an eye on him a minute while I go to the bathroom?” And

going to the bathroom just to regroup. You know, my…because they can get you to a point you’re angry. But you don’t want to show that. You don’t want to be like that. So you remove yourself from the situation, calm yourself down, and and come back…

Discussion

Thisstudyattemptedtogaininsightsregardingparaeducators’understandingsofproblem behaviorintheirstudentswithautism.Inaddition,thisstudysoughttogaininsightsregarding paraeducators’understandingsofPBSandtheirimplementationofPBSstrategies.Thefocuson paraeducatorssupportingstudentsdiagnosedwithASDforthepurposesofthepresentliterature reviewwasduetotheveryspecific,specializedknowledgeandskillsetsrequiredinorderto supportanddeliverinstructiontostudentsdiagnosedwithASDeffectivelyinschools(Layden, Hendricks,Inge,Sima,Erickson,Avellone,&Wehman,2018).Findingsresultingfrom interviewswiththethree paraeducatorssuggestedthemesthatallowforinterpretationandsense makingfromtheparticipants’ownwords.Specifically,thisthematicanalysissuggestedthatthe participants’understandingsofthecauseoftheirstudents’problembehaviorbeingrelatedto physiologicalorinternalevents(e.g.,notfeelingwell,hunger,somethinggoingonintheir minds,anxiety),orotherexplanationsthatdidnotrelatetochangesinobservable,environmental events(e.g., “hedoesnotknowwhattodowithhimself”)asatriggerforproblembehavior.In addition,communicationappearedasasecondvariabletowhichparticipantsattributedacausal relationshipwithproblembehavior.Specifically,problembehaviorrelatedtostudents’inability tocommunicateinternaleventsorneeds.

Participantsdescribedproblemsolvingbasedonintuitionandstudentknowledgeastheir primarymethodsofmanagingtheirstudents’problembehavior.Extensiveexperiencewith workingwithchildreningeneral,ortheextendedamountoftimespentsupportingspecific studentsappearedenoughforsomeoftheparaeducatorparticipantstomanageproblembehavior, andwithoutimplementationofevidence-basedstrategies.Interestingly,thisfindingissupported bytheavailableliteratureregardingparaeducators’perspectivesofthenatureoftheir responsibilitiesinthatparaeducatorswerethemembersinateamwhospentthegreatestamount oftimesupportingspecificstudentsand,therefore,theyknewthembest(Downingetal.,2000; Giangreco,Edelman,Luiselli,&MacFarland,1997).Additionally,thispointisalsosupportedby Downingetal.’s(2000)findingthatparaeducatorsreliedonsupportfromotherparaeducators andinstincttoresolvechallengingsituations.Thisfindingalsospeakstothefactthatmany paraeducatorsworkwithverychallengingstudents withoutpropertrainingorsupport.Itis importanttonotethatnoneoftheparticipantsmentionedtheuseofbehaviorsupportplansor madereferenceto establishedplansforhandlingproblembehavior.Ifrelianceonintuitionand studentknowledgeservesasthebasisofinterventionforproblembehavior,itislikelythat paraprofessionalsupportwilloftenbeassociatedwithpoorstudentbehavioraloutcomes,despite bestintentionsandcareforthestudents(Giangreco,Yuan,McKenzie,Cameron,&Fialka, 2005).

Withrespecttoparticipants’understandingoftheirimplementationofPBSstrategies,three

themesemergedsuggestingsomeclearassociations.Participants’understandingofPBS strategieswasmainlyassociatedwiththeuseofrewards.However,theuseofrewardsasaway topositivelyreinforcebehaviorwasvariedand,insomecases,involvedprovidingrewardsto stopproblembehavior,thusreinforcingproblembehavior.Thenotionofrewardswasinterpreted asgivingsomethingpreferredratherthanincreasingthefuturefrequencyofbehavior. Additionally,paraeducatorsviewedtheirroleasmorerelatedtosupportingstudentsinproblem behaviorsituationsthanininstructionalsituations.Similarfindingshavebeensuggestedinthe availableliterature(Downingetal.,2000),inthatparaeducatorsperceivedtheirroleasmore relatedtobehaviorsupportandmonitoringstudentbehaviorratherthanteachingofskillsor engagingininstructionalactivities.Infact,acrossthethreeparticipants,thewords“teach”and “instruction”wererarelyused,whichmaysuggestwhatparaeducatorsunderstandtheparameters oftheirresponsibilitiestobe.Thismayalsobeinterpretedasparaeducatorsjustwantingtohold arolewithoutaddedpressuresorresponsibilities,asreportedbyoneparticipant,ordueto feelingtheydonothavethepropertrainingtobeinaninstructionalrole.Theperceivedlackof trainingmayalsoprovidesupportforthenotionofinterveningonproblembehaviorusing intuitionwithoutestablishedproceduresorstrategies.

LimitationsandRecommendationsforFutureResearchandPractice

Aprimarylimitationofthepresentstudyliesintheverysmallsampleofparaeducators interviewed.Onlythreeparaeducatorswereinterviewedinanattempttogaininsightsregarding theirunderstandingsoftheproblembehaviordisplayedbytheirstudentsaswellastheir understandingoftheirimplementationofPBSstrategies.Thefindingsofthepresentstudy cannotbegeneralizedtothebroaderpopulationofindividualswhofulfilltheroleof paraeducatorssupportingstudentswithautismorotherdisabilities.Instead,thefindingsofthis studyarepertinenttoonlythesmallnumberofparticipantsofthisstudy.However,these findingsalignwithpreviousfindingsintheextantliterature(e.g.,Downingetal.,2000; Feuerbornetal.,2015;Giangrecoetal.,1997;Giangrecoetal.,2005;Lohrmannetal.,2008), extendtheexistingliteraturerelatedtothisareaofresearch,andmaygeneralizetotheory generatedregardingparaprofessionals’understandingsofthenatureoftheirpracticessupporting studentswithautismandchallengingbehavior.Futureresearchshouldcontinuetoexplore paraprofessionals’understandingsofvariousaspectsoftheirrole(e.g.,instructionalrole).Also, whenfurtherevaluatingparaprofessionals’perspectives,alargersamplethatcouldpotentially leadtomakinggeneralizationspertinenttothegeneralparaprofessionalpopulationshouldbe considered.Additionally,basedonfindingsfromthepresentstudy,moretrainingmaybeneeded forparaeducatorstobeabletoeffectivelysupporttheirstudentswithautisminproblembehavior situations.Trainingforparaeducatorsshouldencompassnotonlytheapplicationofthe proceduresandstrategiestheyneedtoeffectivelysupporttheirstudents,inacompetency-based manner(Reid&Parsons,2006),butalsotheconceptualbasisbehindthesestrategiesthatmay aidinchangingtheparaprofessionals’preconceivedviewstowardsthepotentialcausesoftheir students’problembehavior.Lastly,theseeffortstowardsparaeducatortrainingmustconsider approachesthatareefficientandeffective(Leblanc,Ricciardi,&Luiselli,2005)andthatfocus onconceptsandskillsthatarerelevanttotheirprimaryresponsibilities.

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About the Authors

MiguelE.Ampuero,MA.,BCBA.,isadoctoralcandidateinthespecialeducationprogramat theUniversityofPittsburgh.Hisresearchareasandinterestsincludeparaeducatortraining, languagetraininginterventionsforstudentswithautism,andverbalbehavior. Inaddition, AmpueroservesasanEducationalConsultantforthePennsylvaniaTrainingandTechnical AssistanceNetwork(PaTTAN),AutismInitiave-AppliedBehaviorAnalysisSupports.

RachelE.Robertson,PhD.,BCBA-D.,isanassistantprofessorofspecialeducationatthe UniversityofPittsburgh wheresheteachesandconductsresearchinautismspectrumdisorders, behaviordisorders,andappliedbehavioranalysis.

Table1

Interview Protocol

1. Thinkingbackto yourchildhoodorgrowingup,whatwasitlike?

2. Howwas yourlifeasastudent?

3. Canyoutellmeabout anyearlierexperience(s)thatwassalientduringthetime youwere astudent?

4. Whatis yourhighesteducationaldegreeattained?

5. Howdidyoubecome aparaeducatorat yourcurrentschool?

6. Howmanyyearshave youbeenaparaeducator?

7. Whyareyouaparaprofessionalorpara-educator?

8. Howdoyoulikeaboutbeingaparaeducator?

9. Whatdoyouthinkaboutstudentswithautismorotherdisabilities?

10.Tellmeaboutanearlyexperiencethatstartedtoleadyoutowardsbecominga paraeducatorworkingwithstudentswithautismorotherdisabilities?

11.Whatisitthatyoudoasaparaeducatorworkingwithchildrenwithautism?

12.Whatisitliketodowhatyoudo?

13.Whatdoyouthinkisthebestwaytoeducatestudentswithautismorotherdisabilities?

 Dotheybelonginpublicschoolsordotheybelonginprivateorresidentialinstitutions?

 Why?

14.Tellmeaboutatimeyouhadtoassistastudentwithautismorotherdisabilitieswhile he/shewasengagingininappropriate,aggressive,self-injuriousbehavior?

 Howdidyourespondtoit?

 Canyouexplainwhydoyouthinkhedidwhathedidtoyou? Or,doyouhaveanyidea whyhedidthattoyouorhedidtohim/herself?

15.Whydo youthinkstudentswithautismorotherdisabilitiesengageininappropriateor problembehavior?

 Whenachildisdisplayingproblembehavior,how doyoumakehimstop?

16.Whatfactorsdo youthinkcausedastudenttodisplayproblematicbehavior?

17.Howcanproblematicbehaviorbefixed?

18.WhenIsaypositivebehaviorsupports–whatcomestomind?

19.Howusefuldo youthinkimplementationofPositiveBehaviorSupportsandstrategies is/are?

20.Doyouimplementpositivebehaviorsupportsand/orstrategies?

 Whenstudentswithautismorotherdisabilitiesengageininappropriatebehavior,whatdo youthink youshoulddo?Or,whatdo youtypicallydo?

21.Ifastudentwithautismorotherdisabilitiesengageininappropriate,violent,selfinjuriousbehavior,whatdoyouthinkshouldhappentothem?

22.Whatshouldastudentwithautismorotherdisabilitiesbetaught,in youropinion?

23.Whatdoyouneedtoknowsoyoucaneffectivelyteachachildwithautismorother disabilities,orachildthatdisplayssevereproblembehavior?

24.WhenIsaypositivereinforcement,whatcomesto mind?

 Howdoyouuseit?

An Initial Exploration of Preparation Practices

Teacher Educators Use to Cultivate Preservice Special Education Teachers’ Understandings with Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

LaurieA.Sharp,Ed.D. TarletonStateUniversity

MichelleSimmons,Ed.D. Frank Goode,Ed.D. WestTexasA&MUniversity

Abstract

Teachereducatorsmustensurepreservicespecialeducationteachersdevelopthedesired behaviors,knowledge,andskillsofnovicespecialeducationteachers. Thegoalofthepresent studywastoexaminecurrentpreparationpractices teachereducatorsuseto cultivatepreservice specialeducationteachers’understandingswithonespecificarea:professionallearningand ethicalpractice. Thepresentstudyemployedacross-sectionalsurveyresearchdesignandused literature-basedrecommendedpracticesforspecialeducationteacherpreparationasaconceptual lenstointerpretfindings. Relevantdatawerecollectedandanalyzedqualitativelywiththree levelsofcodingandconstantcomparisons. Fivethemesemergedduringdataanalysis,which providedinitialinsightsofcurrentpreparationpracticesandtheextenttowhichtheyembody literature-basedrecommendedpractices. Implicationsforteachereducatorswerediscussed, alongwithlimitationsandfutureareasofresearch.

Keywords: ethicalpractice,professionallearning,specialeducation,teacherpreparation

Introduction

In2012,theCouncilforExceptionalChildren(CEC,2015)releaseditsmostcurrentversionof initialpreparationstandards. Thesesevenstandardsincludedatotalof28keyelementsthat reflectthedesiredbehaviors,knowledge,andskillsofnovicespecialeducationteachers. The CEC’sinitialpreparationstandardsofferedaresearch-informedframeworktoguidethe developmentofspecialeducationteacherpreparationprogramming. Aspreservicespecial educationteachersengagewithcoursework,fieldexperiences,andothertrainingrequirements alignedwiththeinitialpreparationstandards,theydevelopspecializedexpertiseforimpactful andnurturingteachingpractices(Vernon-Dotson,Floyd,Dukes,&Darling, 2014).

Formanyyears,researchershaveemphasizedaneedforimprovingthepreparationofspecial educationteachers(Billingsley,2004;Brownell,Sindelar,Kiely,&Danielson,2010;Leko, Brownell,Sindelar,&Kiely,2015;Markelz,Riden,&Scheeler,2017;McLeskey&Ross,2004; Shepherd,Fowler,McCormick,Wilson,&Morgan,2016). Althoughthereisagrowingbodyof researchonspecialeducationteacherpreparation(foracomprehensivelisting,seeCochranSmith&Villegas,2015andCochran-Smithetal.,2015),onlyafewstudiesinvestigated preparationeffortsinrelationtotheCEC’s(2015)mostcurrentversionofinitialpreparation

standards(Caniglia,2016;Gavish,Bar-On,&Shein-Kahalon,2016;Lusk,2014). Ineachof thesestudies,theresearchersinvestigatedhowpracticingspecialeducationteachersviewtheir preparednesswiththeCEC’s(2015)initialpreparationstandards. Atthetimeofthepresent study,however,therewerenoknownstudiesthatexploredpreparationpracticesteacher educatorsusetocultivate preservicespecialeducationteachers’understandingswiththese standards.

Toaddressthisgapinexistingresearch,wesoughttoidentifypreparationpracticesthatteacher educatorsusetocultivate preservicespecialeducationteachers’understandingswithoneofthe CEC’s(2015)initialpreparationstandards,ProfessionalLearningandEthicalPractice. Findings fromthepresentstudyhaveprovidedpreliminaryinformationconcerningwaysinwhichteacher educatorsaddressthisstandardduringspecialeducationteacherpreparation. Withthis information,teachereducatorsmayevaluatetheadequacyofcurrentpreparationeffortsand identifyspecificareasthatmayrequireimprovement.

Literature Review

TheCEC’s(2015)ProfessionalLearningandEthicalPracticestandarddelineatedsixkey elementsthatspecifiedbehaviors,knowledge,and skillspreservicespecialeducationteachers mustlearn“toinformspecialeducationpractice,toengageinlifelonglearning,andtoadvance theprofession”(p.27). Accordingtothisstandard,novicespecialeducationteachersmust:(a) followacodeofethicalconductandprofessionalstandards,(b)understandhowhistoricaland currentinfluencesaffect theirprofessionalpractices,(c)attendtoaspectsofdiversity,(d)engage incontinuousprofessionallearning,(e)knowhowtoadvocate andmentorothers,and(f)provide guidanceandsupportforschoolsupportpersonnel. Wedesignedthefollowingreviewof literaturetoprovideabriefoverviewforeachofthesekeyelements.

GuidanceforProfessionalPractice

Theprofessionofteachingmustfocuson“thewell-beingofstudents,”attendto“themoral dimensions”ofeducation,andmaintainprofessionalstandardsthatare“educationallysensitive” (Warnick&Silverman,2011,p.283). Strongethicshavehadanimportantplaceinthefieldof specialeducationsinceitsinception(Howe&Miramontes,1991)becausespecialeducation teachersfrequentlyencounterethicaldilemmaswhileworkingwithstudentswhohave exceptionalities(Fiedler&VanHaren,2009). Whengrapplingwithanethicaldilemma,special educationteachersmustunderstandandarticulateethicalconduct,principles,andstandardsof theprofessionandknowhowtoexerciseobjectivity. Tofurtherassistspecialeducationteachers withrespectingand addressingtheindividualneedsofallstudents,theCEC(2015)developeda CodeofEthicsandStandardsforProfessionalPractice.

InfluenceofFoundationalKnowledgeandCurrentIssues

Thefieldofspecialeducationhasbeenandwillcontinuetobeshapedbyexternalinfluences (Brownelletal.,2010). Consequently,specialeducationteachersmustunderstandhowexternal influencesimpactallfacetsofthespecialeducationprofessionbecausetheyoftenprompt “increasingdemandsandchangingroles”(Shepherdetal.,2016,p.90). Changeswithinspecial

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educationhaveresultedfrombeliefsaboutteachingandlearningforstudentswhohave exceptionalities,politicalmandatesandpressures,researchaboutexceptionalitiesandthe effectivenessofspecialeducationpractices,andstateandfederallegislation(Brownelletal., 2010;Gallagher,2006). Courtdecisionshavealsoimpactedspecialeducationpractices (Macartney&Morton,2013),asevidencedintherecentUnitedStatesSupremeCourtrulingfor EndrewF.v.DouglasCounty. Thiscourtrulingclarifiedthedegreetowhichaschoolmust meetfederalrequirementspertainingtotheadministrationofspecialeducationservices (Couvillon,Yell,&Katsiyannis,2018). Withthisinmind,FishandStephens(2010) underscoredtheimportanceoftrainingsospecialeducationteachersfeelequippedtohandle challengesandfrustrationsthataccompanycontinuallyevolvingprofessionalpractices.

SensitivitytoAspectsofDiversity

DemographicshiftsintheUnitedStateshavecreatedamoreheterogeneousstudentbody (Robertson,McFarland,Sciuchetti,&García,2017). Yet,asclassroomsandschoolsbecome increasinglydiverse,identifyingandaddressingspecialneedsamongculturallyandlinguistically diversestudentshasreceivedlittleattention(Chu&Garcia,2014;More,Spies,Morgan,& Baker,2016;Robertsonetal.,2017). Inordertomeetthespecialneedsofallstudents,special educationteachersmustfirsthaveastrongunderstandingof“theintersectionalityofdisability anddiversity”(Robertsonetal.,2017,p.45). Withthisknowledgeinplace,specialeducation teacherscanthentailorteachingpracticestoaddressastudent’sexceptionalitiesandindividual cultural,ethnic,linguistic,racial,andsocioeconomicneeds(Chu&Garcia,2014).

EngagementinContinuousProfessionalLearning

Specialeducationteachersmustengageincontinuousprofessionallearningtoadvancetheir understandingswithevidence-basedteachingpractices(Boardman,Argüelles,Vaughn,Hughes, &Klingner,2005). Asspecialeducationteachersgain greaterprofessionalexpertise,they experiencehigherlevelsofself-efficacyandincreasetheirinstructionaleffectiveness (Billingsley,2004). Additionally,newrolesandresponsibilitiesassumedbyspecialeducation teachersofteninfluencetheirprofessionaldevelopmentneeds.Forexample,themoveto inclusionfundamentallychangedthedeliveryofspecialeducationservices(Lamar-Dukes& Dukes,2005)andrequiredspecialeducationteacherstolearneffectivewaystocollaborateand consultwithotherprofessionals(Eisenman,Pleet,Wandry,&McGinley,2011;Macartney& Morton,2013).

AdvocacyandMentoring

Specialeducationteacherswhoadvocateandmentorothersadvancethespecialeducation profession(CEC,2015). Duetothenatureoftheprofession,specialeducationteachershavean inherentresponsibilityto “effectivelyandprofessionallyadvocate”forthestudentstheyserve (Whitby,Marx,McIntire,&Wienke,2013,p.33)anddevelopstudents’self-advocacyskills fromthetimetheyentertheschoolsystemthroughgraduation(Prater,Redman,Anderson,& Gibb,2014). Moreover,theworkrequiredofspecialeducationteacherscanbeextremely overwhelmingfornoviceprofessionals(Whitaker, 2003). Therefore,experiencedspecial educationteachersshouldassistandsupportnoviceteachersenteringthefield(Greenlee& Dedeugd,2002)topromoteteachingeffectiveness,facilitateasmoothtransitionintothe

profession,andreduceteacherattrition(Billingsley, Israel,&Smith,2011;Williams,2016).

ProvideGuidanceandDirectiontoParaeducators,Tutors,andVolunteers

Schoolsupportpersonnel,suchasparaprofessionals,tutors,andvolunteersarecriticalfor effectivedeliveryofspecialeducationservices(Suter&Giangreco,2009). However,themere utilizationofschoolsupportpersonnelwithinitselffailstoproducepositiveoutcomesfor studentswhohaveexceptionalities(Stockall,2014). Therefore,specialeducationteachersmust maximizetheeffectivenessofschoolsupportpersonnelbyprovidingthemwithstrongtraining (Brock&Carter,2015)andappropriatesupervision(French,2001). Withoutsufficientguidance anddirection,schoolsupportpersonnelmaycompromisetheacademic,emotional,orsocial well-beingofstudentsorjeopardizethedeliveryofrequiredspecialeducationservices.

Conceptual Framework

Thefollowingconceptualframeworkdrewuponextantliteraturetoidentifyliterature-based recommendedpracticesforspecialeducationteacherpreparation. Thisframeworkprovideda conceptuallensforthepresentstudybylinkingthreedifferentpreparationprogram characteristicsthatspecialeducationresearchersconsideredconsequential(seeFigure1). First, teacherpreparationhasshiftedtowardsamorestandards-basedapproach,similartothe standards-basedmovementinPreK-12schools(Woolf,2015). Whenteachereducatorsalign coursecontent,guidehands-onexperiences,andstructureindependentlearningtaskswith professional,discipline-orientedstandards,theypositionfuturespecialeducationteachersto acquiredesiredbehaviors,knowledge,andskills(Sayeski&Higgins,2014;Woolf,2015). Second,designingspecialeducationteacherpreparationtoreflectapractice-basedapproach systematicallypreparespreservicespecialeducationteacherstousehigh-leveragepracticesin theirfutureclassroomsthroughdeliberatelysequencedandcloselysupervisedschool-based learningexperiences(Lekoetal.,2015;McLeskey&Brownell,2015;McLeskeyetal.,2017). Aspreservicespecialeducationteachersregularlypracticekeyelementsofteachinginauthentic contexts,teachereducatorstransformteacherpreparationtorealisticallyembodythecomplex andspecializedworkofspecialeducationteachers(McLeskey&Brownell,2015). Third,a primarygoalofspecialeducationteacherpreparationistoensurepreservicespecialeducation teacherssuccessfullyapplybehaviors,knowledge,andskillslearnedduringteacherpreparation intheirfutureclassrooms(Markelzetal.,2017;Scheeler,Budin,&Markelz,2016). Sincethe transferoflearningdoesnotautomaticallyoccur,teachereducatorsmustusepreparation practicesthatfacilitatethegeneralizationofdesiredteachingpractices.

Figure 1.Conceptualframework Method ContextandResearchDesign

Thepresentstudywasapartofastate-levelanalysisthatweconductedamongteachereducators. Thegoalofthestate-levelanalysiswastwo-fold:1)toascertainviewpointsofpreservicespecial educationteachers’preparedness,and2)toexplorecurrentspecialeducationteacherpreparation practices. Weemployedacross-sectionalsurveyresearchdesignusinganelectronic questionnairecreatedinGoogleForms(Ruel,Wagner,&Gillespie,2016). Weincludedclosedendedquestionsonthequestionnairetocollectdemographicdataforrespondentsandratingsfor theirviewpointsofpreservicespecialeducationteachers’preparednesswitheachoftheCEC’s (2015)initialpreparationstandards. Wealsoincludedopen-endedquestionsforrespondentsto describepreparationpracticestheyusetopromotepreservicespecialeducationteachers’ understandingswithbehaviors,knowledge,andskillsassociatedwitheachstandard. We positionedthepresentstudyusingthefollowingresearchquestion:Howdoteachereducators cultivatepreservicespecialeducationteachers’understandingsforprofessionallearningand ethicalpractice?

Participants

Weusedpurposivesamplingtechniquestocreateaparticipantpoolofteachereducatorswho were affiliatedwithuniversity-basedspecialeducationteacherpreparationprogramsthatwere physicallylocatedinaSouth-CentralstateintheUnitedStates. First,weaccessedthestate educationagency’swebsiteandobtainedalistingofallstate-basedspecialeducationteacher preparationprogramsthatwereaffiliatedwithuniversities(n =55). Next,wevisitedeach university’swebsiteandconductedcomprehensivewebsearchestodiscernthenamesandemail addressesofteachereducatorswhowereassociatedwithspecialeducationteacherpreparation. Duringwebsearches,wereferredtodepartmentalwebsitesandpublicallyavailabledocuments, suchasclassschedulesandcoursesyllabi. Westoredallparticipantpoolinformationinamaster

spreadsheetcreatedusingGoogleDocs,whichconsistedof283potentialrespondents.

DataCollectionandAnalysis

Weemailedallpotentialrespondentsandinvitedthemtocompletethequestionnaire. Afterthe initialemailwassent,wecollecteddataforfourmonths. Wetrackedparticipationinthemaster spreadsheetandsentmonthlyfollow-upemailstoencourageparticipationamongpotential respondents. Whenthedatacollectionperiodclosed,wereceived46completedquestionnaires.

Toachievethegoalforthepresentstudy,weretrievedrelevantqualitativedatafromthe questionnairesthatdescribedpreparationpracticesrespondentsusetocultivatepreservicespecial educationteachers’understandingsforprofessionallearningandethicalpractice. Weanalyzed datainductivelywiththreesequentialcodinglevels(Strauss&Corbin,1990). Inthefirstlevel, wereadthroughthedatamultipletimesandusedopencodingtobreakdowndataintodiscrete conceptslabeledwithemergentcodes. Inthesecondlevel,weusedaxialcodingtodraw togetherrepetitiouscodesandorganizethemintocategories. Throughoutopenandaxialcoding, weconstantlycomparedcodesandcategoriesagainstoneothertoidentifysimilaritiesand differences(Glaser,1965). Inthethirdlevel,weusedselectivecodingtodetermineacore category(Strauss&Corbin,1990). Ineachcodinglevel,wefirstcodeddataindependentlyand usedanalyticmemoingtorecordpersonalcomments,observations,questions,andreflections (Saldaña,2016). Followingeachindependentreview,weheldanin-personresearchteam meetingtoverifyconsistencywithcodingschemesandconfirminter-coderreliability. Wealso developedandmaintainedanelectroniccodebookinGoogleDocstodocumenteachcode,its correspondingdefinition,anddataexcerpts(seeexamplesinTable1).

Table1

Example Codes, Definitions, and Data Excerpts

Codes

Definitions

Professional standards Referencetoasetof professionalstandards.

Coursetopics

Mentionofspecifictopics addressedincoursework.

Field experiences Statementabouthands-on experiencescompletedin realclassrooms.

Professional membership Referencetoaspecific universityorprofessional organizations.

Professional learningevents Statementabout professionallearning events.

“WestudytheCECstandardsandethicsin detail.”

“Advocacyisaddresseddirectlyintwo courses.”

“Our[preservicespecialeducationteachers] workwithmentorteachersinthefieldpriorto andduringstudentteaching.”

“WealsohaveastudentCECorganizationthat focusesonadvocacy,volunteering,and professionaltraining.”

“[Preservicespecialeducationteachers]are encouragedtoattendprofessionalpresentations deliveredontheuniversity’scampusandat theirassignedschoolcampus.”

Thirty-fourrespondentsdescribedpreparationpracticestheyusetocultivatepreservicespecial educationteachers’understandingsforprofessionallearningandethicalpractice,which consistedofatotalof886words. Duringdataanalyses,thefollowingfivethemesemerged: University-BasedClasses,AuthenticPreK-12SchoolContexts,MembershipinProfessional GroupsandOrganizations,ProfessionalLearningActivities,andMiscellaneousPreparation ProgramRequirements(seeFigure2). Wepresentedourfindingsbelowbythemeandincluded verbatimdataexcerptsfromrespondents.

University-BasedClasses

Respondentsmade28referencesthatdescribedpreparationpractices relatedtouniversity-based classes. Withinthistheme,respondentsnamedseveraltopicsthattheyaddressinspecial educationcoursestheyteach,suchas“theethicsofthefield,”“advocacy,”“howtobecome criticalconsumersofresearch,”“collaborativeconsultationtheoryandpractice,”and“caselaw thathasshapedthepracticesinspecialeducationanddrivesethicalpractices.” Respondentsalso specifiedlearningactivitiesthatwereoptimalvehiclesforfosteringunderstandingswiththese coursetopics. Learningactivitiesencompassedtasksthatrequiredcollaborationandinteraction amongpreservicespecialeducationteachers(i.e.,“discussions,”“guestspeakers,”“instruction,” “PLC[professionallearningcommunity]teamactivities,”“useofscenarios”),aswellastasks thatpreservicespecialeducationteacherscompletedindependently(i.e.,“readingassignments,” “interviewswithcurrentteachers,”“positionpapers,”“researchpapers”).

AuthenticPreK-12SchoolContexts

Respondentsmadesixreferencesthatdescribedpreparationpracticesthatinvolveauthentic PreK-12schoolcontexts. Withinthistheme,respondentsnotedthatpreservicespecialeducation teachersworkedwith“mentorteachersintheirfieldplacementspriortoandduringstudent teaching.” Respondentsalsoindicatedthatthesefieldplacements“provide[preservicespecial educationteachers] withbestpracticeexamplesandexperienceswithinclassroomsettings.” Moreover,respondentsemphasizedthat“meaningfulfieldexperiences”providevaluable opportunitiesforpreservicespecialeducationteachersto“practiceskills,”“observemaster teachers,”and“learnadvocacyandmentoringskills.”

Figure 2.Fivethemesthatemergedinpresentstudy

MembershipinProfessionalGroupsandOrganizations

Respondentsmadesixreferencesthatdescribedpreparationpracticesrelatedtoprofessional groupsandorganizations. Withinthistheme,respondentsurgedpreservicespecialeducation teacherstojoinandparticipateinuniversity-basedstudentorganizationsandprofessional organizationsrelatedtothespecialeducationprofession. Tworespondents reportedthattheir universitieshadestablishedstudentorganizationsspecificallyforpreservicespecialeducation teachersthatfocus “onadvocacy,volunteering,andprofessionaltraining,”aswellas“building [advocacy]skillsandprovidingnetworkingopportunities.” Additionally,fourrespondentsstated thattheyinformpreservicespecialeducationteachersofrelevantprofessionalorganizations, suchastheCECandCECstate-basedunits.

ProfessionalLearningActivities

Respondentsmadefourreferencesthatdescribedpreparationpracticesassociatedwith professionallearningactivities. Withinthistheme,respondentsassertedthattheyshareavailable opportunitiesforreal-lifeprofessionaldevelopmentactivitiesintendedforpracticingspecial educationteacherswithpreservicespecialeducationteachers. Authenticprofessionallearning activitiesincluded“professionalpresentations”deliveredonuniversitycampusesandinPreK-12 schoolcontexts,web-basedtrainings“offeredfreefromservicecenters,”andscheduledsocial mediaevents,includingbutnotlimitedtoTwittereducatorchats.

MiscellaneousPreparationProgramRequirements

Respondentsmadefourreferencesthatdescribedmiscellaneouspreparationprogram requirements. Withinthistheme,respondentsnotedtheyaddressprofessionallearningand ethicalpracticebyduring“certificationtestpreparation”sessionsandbyrequiringpreservice specialeducationteachersto“understandandsigntheEducatorCodeofEthicspriortoclinical teaching.” Onerespondentnotedthattheirrespectivepreparationprogramfostersa “collaborativeapproach”amongpreservicespecialeducationteachersasindividualsenrolledin upper-levelcourses“providesupportandadvice”toindividualsinlower-levelcourses. Another respondentsharedthattheyrequirepreservicespecialeducationteachersto“createtraining modules.”

Discussion

Findingsfromthepresentstudyprovidedinitialinsightsofthewaysinwhichteachereducators cultivatepreservicespecialeducationteachers’understandingsforprofessionallearningand ethicalpractice. Byexaminingourfindingsthroughthelensofourconceptualframework,we were abletodiscernhowreportedpreparationpracticesembodiedliterature-basedrecommended practicesforspecialeducationteacherpreparation. First,wedidnotseeaclearalignment betweencurriculumandprofessionalstandards. Onlytworespondentsreferenceduseofthe CEC’sstandardsduringpreparationprogramrequirements. Second,findingsrevealeda predominantfocuson“learningaboutteaching”in university-basedsettings,ratherthan “learningtoteach”inauthenticPreK-12schoolcontexts(McLeskey&Brownell,2015,p.13). Althoughrespondentsmadeafewreferencestopractice-basedlearningexperiences,respondents

overwhelminglyidentifiedpreparationpracticestheyusewithinthecontextofuniversity coursework. Third,ourfindingsdidnotrevealanyspecificreferencestopreparationpractices thatrespondentsusetopromotethegeneralizationofbehaviors,knowledge,andskillslearned duringteacherpreparationintofutureclassrooms.

Implications

Baseduponthesefindings,weseeastrongneedforteachereducatorstofacilitatecollaborative andcomprehensivepreparationprogramreviews. Inordertobeproductive,teachereducators mustinvolvemultiplepreparationprogramstakeholders,suchasuniversityadministrators(e.g., collegedean,departmentchair),teachereducatorsfromotherdisciplines,andotherindividuals whoareinvolvedwiththedeliveryofspecialeducationpreparationprogramrequirements. We recommendthatteachereducatorsconsiderusingatwo-phaseprogram reviewprocess(Sayeski &Higgins,2014). Inthe firstphase,preparationprogramstakeholdersanalyzeprofessional standardscarefully,alongwithanyotherrequiredstateornationalstandards. Preparation programstakeholdersthenworktogethertoidentify,sort,andprioritizetopicsfromthe standardsintheformofbigideas. Onceanexhaustivelisthasbeengenerated,preparation programstakeholdersconductsubsequentsyllabireviewstosearchforconsistenciesand inconsistencieswithtopics.

Inthesecondphase,preparationprogramstakeholdershostaseriesofmeetingstobreakdown thetopicsgeneratedduringthefirstphaseintosmallerelements. Duringthesemeetings, preparationprogramstakeholdersengageindeliberateandrespectfuldialoguetodeterminethe fundamentalmeaningsofeachtopic andappropriateassessmentswithwhichtomonitorand evaluateproficiencyamongeachpreservicespecialeducationteacher. Onceassessmentshave beenidentified,preparationprogramstakeholdersexaminecurrentpreparationprogram requirementsanddiscussanyneededmodifications,includingbutnotlimitedtodevelopingnew courses,resequencingprogramrequirements,incorporatingnewassessments,adaptingthe contentofcourses,oralteringrequiredactivitiescompletedduringfieldexperiences.

Conductingacollaborativeandcomprehensiveprogramreviewmustbeajointenterpriseamong allpreparationprogramstakeholderswhoseektoalignpreparationprogramrequirementswith currentprofessionalstandards(Blanton,Pugach,&Boveda,2014). Facilitatingacollaborative andcomprehensiveprogramreviewisatime-intensiveendeavorforteachereducators,albeita beneficialone. Theendresultestablishesasharedsetofpreparationgoalsforaclearly articulatedspecialeducationpreparationprogram thatisinalignmentwithprofessionalstandards (Feiman-Nemser,2001). Moreover,teachereducatorsaddresspreparationprogramrequirements purposefullyandsystematicallytodevelopthedesiredbehaviors,knowledge,andskillsof novicespecialeducationteacherswithgreatercoherence(Canrinus,Bergem,Klette,& Hammerness,2017;Feiman-Nemser,2001). Onceteacher educatorscompleteacollaborative andcomprehensiveprogramreview,theyshouldalsoconduct“periodicrebalancing”with preparationprogramstakeholderstoensurethatpreparationprogramrequirementsremain “relevant,focused,andproductive”(Sayeski&Higgins,2014,p.103).

Limitations

Thegoalofthepresentstudywastoprovideaninitialexaminationofanunder-researchedarea relatedtospecialeducationteacherpreparation. However,werecognizethreemethodological limitationsthatmayimpactthegeneralizabilityofourfindings. First,therewerealownumber ofrespondents. Second,participationwasrestrictedtoteachereducatorswhowereaffiliated withuniversity-basedspecialeducationteacherpreparationprogramsinonestatelocatedinthe South-CentralregionoftheUnitedStates. Third,theopen-endedsurveyquestionformatmay haveposedtimeconstraintsforrespondents,therebyimpactedtherangeofresponses.

FutureAreasofResearch

Specialeducationresearchersshouldconductadditionalstudiesthatexaminethisareamore deeplyusingmorerigorousresearchmethods. Forexample,itwasnotclearinthepresentstudy whetherrespondentsfeltthatthepreparationpracticestheyimplementforprofessionallearning andethicalpracticepromotegeneralization. Also,itwasunclearif respondentsutilizedhighleveragepracticesthatconveythemost“essentialdimensions”ofspecialeducationinPreK-12 schoolcontexts(McLeskeyetal.,2017,p.8). Futurestudiesshouldconductmoreexpansive analysesofspecialeducationteacherpreparationprogramrequirementstobetterunderstand specificwaysthatteachereducatorsmayimproveuponcurrentpreparationpractices.

Conclusion

Specialeducationpreparationprogramsmustproducewell-prepared,classroom-readyspecial educationteachers. Todoso,teachereducatorsmustalignrequirementsin theirrespective preparationprogramstoprofessionalstandards,suchastheCEC’s(2015)initialpreparation standards. Teachereducatorsmustalsoimplementapractice-basedapproachthatpromotesthe generalizationofcontentandpedagogylearnedduringspecialeducationteacherpreparationinto PreK-12schoolcontexts. Bydoingso,teachereducatorsprimepreservicespecialeducation teacherstoeffectivelyteachandsupportstudentswhohaveexceptionalities.

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About the Authors

LaurieA.Sharp,Ed.D.istheAssistantDeanforUndergraduateStudiesforFirstandSecond YearExperienceandAssociateProfessoratTarletonStateUniversityinStephenville,Texas. Dr.Sharppromotesstudentsuccessamongadultlearners,activelyparticipatesinprofessional service,andmaintainsanextensivescholarshiprecord.

MichelleSimmons,Ed.D.isanAssistantProfessoratWestTexasA&M UniversityinCanyon, Texas. Dr.Simmonsteachesspecialeducationteacherpreparationandeducationaldiagnostician coursesinface-to-face,andonlinecontexts.Dr.Simmonshasmadevariouspresentationsand hercurrentresearchintereststhatincludebestpracticeinassessmentandevaluation,behavior managementstrategies,facilitatingIEPmeetingsandaddressingstrugglespresentedbystudents withdisabilities.

Frank Goode,Ed.D.isanAssistantProfessoratWestTexasA&MUniversityinCanyon, Texas. Dr.Goodeservesasthecurrentdirectorofspecialeducationprogramsandisafaculty teammemberoftheUniversity’sCenterforLearningDisabilities. Dr.Goodeprovidesvarious professionalservicesonrequesttoschools,organizations,andcommunitycollegeslocatedinthe TexasPanhandle.Dr.Goode’sresearchinterestsincludeself-determinationamongstudentswith disabilities,teacherpreparationprogramevaluation,andtheprovisionofexperientialeducation inteacherpreparationprograms.

Using Social Stories to Increase Social

Initiations by a Student with Autism to Typical Peers

StephanieH.Valentini,Med,BCBA TheMargaretMurphyCenterforChildren

RachelE.Robertson,PhD,BCBA-D UniversityofPittsburgh

Abstract

Individuals with autism often struggle to initiate interactions with peers. Although social stories maybeaneffectivestrategyforstudents withASDtoinitiateinteractionswithpeers,fewstudies haveexaminedtheeffectivenessofsocialstorieswithouttheuseofadditionalinterventions.This studyutilizedamultiple-baseline-across-peersdesigntodemonstratetheefficacyofasocialstory for increasing social initiations of a 6-year-old male student with autism to typical peers in a general education classroom. Introduction of the social story was associated with increased initiationsacrosspeers.Additionally,peersocialvaliditydataindicatedthatsocialinitiationswere positively received and similar to those of other typical peers. Implications, including increased supportforthisinterventionforchildrenwithautism,andlimitationsarediscussed.

Keywords: Autism, Social Stories, Social Initiations, Inclusion

Using Social Stories to Increase Social Initiations by a Student with Autism to Typical Peers

Childrenwithautismspectrumdisorder(ASD)havedeficitsinsociallanguageand communicationskills,andoftenspendmoretimeplayingalonecomparedtotheirpeers (Koegel, Koegel,Frea,&Fredeen,2001;Shabanietal.,2002).Theseskilldeficitsmakeitmore challengingforchildrenwithASDtoconnectwiththeirpeersorparticipateinmeaningfulgroup activitiesintheschoolsetting(Otero,Schatz,Merrill,&Bellini,2015).Functional communicationtraining(Carr&Durand,1985),discretetrialteaching(Smith,2001),andnatural environmenttraining(Dufek&Schreibman,2014)aresomewaysofdirectlyteachingchildren withASDthecommunicationskillsnecessarytoparticipatesuccessfullyintheirenvironment. Anotherinterventionthatcanbeusedtoimprovesocialcommunicationskillsinchildrenwith ASDissocialstories(Gray,1998).Asocialstoryis"…ashortstorythatadherestoaspecific formatandguidelinestoobjectivelydescribeaperson,skill,event,concept,orsocialsituation… Thegoalofasocialstoryistosharerelevantinformation.Thisinformationoftenincludes(butis notlimitedto) where and when asituationtakesplace, who isinvolved, what isoccurring,and why”(Gray,1998,p.171).

Severalsystematicreviewshavebeenconductedontheeffectsofsocialstoriesforstudentswith ASD(Kokina&Kern,2010;Qi,Barton,Collier,Lin,&Montoya,inpress;Wongetal.,2014). Forexample,Wongetal.(2014)identified17rigoroussingle-casestudiesshowingthatsocial storiesimprovedsocialinteractionskillsinstudentswithASD.Specifically,Wongetal.found thatsocialstorieshadbeeneffectiveinaddressingsocial,communication,behavior,joint

attention,play,school-readiness,academic,andadaptiveskills.Alternatively,othersystematic reviewsusingstrictercriteriaforstudyqualityand single-caseeffectsizehavefoundsocial storiesoflowtoquestionableoveralleffectiveness,particularlywhensocialstorieswereusedas thesoleinterventionand notaspartofatreatment package(Kokina&Kern,2010;Qi,Barton, Collier, Lin,&Montoya,2018).Themajorityofpublishedstudiestestedtreatmentpackagesof socialstoriescombinedwithotherindependentvariables,suchasfeedback(Chan&O’Reilly, 2008),videomodels(Litras,Moore,&Anderson,2010;Scattone,2008),prompting,or reinforcement(Leafetal.,2012).Becauseeachoftheseadditionalcomponentsalonemaycause behaviorchange,thedegreetowhichimprovementsinbehaviorwereduetothesocialstoryas opposedtoadditionalprocedureswasunclear.Itisimportanttoexaminewhethersocialstories inabsenceofprompting, reinforcement,andotherprocedurescancausebehaviorchangeasthat maybethemannerinwhichtheyareimplementedinpractice(Kokina&Kern,2010;Schneider &Goldstein,2010).

Six studiesmeetingtherigorousqualitycriteriainQietal.(2018)examinedtheeffectivenessof socialstoriesaloneinincreasingappropriatesocialbehaviorinchildrenwithASD(Crozier& Tincani,2007;Delano&Snell,2006;Hanley-Hochdorferetal.,2010;Reichow&Sabornie, 2009;Sansosti&Powell-Smith,2006;Scattone,Tingstrom,&Wilczynski,2006).Across studies,findingsweremixedinthattenparticipantsshowedmodesttolargeeffects(Crozier& Tincani,2007;Delano&Snell,2006;Reichow&Sabornie,2009;Sansosti&Powell-Smith, 2006;Scattone,Tingstrom,&Wilczynski,2006),oneparticipantrequiredadditionalprompting toshoweffects(Crozier&Tincani,2007),andsixparticipantsshowednoeffectsofsocial storiesonincreasingsociallyappropriatebehavior(Hanley-Hochdorferetal.,2010;Sansosti& Powell-Smith,2006;Scattone,Tingstrom,&Wilczynski,2006).

Examiningcharacteristicsofparticipantswhodidanddidnotrespondtotheinterventionmay indicateforwhomsocialstoriesaloneareeffective.Acrossstudies,allparticipantswereverbal, diagnosedwithASDorAspergerSyndrome,preschooltomiddleschoolage,andhadatleast pre-readingskills.Noclearpatterninparticipantresponse-to-interventionwaspresentinthat non-respondersincludedsimilaragesandabilitylevelsasresponders;howeversomenonresponderswerehypothesizedtobelessmotivatedby,oravoidantof,peerattention(Crozier& Tincani,2007;Hanley-Hochdorferetal.,2010),whileothershadpeerswhodidnotrespondto participantattemptsatsocialinteraction(Scattoneetal.,2006)orhadsocialstoriesimplemented withpoorfidelity(Sansosti&Powell-Smith,2006).

Inadditiontounderstandingforwhomsocialstoriesalonemaybeeffective,itisalsoimportant toexaminewhethertheeffectsofsocialstoriesaremaintained,generalized,orseenassocially valid.FiveofthesixstudiesidentifiedbyQietal.(Inpress) assessedmaintenanceofeffectsby fadingthefrequencyofstoryreading(Delano&Snell,2006;Sansosti&Powell-Smith,2006), replacingthestorywithavisualcue(Reichow&Sabornie,2009),turningthestoryoverto classroomteachers(Crozier&Tincani,2007),orremovingthestoryentirely(HanleyHochdorferetal.,2010).Ofthetenparticipantsforwhomtheinterventionwaseffective,only threemaintainedeffectsatinterventionlevels(Crozier&Tincani,2007;Reichow&Sabornie, 2009;Sansosti&Powell-Smith,2006).Additionally,onlyonehadsufficientdataduring

maintenancetoanalyzetrend,level,andvariability(Reichow&Sabornie,2009).Delanoand Snell(2009)alsoassessedgeneralizationofeffectsandfoundthat,althoughnoprogrammingfor generalizationwasprovided,allparticipantsgeneralizedsocialskillstonewpeersandtwoof threeparticipantsgeneralizedskillstonewsettings.Finally,threestudiesassessedsocialvalidity oftheinterventionthroughteacherquestionnaires(Crozier&Tincani,2007;Hanley-Hochdorfer etal.,2010;Scattone,Tingstrom,&Wilczynski,2006);allteachersratedtheinterventionas generallyacceptable.

Thepurposeofthisstudywastoaddtothesmallandmixedbodyofliteratureexaminingthe effectivenessofsocialstoriesasthesoleinterventionforincreasingsocialinitiationstopeersin childrenwithASD.Additionally,thisstudysoughttoexaminethegeneralizationand maintenanceoftheeffectsofthesocialstoryaswellasthesocialvalidityofitsresults,thus addingtothemixedfindingsintheseareasaswell.

Method

Participant

TheparticipantinthisstudywasJames,asix-year-oldCaucasianboywithadiagnosisofASD. Jamesreceivedhisdiagnosisatage3fromapsychologist,whoreferredhimtoahumanservices agencywherehisdiagnosiswasreaffirmedbyamedicaldoctor.Heattendedageneraleducation kindergartenclassroomforthefulldayandreceivedspeechandoccupationaltherapytwicea week.Through academic recordsandinformalobservations,itwasdeterminedthatJameswas academicallyandverballyadvanced,withareadinglevelslightlyabovegradelevel.Although hisdiagnosismadehimeligibleforanIndividualizedEducationProgram(IEP),theschoolteam decidedhedidnotrequireitbecausehewasonorabovegradelevelinmostacademic areas. However,Jamescontinuedtodemonstratesignificantdeficitsintheuseofsociallanguageas comparedtohispeersaswellashisabilitytoparticipateinsocialgroupsandunderstandsocial norms.Healsoengagedinrepetitivebehaviorswithcars,trucks,andmarbles,anddemonstrated restrictedinterestsinthesetoys.

Jamesrarelyinitiatedsocialinteractionsduringsnack,freeplay,recess,orotherappropriate timeswithhispeers.DuringthesetimesJameswouldgenerallysitbyhimselfandplaywith marbles,cars,ortrucks.Hedidwatchotherchildren,particularlyduringsnacktime,butdidnot independentlyinitiateorsustainsocialinteraction.Whenleftoutofgamesatgymorfreeplay, Jamesrarelynoticedthathehadbeenexcluded.Ontheoccasionsthathedidnotice,hewould cry,tantrum,androllonthefloor.James’peersrarelysociallyinitiatedtohim.Ingeneralhis peersdidnotsharemanyofhisinterestsandiftheydidinitiatetohim,hetypicallyrespondedby lookingatthemandsmiling,andtheywalkedaway. Basedonhiswatchingandsmilingatpeers, andfrustrationwhendidrealizehehadbeenexcludedfromtheirplay,itwashypothesizedthat Jameswasinterestedinpeerattentionandwantedtobeapartoftheinteractionsheobserved. Jamesdidnotappeartohaveanyfriendshipsintheclassroom.

Asaresultoftheseissues,sociallyinitiatingtopeerswas agoalidentifiedinhiswraparound servicetreatmentplan.Awraparoundserviceparaprofessional(thefirstauthor)visitedhimin

schooltoworkonthisandothertreatmentplangoals.AlthoughJamesrarelyinitiatedtopeers, hefrequentlysharedtoyswiththeparaprofessional,askedherquestions,andtriedtoplaywith her.TheclassroomteacherreportedthatJames’peersinteractedwithhimmorewhenhis paraprofessionalwaspresentlikelyduetotheirinterestinher.Theparaprofessional’sprimary previousinterventiontoincreaseJames’socialinitiationstopeerswastocontrivesituationsin whichhemightbemorelikelytosociallyinitiateandverballyprompthim todoso.For example,whileJameswasplayingwithcars,shemightgiveacartoatypicalpeerandverbally promptJamestoaskthepeerifhelikescarsorwantedtoplaycars.Jamestypicallyrefusedor ignoredtheseprompts.Shealsotriedmodelingpeerinteractionsforhimwhileattemptingtofade adultsupport.Thesestrategieshadnotbeensuccessful.

Setting

Thegeneraleducationclassroomcontained21studentsandonetothreeadults(teacher, paraprofessional,andteachingassistant).ThestudywasconductedbyJames’one-on-one wraparoundparaprofessionalinhisgeneraleducationclassroom,whichiswherethe paraprofessionalregularlysupportedhim.TheparaprofessionalwasaCaucasianfemalewithtwo years’experienceworkingwithchildrenwithASD,abachelor’sdegreeininternationalrelations, andwasattendingamaster’sprograminAppliedBehaviorAnalysisatthetimeofthestudy.The threetypicalpeerstargetedinthestudywerechosenbytheparaprofessional.Allthreepeers weretypicallydevelopingkindergartenstudents,ages5to6 yearsoldatthetimeofthestudy, andwereobservedengagingintypicalsocialinteractionsandplaywithotherpeers.Peers1and 3were female;peer2wasmale.Thesepeershadbeenobservedinteractingpositivelywith Jamesonoccasionbutgenerallydidnotgooutoftheirwaytoincludeorexcludehimintheir play.AllthreepeersverballyindicatedthattheylikedtotalktoJames,thoughtheyrarelydidso atthebeginningofthestudy.Theparaprofessionalprovidednotraining,prompting,or reinforcementtopeersforsocialinteractions.

Thestudysessionstookplaceonceperdayduring15-minsnacktime,fourdaysperweek.The socialstorywasreadinanareawithintheclassroomawayfrompeers.Distractingstimuliwere removedfromthisarea.Duringsnacktime,studentswereencouragedtoconversewitheach otherandwereseatedaroundasquaretablewiththreetofivestudentspertable.Thetableswere ina“U”shapeandJames’tablewasinthecenteroftheroom.Twoofhisclassmatessatatthe sametable,andoneoftheseclassmateswasselectedasapeerforthestudy.Theothertwopeers satatanadjoiningtable.Theparticipantwasabletointeractwithallthree peerseasilywhile remaininginhisseat.

Materials

Socialstory.Thesocialstory(seeFigure1)wasfourpageslong,createdbythe paraprofessional,andsuggestedtopicsforsocialinitiationstopeers,suchaspets,favoritecolors, games,andtoys.Thetopicswerechosenbasedontheparaprofessional’sdirectobservationsof typicalpeers’conversationsintheclassroom.Noidentifyinginformationorinformationspecific tothepeerswasincludedinthestory.Althoughphotographsanddrawingswereutilizedinthe story,theyweregenericrepresentationsofitemsintheclassroomandfriends.Noactual

photographsofpeersorclassroomitemswereused.Theinitialsocialstoryidentifiedonlypeer1 asapeerwithwhomJamescouldinteract.Whenpeer2wasaddedasatargetpeer,thatpeer’s namewasaddedtothesocialstory.Thesamemodificationwasmadewhenpeer3wasaddedto theinterventionsuchthatallthreepeers’nameswereinthefinalversionofthestory;otherwise thesocialstorywasthesamethroughoutthestudy.

Figure1. Social story text and images.

Socialvalidityquestionnaires.Socialvalidityquestionnairesweredevelopedbythe paraprofessionaland administeredtothetargetpeersandclassroomteacherattheconclusionof datacollection.Thepurposeofthepeersocialvalidityquestionnairewasto examinethesocial significanceofJames’initiationsandimportanceoftheeffectsoftheinterventionwithhistarget peers.Thepeersocialvalidityquestionnairewasreadbytheparaprofessionaltothetargetpeers andincludedthefollowingquestions:Do youliketalkingtoJames?WhatdoyouandJamestalk about?Whatdoyoutalk aboutwith yourotherfriends?Whoaresomeof yourfriendsinthe classroom? Theparaprofessionalrecordedeachpeer’sresponsetoeachquestion.Thepurposeof theteachersocialvalidityquestionnairewasto gaintheteacher’sperspectiveonthesignificance ofthegoals,acceptabilityoftheprocedures,andimportanceoftheresults.Theteacher’s questionnaireincludedthefollowingitems,whichsheratedfrom1(stronglydisagree)to5 (stronglyagree):Theinterventionfocusedonanimportantbehavior;Theinterventionproduced effectiveresults;Theinterventionwasnotintrusivetotheclassroom;Theinterventionrequireda reasonableamountoftime;Theinterventionproducedapositivechangein behavior.

DependentVariables

TheprimarydependentvariablewasthenumberofappropriatesocialinitiationsmadebyJames towardthethreetargetpeersabouttopicssuggestedinthesocialstory.Anappropriatesocial initiationwasdefinedasaverbalinitiationtoapeer,unpromptedbyadult orotherpeer,which wasage-appropriateandallowedforpeerresponse.Initiationswerenotindirectresponsetoa peerquestionorstatementthatoccurredinthepreceding10s.Aninitiationwasconsideredtobe anythingfromasinglewordtoagroupofphrasesorsentences.Anewinitiationwasrecorded whenJamesspoketoapeerafternotspeakingforatleast10sorchangedthepersontowhomhe wasspeaking.Additionally,thephrases,“Hello,”“Hi,”and“Howare you?”werespecific initiationsdescribedinthesocialstoryandthereforeconsideredtargetedsocialinitiations.Other examplesoftargetedsocialinitiationsincludedaskingapeer’sfavoritecolor,game,ortoy,and askingaboutapeer’spet.Non-examplesoftargetedsocialinitiationsincludedgestural initiationssuchaswaves,socialinitiationstoadults,correctionofpeers’speech,andstatements notdescribedinthesocialstory(thosewereconsidered generalizedinitiations,describedbelow). Thedependentvariablewasmeasuredasthefrequencyoftargetedsocialinitiationsmadeby Jamestoapeerduringthe15minsnacktime.Therefore,eachsessionproducedJames’ frequencyoftargetedsocialinitiationsper15min.

AsecondarydependentvariablewasthenumberofappropriatesocialinitiationsfromJamesto thethreetargetpeersabouttopicsnotincludedinthesocialstory.Examplesofgeneralizedsocial initiationsincluded,“Did youhaveagoodEaster?”“Isit yourbirthday?”or“Youhaveblond hair.”Theseinitiationswerenottaughtinthestory,butwereutteredbytheparticipantto targetedpeersduringdatacollectionsessions.Non-examplesincludedstatementsunlikelyto gainpeerresponse,suchas“Iameating”orvocalstereotypy.Generalizedsocialinitiationswere measuredasthefrequencyofgeneralizedinitiationsmadebyJamestothethreetargetpeers duringsnacktime,producingafrequencyof generalizedsocialinitiationsper15min.Each generalizedsocialinitiationwastranscribedverbatimbytheparaprofessional.

ExperimentalDesign,Reliability,andTreatmentIntegrity

Amultiplebaselineacrosspeersdesignwasusedforthisstudy.Themultiplebaselinedesign wasconductedacrossthreepreselectedpeerswhosatincloseproximitytoJames. Inter-observer agreement(IOA)wascollectedbytheparaprofessionalandaUniversitySupervisorfor31%of sessions.TheparaprofessionalandUniversitySupervisorcollectedIOAduringeachphaseofthe study. IOAwascollectedontheaggregatenumberoftargetedandgeneralizedinitiations.IOA wascalculatedafterthesessionbytakingthesmallernumberofrecordedsocialinitiationsby utteranceanddividingbythelargernumberofrecordedsocialinitiations,thenmultiplyingby 100. Themean IOAwas 92.4%across allsessions(range,87%-100%).Toensurethatthe interventionwasimplementedeffectivelyandconsistently,atreatmentintegrityformasutilized asafidelitycheckonceperinterventionphase.Thistreatmentintegrityformwasfilledoutby theinvestigatorandtheUniversitySupervisorduringorimmediatelyfollowingthereadingof thesocialstory.Treatmentintegritywas calculatedasthepercentageofstepsimplemented correctly.Treatmentintegritywascompletedfor13%ofsessionswithameanof97%(range, 92%-100%).

Procedures

Baseline.Baselinesessionswereconductedduring15minsnackperiodsinJames’general educationclassroom.Throughoutallsessions,targetedpeersremainedinclosephysical proximitytoJames(eitherathistableortheadjoiningtable)andavailableforinitiations.During baseline,Jameswasnotgivenaccesstothesocialstory,promptedtointeract,orprovidedwith anyreinforcement(e.g.,edible,praise)contingentuponanysocialinitiations.Jameswasfreeto interactwithpeersashenormallywould.Peerswerenotpromptedbytheparaprofessionalto initiateorrespondtotheparticipant.

Intervention.TheparaprofessionalverballydirectedJamestogotoasemi-privateareainthe classroomeachday.TheparaprofessionalthenreadthesocialstorytoJamesimmediatelyprior tosnacktime.Duringthereading,theparaprofessionalreadeverywordaloud,gaveJamestime toaskquestionsduringandafterthestory,androle-playedtargetedsocialinitiations.A comprehensioncheckwasperformedverybrieflyandinformallybyaskingJames,“Whatcan youtalkaboutwith yourfriends?”andJameswouldrepeatwhathehadreadinthestory.The roleplayswerebrief(lessthan3min),occurredonceperreadingofthesocialstory,and consistedoftheparaprofessionalassumingtheroleofthepeerduringasnacktime.IfJames usedanincorrectinitiationduringtheroleplay,theparaprofessionalprovidedhimwithan appropriatestatementinstead.Jamesreceivednocontrivedreinforcement,prompting,or instructionsonhowtoinitiatetopeersoutsideofthecontentofthesocialstory.AfterJamesand theparaprofessionalfinishedreadingthestory,Jamestransitionedtothe15-minsnackperiod withhispeersduringwhichhissocialinitiationswererecorded.The15-minsnackperiodbegan whenJamesjoinedhispeers.

Interventionfading.Aninterventionfadingperiodfollowedtheinterventionphasetoexamine whethereffectsofthesocialstorywouldmaintaininabsenceoftheparaprofessionalreadingthe storytoJames.Thefirstfadingphasebeganthreeschooldaysaftertheterminationofthe

interventionphase. InFading1,thesocialstorywasremoved.IfJamesdidnotinitiatetopeers, theparaprofessionaldid notinterveneandhewasnotprovidedthesocialstory. InFading2, Jameswasprovidedphysicalaccesstothesocialstorybutitwasnotreadtohimandhewasnot promptedtoinitiatetohispeers.

Results

Figure2displaysthenumberoftargetedandgeneralizedsocialinitiationsmadebyJamesto threepre-selectedpeersduringsnacktimepersession.Visualanalysisofthedataindicatesa functionalrelationbetweenthesocialstoryandincreasesintargetedandgeneralizedsocial initiations.Duringbaseline,Jamesmadetwosocialinitiationstopeer3acrossallbaseline sessionsandallpeers.Afterthesocialstorywasinitiallyintroducedwithpeer1’sname,there wasadelayedincreaseinsocialinitiationstopeer1.Initiationstopeer2andpeer3immediately increasedaftereachwasaddedtothesocialstory.Furthermore,Jamesincreasedgeneralized socialinitiationsontopicsnotcoveredinthesocialstorytoallthreepeersonlyaftertheirnames were addedtothesocialstory.

Note. Triangulardatapointsindicateinitiationstopeersthatweregeneralizedfromthetopics coveredinthesocialstory.

Figure2. Number of social initiations by James across peers for baseline, social story, Fading 1, and Fading 2 conditions

Duringbaseline,Jamesdidnotmaketargetedsocialinitiationstopeer1.Aftertheintroduction ofthesocialstorydirectingJamestosociallyinitiatetopeer1,heshowedadelayedresponseto theinterventionandbegantomaketargetedsocialinitiationstopeer1inthefifthintervention session.Hisinitiationstopeer1steadilyincreased,reachingamaximumof8initiationsin session22.Duringintervention,heaveraged2.72socialinitiationstopeer1,rangingfromzero toeightpersession.Forthelastfiveinterventionsessions,James’socialinitiationstopeer1 rangedfrom4to6persession.Jamesdidnotmaketargetedsocialinitiationstopeer2during baseline.Uponreadingthestorywithpeer2’snameaddedtothetext,Jamesimmediatelybegan sociallyinitiatingtopeer2withtwotargetedsocialinitiationsinthefirstsessionofintervention. Duringintervention,James’initiationstopeer2rangedfrom1to6,withanaverageof4 initiationspersession.Forthelastseveninterventionsessions,James’socialinitiationstopeer2 rangedfrom4to6persession.Duringbaseline,Jamesmadetargetedsocialinitiationstopeer3 onceinsession4andonceinsession5,saying“Hello”eachtime.Uponreadingthestorywith peer3’snameaddedtothetext,JamesimmediatelybegantargetedsocialinitiationstoPeer3 with5initiationsinthefirstsession.Initiationstopeer3remainedstable,with5to6initiations persessionandaninterventionaverageof5.2.Importantly,asJamesbegantoinitiatetopeer2, hecontinuedhisinitiationstopeer1,thusincreasinghistotalnumberofinitiationsacrosspeers. Similarly,ashebeganinitiatingtopeer3,hecontinuedinitiatingtopeers1and2.

Duringbaseline,Jamesmadenogeneralizedsocialinitiationstopeer1.Duringsession22ofthe socialstoryintervention,Jamesmade3generalizedinitiationstopeer1.Hisgeneralized initiationsincludedaskingpeer1aboutherweekend,favoriteplacetoplay,andabouther mother.Thissessionwastheonlysessionwithgeneralizedsocialinitiationstopeer1duringthe interventionphase.Jamesmadenogeneralizedsocialinitiationstopeer2duringbaseline.After fourdaysofthesocialstoryinterventiontargetingpeer2,Jamesmadegeneralizedsocial initiationstohimduringthenextfourconsecutiveinterventionsessions.SpecificallyJames madeonegeneralizedsocialinitiationtopeer2insession21,twoinsession22,andoneeachin sessions23and24,averaging1.25generalizedinitiationsduringthesesessions.Thegeneralized initiationstopeer2includedinvitationstoengageinpretendplaywithsnackfood,questions abouthishair,andstatementssuchas“(peer2),youaremyfriend.” Duringbaseline,Jamesdid notmakeanygeneralizedsocialinitiationstopeer3.Ontheseconddayofthesocialstory interventionwithpeer3(session24),Jamesmadeonegeneralizedsocialinitiationtoher.James madeanothergeneralizedinitiationtopeer3duringsession26andanotherinsession27.These initiationsincludedquestionsaboutherstickersandcrayonsinherdesk.

Afadingperiodfollowedtheinterventionphases.DuringFading1thesocialstorywasnotread toJamesorphysicallypresent.James’socialinitiationsimmediatelydecreasedtozerotoall peers.Aftertwosessionswithzeroinitiations,thefadingphasewasmodified(Fading2)andthe socialstorywasphysicallyprovidedtoJames.Theparaprofessionaldidnotreadthestory, promptJamestoreadthestory,orprompthimtoinitiatetopeers.James’targetedsocial initiationsimmediatelyincreasedtoallthreepeers,with1to2initiationsinthefirstFading2 session.Targetedsocialinitiationscontinuedtoincreaseinthisconditionandreturnedto interventionlevelswithpeer1andwereslightlybelowfinalinterventionlevelsforpeers2and3 afterthethirdsessionofFading2.

JamesmadenogeneralizedsocialinitiationstoanypeersduringFading1.Afterintroductionof Fading2andphysicalaccesstothesocialstory,Jamesimmediatelyincreasedgeneralizedsocial initiationswith1topeer1and1topeer3inthefirstsessionofFading2.Inthesecondsession Jamesmadeanothergeneralizedinitiationtopeer1,andinthethirdsessionhemade2 generalizedinitiationstopeer1andonetopeer3.Nogeneralizedsocialinitiationsweremadeto peer2duringfadingphases.

Peers1,2,and3statedonthesocialvalidityquestionnairethattheyenjoyedspeakingwith James.Inresponsetothequestion,“WhatdoyounormallytalkaboutwithJames?”,thepeers listedfavoritecolors,games,toys,pets,and“newthings.”Inthefollow-upquestionof“Whatdo younormallytalkaboutwithyourotherfriends?”, thepeersstatedthattheydiscussedcolors, games,toys,movies,and thepark;indicatingthattheydiscussedmanyofthesametopicswith Jamesastheydidwiththeirtypicalpeers.Thepeerswerealsoaskedtolisttheirfriendsasaway toexaminewhetherJames’increasedininitiationshadanyeffectonpeers’perceptionsofJames asafriend.Whenaskedtonamesomeoftheirfriendsintheclassroom,peer1listedJamesinthe firstfivefriendsmentioned;peer2listedJamesfirst;andpeer3didnotlisthim.

Theteacherstronglyagreedthattheinterventionwasnotintrusivetotheclassroomandfocused onanimportantbehavior.Sheagreedthatitproducedeffectiveresultsandmadeapositive changeinbehavior.Althoughtheteacherdidnotimplementtheintervention,basedonher observationsshestronglyagreedthattheinterventiontookareasonableamountoftimeto implementandwasnotoverlytime-consuming.

Discussion

Previousresearchhasshownmixedsupportforusingsocialstoryinterventionsalonetoimprove socialinitiationsinchildrenwithASD.Inparticular,ReichowandSabornie(2009)foundsocial storieseffectiveinincreasingsocialinitiationstopeerswhileHanley-Hochdorferetal.(2010) didnot.Thepresentstudyaimedtoaddtotheresearchinthisareabyinvestigatingwhethera socialstorywithoutpromptingandreinforcementwouldincreasesocialinitiationstopeersina childwithASDandwhethertheseinitiationswouldmaintain,generalize,andbeconsidered sociallyvalid.

Theresultsofthisstudyindicatethatthesocialstorywassuccessfulinincreasingthe participant’ssocialinitiationstotypicalpeers.Eachtimethesocialstorywasamendedtodirect Jamestosociallyinitiatetoanewpeer,hissocialinitiationstothatpeerincreased.James consistentlyinitiatedtopeersthroughouttheinterventionphase,andhispeersrespondedtohis initiations.Althoughtherewasadelayedresponsetotheinterventionwithpeer1,responsesto theinterventionwithpeers2and3wereimmediate.Furthermore,aseachnewpeerwasaddedto thesocialstory,Jamesnotonlyincreasedinitiationstothatpeerbutcontinuedinitiationstopeers alreadyappearinginthestory.

Duringeachreadingofthesocialstory,Jameswouldreadalongwiththeinvestigator,and,by theend,couldrecitethestoryfrommemory.Duringthefirstfadingphasein whichthesocial

storywasnotpresent,Jamesrequestedthestoryeachday.Whenitwasnotpresented,herecited itfrommemoryanddescribedthepicturestohimself.However,hedidnot initiatetopeers, althoughhedidaskifheshould.Whenthestorywasprovidedthoughnotreadtohiminthe secondfadingphase,heresumedsociallyinitiatingtopeers.Thispatternofrespondingsuggests thatthephysicalpresenceofthesocialstorymayhavebecomeadiscriminativestimulusfor James’socialinitiations,astheparaprofessional’sbehaviorremainedconsistentacrossthefirst andsecondfadingphasesandtheonlydifferenceinthesecondfadingphasewasthephysical presenceofthesocialstory.James’dependenceonthepresenceofandpre-sessionexposureto thesocialstoryspeaksto thechallengesofgeneralizationfortheASDpopulation,evenin childrenwithhigh-functioningASD,andtheneedforexplicitinstructionandplanned generalizationofsocialbehaviors.

Interestingly,James’lackofsocialinitiationsduringFading1resembledthefindingsof ReichowandSabornie (2009).ReichowandSabornieusedasingle-casewithdrawaldesignand afterlargegainsinsocialinitiationsduringthefirstsocialstoryinterventionphase,withdrawal ofthesocialstoryinthereturntobaselineconditionresultedinzerosocialinitiationsthroughout thecondition.Forthisreason,ReichowandSaborniedecidedtouseavisualcueremindingthe participantofstorycontentinthefinalmaintenancephase,whichwaseffective.Itispossible thatsocialstoryinterventionsrequiresomeremainingstimulustomaintainovertime;itwould bevaluableforfutureresearchto furtherinvestigateprocedurestomaintainsocialinitiations afterthesocialstoryhasbeenremovedorfaded.

WhileJamesinitiallymadeonlytargetedsocialinitiationsbasedontopicsinthesocialstory, overtimeheproducedgeneralizedsocialinitiationsontopicsnotfoundinthestory.During theseinitiationsheaskedhispeersabouttheirfavoriteTVshows,movies,andthesnackthey were eating.Ononeoccasion,heengagedincooperativeandimaginativeplaywithpeer2,using thepretzelsticksthatwereforsnackthatday.Itis notclearwhatcausedthisspontaneous generalizationtonewsocialtopics;however,previousresearchhasidentifiedsocialinitiationsas apivotal,orcusp,behaviorinthattheacquisitionofsocialinitiationscontactsnatural contingenciesintheenvironmentleadingtothegenerationoffurthersocialcommunicationskills (Bosch&Fuqua,2001;Koegel,Carter,&Koegel,2003).InJames’case,thesocialstorymay havegivenhimaninitialscripttobeginsocialinitiationsandcontactcontingenciesofpeer reinforcement.Atthispoint,observingpeers’interactionsonothertopicsmayhaveledtohis acquisitionofgeneralizedsocialinitiations.

Onepotentiallimitationtothecurrentstudywastheconsistencyofthesocialstory.Whenthe storywasamendedforpeers2and3,theirnameswereaddedbutthetopicscoveredinthestory remainedthesame.Whileusefulfromaresearchdesignstandpoint,theconsistencyofthescript likelynarrowedthecontentofJames’socialinitiations.Jamesfrequentlyaskedpeer1thesame twoquestions(alongsideotherquestions)duringeachsession.Ifthesocialstoryhadbeen changedmoreforeachpeer,Jamesmighthavebeenabletomasteragreatervarietyofinitiations topeers.Ofnote,Jamesonlyinitiatedtopeersnamedinthestoryandneverinitiatedtoanyof theotherpeersinhisclass.Thisfindingmayreveallimitationsofthistypeofsocialstoryfor

practice; astorywithmorebroadsuggestionsonmakingsocialinitiationstoallpeersmaybe moreusefulinpractice.Overall,thesocialstorytestedinthepresentstudydidnotinclude programmingforgeneralization,whichisalimitationandrecommendedinfutureresearchand practiceinthisarea.Additionallimitationsincludethefocusonone,uniquestudentwithhigh functioningASDwhichnecessarilylimitsgeneralizationoffindings.Futurestudiesshould considermultiplebaselinedesignstoexaminetheeffectsofsocialstoriesonsocialinitiationsin multiplestudentswithASD.

Overall,thefindingsofthisstudysuggestthatasocialstoryusedwithoutpromptingor reinforcementwaseffectiveinincreasingsocialinitiationstotypicalpeersinone6-year-old participantwithhigh-functioningASD.ThisstudyaddstoReichowandSabornie(2009)as researchsupportingtheuseofasocialstorywithoutreinforcementorpromptingtoincrease socialinitiationsinsomechildrenwithASD.Futureresearchshouldcontinuetoinvestigatefor whomsocialstoriesareeffectiveforincreasingsocialinitiationsandothersocialcommunication skills.Forexample,Jameswashypothesizedtobehighlymotivatedbypeerattentionwhichmay havebeenacontributingfactortotheintervention’ssuccess.Futurestudiesshouldattemptto implementsocialstoriesalonewithmultiplestudentswithASDtofurtherexamine generalizabilityandmaintenanceoftheresultsandprovidemoreinformationonthepopulation forwhomthisfeasibleinterventioniseffective.

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About the Authors

StephanieValentini isadoctoralstudentatTheUniversityofKansasintheAppliedBehavioral Sciencedepartmentandhasexperienceasabehavioranalystinthehome,clinic,andschool setting.

Dr.RachelRobertsonisanassistantprofessorofspecialeducationattheUniversityof Pittsburghwheresheteachesandconductsresearchinautismspectrumdisorders,behavioral disorders,andappliedbehavioranalysis.

Identifying Special Education Professional Development Needs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

MorganChitiyo,Ph.D. DuquesneUniversity

ElizabethM.Hughes,Ph.D. ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity

MohammedAladsani DuquesneUniversity

MohammedAlJaffal,Ph.D. KingSaudUniversity

SiddiqAhmed DuquesneUniversity

HamadHamdi DuquesneUniversity

Abstract

SincetheestablishmentofformalspecialeducationsystemsintheKingdomofSaudiArabia (KSA)in1958,thecountryhasmadeimportantstridesineffortstodevelopherspecialeducation system. Evenwithnotabledevelopments,morestillneedstobedone,especiallyintheareasof teacherpreparationandprofessionaldevelopment,toimprovethesystemofspecialeducational servicedelivery. Withresearchindicatingthatprofessionaldevelopmentofteachersismore effectiveiftheteachersthemselvesareinvolvedintheplanningprocess,theseresearchers wantedto getboth generalandspecialeducationteachersinthecountrytoparticipateintheir ownprofessionaldevelopmentplanning. Usinga surveymethod,theseresearcherssolicitedthe viewsof802in-serviceteachersinthecountryaboutinclusiveeducationandtheirspecial educationprofessionaldevelopmentneeds. Whiletheteacherswerealmostequallydivided aboutwhethertheyfavoredinclusiveeducationornot,theywereunanimousaboutthe importanceofprofessionaldevelopment. Theteachersalsoratedallthesuggestedprofessional developmenttopicsasimportant. Implicationsofthesefindingsarediscussed.

Identifying Special Education Professional Development Needs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

GeneralInformationabouttheKingdomofSaudiArabia

TheKingdomofSaudiArabia(KSA)wasestablishedbyIbnSaudin1932andislocatedin SouthwestAsia. Sincethediscoveryofpetroleumin1938,thecountryhasbecometheworld's largestoilproducerandexporter. Ithastheworld'ssecondlargestoilreservesandthesixth

largestgasreserves,whichmakesthecountrypoliticallyveryinfluential,particularlyinthe MiddleEast. TheKSAisgovernedbyamonarchyundertheinfluenceoftheIslamicreligion (RoyalEmbassyofSaudiArabiainWashington,DC,2016). AccordingtotheGeneral AuthorityforStatistics(2017),thepopulationofKSAwas32,552,336with20,768,627being Saudisandamajority(over67%)beingyoungpeoplelessthan30yearsold. Almost7%ofthe totalpopulationwerecategorizedashavingdisabilities(GeneralAuthorityforStatistics,2017).

TheEducationalsystem

In1925,beforetheofficialestablishmentoftheKSA,theDirectorateofKnowledgemarkedthe launchofthefirsteducationalsystemintheKSAandthissystemwasthecornerstoneofthe educationalsystemforboysinthenation(MinistryofEducation,2017). Thepowersofthe DirectorateofKnowledgeexpandedupontheestablishmentoftheKSAin1932.Sincethe establishmentoftheeducationsystem,boysandgirlshavebeenseparatedacrossalleducational levels(Alamri,2011). TheeducationintheKSAisfreetoallSaudisandnon-Saudistudents acrossalleducationallevels. However,freehighereducationisexclusivelyforSaudis.Thereare public,private,andinternationalschoolsintheKSAandallofthemmustadheretotheMinistry ofEducation’sstandardsandregulations(SaudiArabianCulturalMissionintheUSA,1991). Therearesix mainlevelsofpublic(governmental)andprivate(non-governmental)education: kindergarten,elementary,intermediate,secondary,university,andpostgraduate(Al-kahtani, 2015). PrivateschoolsareentitledtoreceivefinancialcontributionfromtheMinistryof Educationandtheymustfollowthesamecurriculumaspublicschools. Therearealsosome foreigninternationalschoolsinwhichEnglishisthelanguageofinstruction(Al-kahtani,2015).

SpecialEducation

Before1958,therewerenoformalspecialeducationservicesforindividualswithdisabilitiesin theKSA. Hence,parentsofstudentswithdisabilitieswereresponsibleforeducatingtheirown children(Al-Ajmi,2006).In1958,theKSAstartedaspecialeducationprogramforindividuals withvisualimpairment(Salloom,1995). By1962,theMinistryofEducationhadsetupa departmentforuniquelearningwhoseresponsibilitywastoimprovetheservicesrenderedto childrenwiththreetypesofdisabilitiesnamely,visualimpairment,hearingimpairment,and intellectualdisabilities(formerlymentalretardation)(Afeafe,2000).

In1987,theLegislationofDisabilitywaspassedtosafeguardtheinterests ofindividualswith physicaldisabilities. Thelawguaranteedequaleducationalrightsforchildrenwithdisabilities justliketheirpeerswithoutdisabilitiesandincludedmanyarticlesthatdefinedisabilities, describeprogramsforpreventionandintervention,andidentifyprocedures ofassessmentand diagnosistodetermineeligibilityforspecialeducationservices. TheLegislationofDisability alsoensuredthatpublicserviceproviders,suchasschools,accommodatedpeoplewith disabilities(MinistryofHealthCare,2010). In2000,theSaudigovernmentenactedthe DisabilityCode,whichguaranteedfreeaccesstoappropriaterehabilitationservicesforpeople withdisabilities(PrinceSalmanCenterforDisabilityResearch,2004). Furthermore,the MinistryofEducationrepresentativefromtheDirectorate GeneralofSpecialEducationand someprofessionalsfrom theDepartmentofSpecialEducationatKingSaudUniversity developedtheRegulationsofSpecialEducationProgramsandInstitutes(RSEPI),whichwere

modeledonthemainprinciplesoftheIndividualwithDisabilitiesEducationAct(IDEA)inthe UnitedStates. Althoughgreatstrideshavebeenmade,inthelastdecade,toimprovespecial educationservicesinthecountry,thereisstillneedtofurtherimprovethecurrentlyavailable services(Alquraini,2010).

IntheKSA,studentsclassifiedashavingmildlearningdisabilitieswereeducatedingeneral educationclassroomswithsomesupportsuchastimeinaresourceroom. Studentswithmildto moderatecognitivedisabilitieswereeducatedinseparateself-containedclassroomsinpublic schools(Al-Ajmi,2006). Ninety-sixpercentofstudentswithmultipleorseveredisabilitieswere educatedinseparateinstitutesin2007-2008;buttheseinstituteslackedrelatedservicessuchas occupationaltherapy,physicaltherapy,andspeechandlanguagepathologythatcouldbenefitthe students(Alquraini,2010;MinistryofEducation,2008).

TeacherPreparation

AlluniversitiesintheKSAofferatleastabachelor’sdegreeinspecialeducationwithsome offeringgraduatestudiesaswell. Allspecialeducationteachersarerequiredtohaveatleasta four-yearbachelor’sdegreeinteachingstudentswithspecificdisabilitiessuchasautism, learningdisabilities,andintellectualdisabilities,amongothers. Bothspecialand general educationteachersplayanimportantroleinimprovingthequalityofspecialeducationprograms andservices(Giangerco,Edelman,Broer,&Doyle,2001). Thus,theyneedtopossesssufficient skillsandknowledgetoprovideadequateandeffectiveeducationalservicesforstudentswith disabilities(Alquraini,2010). Ingeneral,thesuccessofanyinclusionprogram,accordingto Giangercoetal.(2001)andMcleskey,Henry,andAxelrod(1999),reliesongoodprofessional development. Allteachersneedtoparticipateinongoingprofessionaldevelopmenttopromote qualityeducationforchildrenwithspecialneeds(Alquraini,2010). IntheKSA,professional developmentiscommonlyprovidedthroughvariousformatssuchasseminarsandworkshops.

However,thereisstillneedinthecountrytoprovideprofessionaldevelopmentprogramsforall in-serviceteachersfocusingoninclusiveeducationandhowtoteachstudentswithdisabilitiesin theirclassrooms. Professionaldevelopmentprogramsshouldbeofferedthroughouttheschool yearforallspecialandgeneral educationteachers. Theseprogramsshouldfocusoneffective pedagogyandevidence-basedpracticesinspecialeducation. Inaddition,specialand general educationteachersshouldbeawareofthemethodsofcollaboration(Aldabas,2015),whichisso essentialforsuccessfulinclusionofstudentswithdisabilities.

FactorsInfluencingSpecialEducation

Severalstudieshaveexaminedteachers’perceptionstowardchildrenwithdisabilitiesinthe KSA. AstudyconductedbyAl-Faiz(2006)among240elementaryschoolteacherstoexamine theteachers’attitudestowardinclusiveeducationforstudentswithautismfoundthatmost participantshadpositiveattitudes. Al-Faiz’sstudyindicatedthatbeingfamily/relativesof studentswithdisabilityandexperienceofteachingstudentswithdisabilityinfluencedthe attitudesoftheteachers. Theperceptionsofteachersaboutstudentswithdisabilitiesarecritical tothesuccessfulimplementationofinclusiveeducation(Auramidis&Norwich,2002;Cross, Traub,Hutter-Pishgahi, &Shelton,2004).

Haimour(2013)evaluatedspecialeducationprogramsimplementedininclusiveschoolsinSaudi Arabiafromteachers’perspectives.Thefindingsindicatedthattheteachers'evaluationsof specialeducationprogramsintheirschoolsweregenerallypositive. Theresultsalsoshowed significantdifferencesin theteachers'evaluationsbasedontheirpositionandeducationallevels, withmorepositiveevaluationsfoundamongspecialeducationteacherswithmaster'sdegrees. In addition,therewerenosignificantdifferencesintheteachers'evaluationsbasedongenderor teachingexperience(Haimour,2013).

Al-Ahmadi(2009)conductedastudywith251specialandgeneraleducationteacherstoexamine theirattitudestowardstheintegrationofstudents withlearningdisabilitiesinregularSaudi publicschools. Theresultsshowedthatfemaleteachershadlowerpositiveattitudestowardsthe integrationofstudentswithlearningdisabilitiesthanmaleteachers. Inaddition,thestudy revealedthatteachers’levelsofeducationaffectedtheirattitudes. Forexample,teacherswho heldhighereducationdegrees(e.g.,masterordoctorate)weremorelikelytohavepositive attitudes. Thefindingsalsoindicatedthatbothgeneralandspecialeducationteachersbelieved theirtrainingwasinadequatetomanagethebehaviorsofstudentswithdisabilities,andtheywere concernedabouttheperceivedinabilityofregulareducationteacherstomeetthelearningneeds ofstudentswithspecialneeds(Alahmadi,2009).

Bakhsh(2009)evaluatedspecialeducationtrainingprogramsinKSAandfoundthattherewere somestrengthsregardingspecialeducationteachertrainingprogramsinKSAthatneededtobe promotedandsupported. However,therewerealsoseveralweaknessesthatneededtobe addressed. Someoftheweaknesseswerelimitedresearchontheneedsofspecialeducation teachers,whichincludebutarenotlimitedto,professionaldevelopmenttrainingprograms, class-management,andrisk-management(Bakhsh,2009).

Morerecently,Alquraini(2012)examinedSauditeachers’perspectivesregardingtheinclusion ofstudentswithsevereintellectualdisabilities. Thestudyindicatedthatteachershadslightly negativeperspectivestowardstheinclusionofstudentswithsevereintellectualdisabilities. Interestingly,thestudyalsoshowedthatgeneraleducationteachershadmorepositive perceptionsthanspecialeducationteachers(Alquraini,2012). Sincesomespecialeducation teacherswhoworkedwithstudentswithmilddisabilitiesininclusivesettingsparticipatedinthis study,theymighthavehadunsuccessfulexperienceswithinclusivesettings,whichmighthave influencedtheirperceptionsaboutinclusion. AsCook,Tankersley,Cook,andLandrum(2000) noted,negativeexperienceswithunsuccessfulinclusionmighthaveasignificanteffecton specialeducationteachers’perspectives. Inaddition,thegeneraleducationteacherswho participatedinCooketal.’sstudyworkedinpublicschoolsthathadspecialprogramsfor studentswithdisabilities. Hence,theymighthavehadanopportunitytointeractwiththese studentsinextra-curricularactivitiessuchasphysicaleducationandlunchtimeactivities, interactionswhichcould havebeenmorepositivethanacademiccurricularactivities;thismight havecontributedtotheteachers’positiveattitudes(Alquraini,2012).

Finally,Alshahrani(2014)investigatedschoolpersonnel’sattitudestowardinclusionofstudents withhearingimpairments.Thestudyreportedthatteacherstendedtobesomewhatagainst

inclusionofstudentswithhearingimpairmentsin mainstreamclasses. Assuch,researchseemed tohaveyieldedmixedresultsaboutinclusionintheKSA. Asaresult,Alquraini(2010)called formoreresearchtoassesstheattitudesofteachersandotherstakeholdersregardinginclusive educationandthefactorsbehindtheseattitudes. Alqurainialsoemphasizedthatpublicagencies shouldeducatefamiliesandthecommunity,throughthemedia,workshops,andconferences, abouttheimportanceofincludingchildrenwithdisabilitiesinregularclasses.

PurposeofthisStudy

Thisstudywasdesignedtoexplorethebeliefs,concerns,andspecialeducationprofessional developmentneedsofschoolteachersintheKSA. Thestudywasguidedbythefollowing researchquestions:(1)TowhatdegreedoschoolteachersintheKSAbelievethatstudentswith disabilitiesshouldbeeducatedtogetherwithstudentswithoutdisabilities? (2)Towhatdegreedo schoolteachersintheKSAindicatetheimportanceofprofessionaldevelopmentonteaching studentswithdisabilities?(3)WhatdoschoolteachersinKSAidentifyasprioritizedprofessional developmentneedsregardingspecialeducationknowledgeandservicesin KSA? (4)Whatdo educatorsinKSAidentifyasneedsforsuccessfulspecialeducationclassrooms? (5)Arethere differencesinattitudesbyplaceofemployment(i.e.,governmentorprivate),locationofschool (i.e.,urbanorvillage),anddegreespecialization(i.e.,whethertheyarespecialeducation certifiedornot)?

Method

SamplingandProcedure

Bothconvenienceandpurposefulsamplingwereusedtoaccessparticipantsforthisstudy. The researchersusedpurposefulsamplinginordertoaccessparticipantsfromthefiveregionsofthe country(i.e.,Central,Eastern,Western,Southern, andNorthernregions). Thequestionnairewas distributedelectronicallythroughmanyelectronic platformsandapplicationsonthesocialmedia suchasTwitterandWhatsApp. AccordingtoAbdurabb(2014),therearemorethan2.4million activeTwitterusersinSaudiArabia. Thus,theresearchersdistributedthequestionnairevia TwitterandWhatsApptomaximizethenumberofpotentialrespondentsreached. Finally,the surveywasalsodistributedviapersonalcontactsofsomeoftheauthorsofthisstudywhohave taughtinthedifferentregionsinthecountry. Asa result,atotalof802teachersparticipatedin thisstudy.

DemographicInformationofParticipants

DemographicinformationabouttheparticipantsispresentedinTable1. About62%(n =500)of theparticipantsweremalewhileabout38%(n =302)werefemale;oneparticipantdidnot indicategender. Mostoftheparticipants(n =584;73%)hadabachelor’sdegree while18%(n = 141)hadamaster’sdegree;1%(n=10)hadcompletedmiddleschool,3%(n=22)hadadiploma, 2%(n =15)hadadoctoraldegree,and4%(n =31)indicated“other”withoutspecifying. A slightmajorityoftheteachers(n =471;59%)werequalifiedinspecialeducationwhiletherest werenot.

Overhalfoftheparticipants(n =454;53%)taughtelementaryschool,5%(n =41)taught kindergarten,14%(n =115)taughtmiddleschool, 15%(n =117)taughthighschool,andthe rest(n =106;13%)indicated“other”withoutspecifying. Mostoftheteachers(n =797;91%)

wereteachingatgovernment(public)schoolswhiletherest(n =76;10%) taughtatprivate schools. Amajorityoftheteachers(n =704;88%)alsotaughtaturbanschoolswhiletherest(n =99;12%)taughtatsuburbanorrural(village)schools. Theteacherswerealmostequally dividedintermsofthosewhowereteachingstudentswithdisabilitiesatthetimeofthestudy(n =458;57%)versusthosewhowerenot(n =345;43%). Finally,theteacherstaughtinvarietyof settingsincludinggeneraleducationclassroomwithoutstudentswithdisabilities(n =252;31%), inclusivegeneraleducationclassroom(n =49;6%),resourceroom(n =116;14%),special educationclassroominthegeneralschool(n =245;31%),institutionsofspecialeducation(n = 50;6%),rehabilitationcenters(n =21;3%),and“other”unspecified.

Demographic Characteristics of the Participating Teachers

Instrumentation

Theresearchersusedamodifiedversionofthesemi-structuredquestionnairedevelopedby Chitiyo,Hughes,Changara,Chitiyo,andMontgomery(2016)toinvestigatespecialeducation professionaldevelopmentneedsinZimbabwe. Thequestionnaire,whichincluded12 demographicquestions,26Likert-typequestions,andthreeopen-responsequestions,was slightlymodifiedtofittheKSAcontext. Thechangesincludedlanguagerevisionstoreflectthe disabilitycategoriesrecognizedintheKSAaswellastranslationintoArabic. TheLikert-type questionselicitedparticipants’ratingsconcerningtheirbeliefsaboutinclusion,theneedfor professionaldevelopmentinspecialeducation,andtheimportanceofspecificspecialeducation professionaldevelopmenttopics. Theopen-responsequestionsaskedparticipantstolist,intheir ownwords,additionalareasofspecialeducationinwhichtheyneededprofessionaldevelopment aswellastoidentifyresourcesormaterialsneededforthesuccessfullearningofstudentswith disabilitiesintheirclassrooms. However,resultsofopen-endquestionswillbereported separatelyinanotherreportandwillnotbeincludedinthispaper.

Results

Teachers’AttitudestowardsInclusiveEducation

OnaLikertscalerangingfromzero(stronglydisagree)tofive(stronglyagree),theparticipants ratedtheirthoughtsabouteducatingstudentswithdisabilitiestogetherwith studentswithout disabilities. About14%(n =109)indicatedthattheystronglydisagreedwhile22%(n =173) stronglyagreedthatstudentswithdisabilitiesshouldbeeducatedtogetherwiththeirpeers withoutdisabilities. Overall,58%(n =463)respondedwitharatingofatleastthreewhile42% (n =339)respondedwith aratinglessthanthree. Thisindicatesthataslightmajoritysupported theideaofinclusiveeducationalbeitwithvaryinglevelsofenthusiasm. Figure1presentsthese ratings.

Figure 1. Teachers’RatingsWhetherStudentswithDisabilitiesShouldbeEducatedTogether withStudentswithoutDisabilities

TestsofDifferencesinTeachers’Attitudes

Several t testswereruntoassessdifferencesinteacherattitudesacrosscertainvariablessuchas typeofschool(i.e.,privatevs.government),locationofschool(i.e.,urbanvs.rural/village), gender,andwhethertheparticipantswereteachingstudentswithdisabilitiesornotatthetimeof thestudy. These t-testsresultsindicatedthefollowing:nosignificantdifferencein attitudes betweengovernment(M =2.75, SD =1.67)andprivate(M =3.04, SD =1.64, t(800)=-1.436, p >.05);nosignificantdifferenceinteachers'attitudesbetweenthoseteachinginurbanschools(M =2.82, SD =1.65)versusthoseinrural/villagesettings(M =2.52, SD =1.73, t(800)=-1.649, p >.05);nosignificantdifferenceinattitudesbetweenmaleteachers(M =2.73, SD 1.68)and femaleteachers(M =2.86, SD =1.63, t(799)=-1.120, p >.05). However,theresultsindicateda significantdifferenceinteachers'attitudesbetweenthosewhowereteachingstudentswith disabilitiesatthetimeofthestudy(M =2.89, SD =1.62)andthosewhowerenotteaching studentswithdisabilitiesatthetimeofthestudy(M =2.63,SD=1.71, t(800)=2.243, p >.05); educatorswhowereteachingstudentswithdisabilitieshadmorepositiveattitudes.

Regardingtestingfordifferencesinteachers'attitudesbywhetheranyoftheirdegreesor certificationswereinspecialeducation,Levene’stestindicatedthatthegroupshaddissimilar variances(F =8.134, p <0.01).Therefore,a t-testassumingunequalvarianceswasconducted, andtheresultindicatednosignificantdifferencebetweenthosewhohadadegreeinspecial education(M =3.03, SD =1.58)andthosewhodidnot(M =2.43, SD =1.72, t(675)=5.044,p< .001).

Teachers’PerceptionsaboutSpecialEducationProfessionalDevelopment

Theteacherswereaskedtorate,usingascalerangingfromzero (leastimportant)tofive(most important),howimportanttheythoughtprofessionaldevelopmentintheareaofspecial educationwas. Amajorityoftheteachers(71%; n =569)indicatedthatprofessional developmentwasmostimportantwhile2%(n =15)thoughtitwasleastimportant. Overall, 93%(n =743)oftheteachersrespondedwitharatingofatleastthreewhile8%(n =60) respondedwitharatinglessthanthree. TheseresultsarepresentedinFigure2.

Figure 2. Teachers’RatingsoftheImportanceofProfessionalDevelopment Teachers’RatingsofSpecialEducationProfessionalDevelopmentTopics

Theteacherswerepresentedwithseveralspecialeducationtopicsandaskedtorateeachofthem onascale rangingfromzero(leastimportant)tofive(mostimportant). Accordingtotheratings, allthetopicswere consideredtobeimportantwiththefollowingtopicsreceivingthehighestfive meanratings:teachinglifeskills(M =4.34; SD =1.15),howtodifferentiateinstruction(M = 4.32; SD =1.15),collaborationwithparents/guardians(M =4.29; SD =1.18),behavior management(M =4.28;SD=1.14),instructionalmethods(M =4.27; SD =1.18).Topicsthat receivedtheleastratingsincluded,birthtoagethree(M =3.32; SD =1.65),laws(M =3.50; SD =1.48),blindnessandvisualimpairment(M =3.61; SD =1.51). Theteachers’meanratingsof thespecialeducationprofessionaldevelopmenttopicsarepresentedinTable2.

Teachers’ Mean Ratings of the Different Special Education Professional Development Topics

ItseemsteachersinKSAwerealmostequallydividedintheirperceptionsaboutinclusive educationwithaslightmajority(i.e.,58%)indicatingagreementthatstudentswithdisabilities shouldbeeducatedtogetherwiththeirpeerswithoutdisabilities. Thisfindingmaynotbe surprisinggiventhatpreviousstudieshaveyieldedmixedresultsregardingSauditeachers’ attitudestowardincludingstudentswithdisabilitiesinthegeneraleducationclassroom. For example,Al-faiz (2006)reportedpositiveattitudes,towardsinclusionofstudentswithautism, amongelementaryschoolteachersintheKSA. Onthecontrary,Alquraini(2012)foundthe attitudesofSauditeacherstowardsinclusiveeducationforstudentswithsevereintellectual disabilitytobenegative. However,itseemsfrom thesestudiesthatthedifferencesinattitudes tendtobeexplainedbythetypeofdisabilities,andotherfactorssuchasexperienceteaching

studentswithdisabilities,teachers’gender,andwhethertheteachersweregeneralorspecial educationteachers(Alquraini,2012).

Nevertheless,inthiscurrentstudytheresultsindicatednosignificantdifferencesinteachers’ attitudestowardinclusiveeducationbasedontheteachers’typeofschooltheytaughtat(i.e., privateversusgovernment),locationofschool(i.e.,urbanversusrural/village),theirgender,and whethertheyhadaspecialeducationdegreeornot. Theonlysignificantdifferencewasfound basedonwhethertheteacherswereteachingstudentswithdisabilitiesatthetimeofthestudyor not,withthosewhowereteachingstudentswithdisabilitieshavingmorepositiveattitudes towardsinclusiveeducationthanthosewhowere not. Thismaynotbesurprisingbecause exposuretoindividualswithdisabilitieshasbeenfoundtopositivelyinfluenceteacherattitudes (Park&Chitiyo,2009;2011). However,whatis surprisingisthatthisfindingseemsto contradictresultsofAlquraini’s(2012)studyindicatingthatgeneral educationteachersinKSA hadmorepositiveattitudestowardsinclusiveeducationthanspecialeducationteachers.

Alquraini’sfindingswouldbesurprising,ifweassumethatspecialeducationteachersgenerally havemoreexposuretostudentswithdisabilitiesthangeneraleducationteachers.Furtherstudies wouldbeneededtoexplorethisseemingcontradiction.

Itisnoteworthyandencouragingthatanoverwhelmingmajority(93%)oftheteachersrated professionaldevelopmentintheareaofspecialeducationasimportant. Inacountrywhere specialeducationisstilldeveloping,professionaldevelopmentforteachersisessentialasitcan contributetotheimprovementofteacherquality(Colbert,Brown,Choi,&Thomas,2008). However,inorderforprofessionaldevelopmenttobeeffectivelyconducted,establishingteacher buy-iniscrucialbecauseitcanpositivelyinfluencethesuccessofsuchefforts(Borko,2004; David&Bwisa,2013). Thisiswhythisfindingisnoteworthyandencouraging. TheKSAcan buildonthisandmakenotablestridesinthedevelopmentofspecialandinclusiveeducation.

Intermsoftheprofessionaldevelopmenttopics,theteachersratedallthelistedtopicsas importantwiththeleastratedtopichavingameanratingof3.32. Thetoptentopicsallhad meanratingsrangingfrom4.11to4.34,whichsuggestthattheywereconsideredveryimportant. Amongthesetopicswere teaching life skills, behavior management, differentiating instruction, discipline,and instructional methods amongothers. Thesefindingssuggestthattheteachers recognizedtheneedtoimprovetheirinstructionalandbehaviormanagementskillsandtheir knowledgeaboutdisabilitiesandthespecialandinclusiveeducationprocesses. Indeed,the MinistryofEducationprovidesprofessionaldevelopmentprogramsthroughouttheyear. However,theprogramsarenotmandatoryandwhethertheteachersattendornotdoesnothave bearingontheteachers’positions.

Asindicatedearlierinthispaperandelsewhere,involvingteachersintheplanningoftheirown professionaldevelopmentisanimportantinitialstepinthedevelopmentofeffectiveprofessional developmentfortheteachers(Charema,2010;Colbertetal.,2008). Thisstudyshouldbe interpretedassuchaneffortandthefindingsshouldinformpolicymakersandteacher preparationprogramsinthecountryonwhattoprioritizeintermsofbothpreserviceteacher preparationaswellasprofessionaldevelopmentforin-serviceteachers.

Conclusion

FormalspecialeducationservicesintheKSAcanbetracedbackto1958.Sincethattime,the countryhasmadeimportantstridesineffortstodevelopherspecialeducationsystem. These effortsincludefundingandspecialeducationteacherpreparation. Inspiteofthenotable developments,morestillneedstobedonetoimprovethesystemofspecialeducationalservice delivery. Inparticular,thereisneedfordevelopingmoreprofessionaldevelopmentprogramsfor bothforbothgeneralandspecialeducationteachersintheareaofspecialeducation. Current researchindicatesthatprofessionaldevelopmentofteachersismoreeffectiveiftheteachers themselvesareinvolvedintheplanningprocess. Thiscurrentstudywasanattempttodothat. Theseresearcherswantedtosolicittheviewsofin-serviceteachersinthecountryaboutinclusive educationandtheirspecialeducationprofessionaldevelopmentneeds. Whiletheteacherswere almostequallydividedaboutwhethertheyfavoredinclusiveeducationornot,theywere unanimousabouttheimportanceofprofessionaldevelopment. Theteachersalsoregardedallthe differentprofessionaldevelopmenttopicsasimportant. Thesefindingsareimportantbecause teachers’viewscaninfluencetheirparticipationinprofessionaldevelopment. Futureresearch shouldexploreefficientwaystoimplementprofessionaldevelopmentforteachers. Suchefforts couldincludehowtouseonlinebasedplatforms,whicharecompatiblewiththeadvancein technologyacrosstheregion.

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AbouttheAuthors

MorganChitiyo,Ph.D., isdepartmentchairandprofessorofspecialeducationatDuquesne University.Heisformereditorofthe Journal of the International Association of Special Education,thefoundingandcurrentco-editorofthe African Journal of Special and Inclusive Education,andassociateeditorof Journal of International Special Needs Education.His researchinterestsareintheareasofbehaviormanagementandprofessionaldevelopmentfor teachers.

ElizabethM.Hughes,Ph.D., isanassistantprofessorofspecialeducationatthePennsylvania StateUniversity.Herresearchfocusesonacademicinterventionsforstudentswithdisabilities. Recentresearchincludestheuseofvideo-basedinterventionstoteachmathematicstostudents withautismanduseofgraphicnovelstoteachscienceandmathematicscontent.

MohammedAladsani isadoctoralcandidateinspecialeducationatDuquesneUniversity.His focusareasareassessmentandlearning.

MohammedAlJaffal,Ph.D.,isanassistantprofessorofspecialeducationatKingSaud University.Hisresearchinterestsareintheareasofprofessionaldevelopmentforgeneral educationteachersandevidence-basedpracticeforstudentswithautism.

SiddiqAhmedSiddiq isadoctoralcandidatespecialeducationatDuquesneUniversity.He receivedfourmaster’sdegreeinlinguistic,educationaladministration,professionalspecial educationandMasterofScienceinspecialeducation.Hisresearchinterestsincludepositive behaviorsupports,peermediatedinterventionforstudentswithspecialneeds,andservicesand supportsforindividualswithautismindevelopingcountries.

HamadHamdi isadoctoralcandidateinspecialeducationatDuquesneUniversity.Hisfocus areasarebehaviordisordersandautism.

Portrayals of Inclusive Teaching Practices: The Nature and Extent of Special Education in Journals for Mathematics Teachers

BenjaminS.Riden,M.Ed. AndreaV.McCloskey,Ph.D.

Pennsylvania

StateUniversity

Abstract

Thiscontentanalysisstudyinvestigatestheleadingmathematicsteachingpractitionerjournals publishedbytheNationalCouncilforTeachersofMathematics(NCTM).Thepurposeisto identifywhatmessagesandresourcesmathematicsteachersarebeingprovidedregardinghow studentswithdisabilitieslearnmathematicsandhowteachersshouldinstructstudentswith disabilities.Bywayofacontentanddiscourseanalysis,weexamined27articlesfocusingon areasofspecialeducation,supportingresearch,mathematicalcontentareas,andsuggested teachingstrategiesincludedinthisprofessionalresourcegenre.Additionally, adiscourse analysiswasconductedtoexaminewhosevoices arerepresentedinarticlesthatprovideteacher andstudentdialogue.FindingssuggestNCTMpractitionerjournalsareconsideringavarietyof disabilitycategories,pullingfrommultipleresearchbases,focusingonstudentsinelementary andmiddlesschoolmorethanhighschool,andofferingstrategiesformathematicseducators workingwithstudentswithdisabilities.Implicationsforresearchandpracticearepresented.

Keywords: mathematicseducation,specialeducation,studentswithdisabilities

Portrayals of Inclusive Teaching Practices: The Nature and Extent of Special Education in Journals for Mathematics Teachers

EversincethereauthorizationoftheIndividualwithDisabilitiesEducationAct(IDEA)in2004, inclusivityhasbeenthelawoftheland.Asaresult,demandsongeneraleducationteachershave increasedtoincludenotonlynewerandmore“rigorous”curricularstandards,suchasthose espousedintheCommonCore,butalsotheexpertisetobeabletomeettheacademicneedsofan increasedrangeofstudents.WesharethevisionoftheNationalCouncilforTeachersof Mathematics(NCTM),theCouncilforExceptionalChildren(CEC),andotherorganizationsthat emphasizetheimportancethatALLstudentstobeaffordedopportunitiestobeactiveknowers anddoersofimportantmathematics.Inits Principles to Actions document,NCTM(2014) describestroublingandunproductiverealitiesincontemporaryschoolinginthisway:

Toomanystudentsarelimitedbylowerexpectationsandnarrower curriculaofremedial tracksfromwhichfeweveremerge.Anexcellentmathematicsprogramrequiresthatall studentshaveaccesstoahigh-qualitymathematicscurriculum,effectiveteachingand learning,highexpectations,andthesupportandresourcesneededtomaximizetheir learningpotential(p.35).

Weagreewiththisprinciple.However,ouryearsofexperienceasaspecialeducationteacher (firstauthor)andasecondarymathematicsteacher (secondauthor),aswellasourcurrentwork asteachereducatorsandresearchersinourrespectivefields,haveconvincedusthatgeneral educationteachersremainunder-supportedtoenactthesegoals.Wethereforesoughtoutto empiricallyinvestigatethequantityandqualityofprofessionalsupportcurrentlyprovidedto mathematicsteachersfortheirworkinteachingstudentswithdisabilities.

Wecanevaluatethequalityandquantityofprofessionalresourcesandsupportintermsofthe programmaticcontentinteacherpreparationandtherehasindeedbeenresearchofthistype(e.g., Blanton,Pugach,&Florian,2011;Dieker&Berg,2002),butinthisstudyweexaminethe resourcesprovidedtopracticingteachersthroughthemeansofprofessionalteacherjournals.We examinedlessonspublishedinhighlyregarded,widelycirculating,peer-reviewedjournals writtenforpracticingteachersofmathematicsattheelementary,middle,andsecondarylevels. ThesethreejournalsarepublishedbytheNCTM,andcanthereforebeconsideredtorepresentat leastsomelevelofinstitutionalandauthoritativeperspective.Mostofthese articlespresent lessonsoractivitiesforeducatorstouseintheirownclassroomteaching,andsomeofthemalso presentfindingsfromclassroom-based,empiricalresearchreportingontheimplementationof thosesameactivities.Weanalyzethenatureandextentoftheintegrationofmathematics educationwithspecialeducationresearchbodies.

Guidingourcontentanalysisexaminationwasthequestion“Whatarticleshavebeenpublished inmathematicsteachingpractitionerjournalsfrom2004-presentregardingstudentswith disabilities?”Weoperationalizedthisquestionusingthefollowingsub-questions:

 Whattypesofscholarshiparepublished—empirical,classroom-based,theoretical,etc.?

 Whatresearchbodiesofliteraturedotheauthorsdrawupon?

 Whatkindsofteachingsuggestionsarebeingprovidedtoteachers?

 Whatbarriersarethereportedteachersandstudentsfacing?

 Whatmathematicscontentareasaretheyaddressing?

 Inanyincludedexcerptsofclassroomdialogue,whoisdoingmoretalking:teachersor studentswithdisabilities?

Followingouranalysisofthecontentcontainedinthesearticles,wedrawconclusionsonwhat messagesteachersare—andarenot—receivingfromthisparticulargenreofprofessional resource.Weconcludewithsuggestionsoffuturedirectionsforresearchforbothspecial educationandmathematicseducationresearchers,andweespeciallymakethecasefortheneed forcontinuedcollaborationsamongthesefields.

Methods

Articlesidentifiedforinclusionarepractitionerarticlesexaminingstrategiesforworkingwith studentswithdisabilitiesingeneraleducationmathematicssettings.Tobeincludedinthis contentanalysis,articleshadtobeEnglishlanguagepeer-reviewedarticlespublishedafter2004 inoneofthethreepractitionerjournalspublishedbytheNCTM(i.e., Teaching Children

Mathematics, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Mathematics Teacher) andinclude strategiesformathematicsteachersworkingininclusiveclassroomsettingswithstudentsat-risk orwithdisabilitiesinPre-Kthrough12th gradeacademicsettings.Weconductedahandsearch ofeachjournalusingkeywords:disabilities,support,interventions,challengingbehavior, differentiation,specificlearningdisabilities,deaf-blindness,autism,intellectualdisability, deafness,emotionaldisturbance,speechorlanguageimpairment,visualimpairment,hearing impairment,orthopedicimpairment,traumaticbraininjury,multipledisabilities,otherhealth impairment.Thedaterestrictionwasselectedto examinewhatmathematicsteacherswerebeing toldaboutworkingwithstudentsat-riskorwithdisabilitiesininclusivemathematicssettings afterthereauthorizationofIDEA(2004).Articleswereexcludediftheymetthefollowing criteria:articlesdidnotincludestudentswithdisabilities,werepublishedbeforethedate restriction,strategiesforworkingwithstudentat-riskorwithdisabilitieswerenotprovided.

Theinitialsearchresultedintheidentificationof29articles.Titles,abstracts(ifprovided),and introductionswereexaminedtoidentifyarticlesmeetinginclusioncriteriareducingthenumber ofidentifiedarticlesto27.Intotal27practitionerarticleswereidentifiedforinclusioninthis analysis.

ContentAnalysisProcedures

Contentanalysisisaresearchtechniqueformakingreplicable andvalidinferencesfromtexts(or othermeaningfulmatter)tothecontextoftheiruse(Krippendorff,2004).Accordingto SandelowskiandBarroso(2003b)researchfindingscanbeplacedonacontinuumindicatingthe degreeoftransformationofdataduringthedataanalysisprocessfromdescriptionto interpretation.Manyresearchersbelievethatbothdescriptiveandinterpretativeapproaches entailinterpretation(Sandelowski,2010).Thevalueofqualitativedescriptionliesnotonlyinthe knowledgethatcanoriginatefromit,butalsobecauseitisavehicleforpresentingandtreating researchmethodsaslivingentitiesthatresistsimpleclassification,andcanresultinestablishing meaningandsolidfindings(Giorgi,1992;Sandelowski,2010).

Acontentanalysiswasconductedonthe27articlesthatmetinclusioncriteria.First,atablewas createdthatincludeseacharticlebyauthor,alphabetically.Next,columnsweredevelopedfor informationonstudents(i.e.,number,hypotheticalvs.empirical),disabilitycategory,domainsof specialeducation,researchbase,barriersofinstructionandstudentlearning,mathcontent standards(NCTM,2000),academicsetting,classroomsupport,andstrategies(SeeTable1). Datawas extractedstudy-by-studyandenteredin thespreadsheetverbatimfromtheoriginal articles.

DiscourseAnalysis

Inadditiontothecontentanalysis,adiscourse analysiswasconducted.Discourseanalysisisthe studyoflanguage-in-use.Betterput,itisthestudyoflanguageatuseintheworld,notjusttosay things,butalsotodothings.Therearevariousapproachestodiscourseanalysismostlyrelatedto linguistics.Yet,discourseanalysiscanalsobeusedtoexamineideas,issues,andthemes(Gee, 2004).Weusediscourseanalysisinthiscontentanalysistoanalyzediscoursebetweenstudents andteachersintheidentifiedarticlestoseewhoismorefrequentlyengagedinmathematical

dialogue.Datawasextractedfromarticlesthatincludedmathematicaldiscoursebetween teachersandstudents.First,atwo-columntablewascreated.Thefirstcolumnrepresentsteacher discourseandthesecondcolumnrepresentsstudent(s)discourse.Second,discoursefrom teachersandstudentswereextractedverbatimandenteredintotherespectivecolumnsfromthe originalarticles.Next,wordswerecountedineachcolumntogetatotalwordcountforteachers andstudents.Numbersrepresentedinnumericalform(e.g.,128)werecountedasoneword.

Inter-coderAgreement

Thefirstauthortrainedadoctoralstudentwhowasnaïvetothepurposeofthestudyonarticle codingproceduresinordertoindependentlyextractarticlecharacteristicsfromtenrandomly selectedarticles(37%ofarticles).Initialagreementonarticlecharacteristicswas81%.After additionaltraining97%agreementwasachieved.Asecondstageofreliabilitywasconductedon contentspecificcategoriesbythefirstandsecondauthors(i.e.,empiricalvs.hypothetical, researchbase,mathcontentstandards). Initialagreementoncontentspecificcategorieswas74%. Afterfurtherdiscussion100%reliabilitywasachieved.

Results

Twenty-sevenarticleswereexaminedtoidentifywhatarticleshavebeenpublishedin mathematicsteachingpractitionerjournalsfrom2004-presentregardingstudentswith disabilities.Articlesidentifiedforanalysisweresummarizedbytheirdescriptivecharacteristics. AdetailedsummaryofidentifiedarticlesisincludedinTable1(presentedafterthe References section)

DescriptiveStatisticsofContentAnalysis

Descriptivestatisticsforthearticlesincludedinthiscontentanalysisincludethemathematics practitionerjournalsarticleswerepublishedin,studentcharacteristics,academicsetting, domainsofspecialeducation,researchbase,barrierstoteachingandlearning,supportinthe classroom,studentandteacherdiscourse,andstrategiespresentedforworkingwithstudentswith disabilities.

PractitionerJournals. SixteenarticleswerepublishedinTeachingChildrenMathematicsthat focusedonteachingstudentwithdisabilitiesinmathclass(Andreasen&Hunt,2012;Baroody, 2006;Bray2005;Brodesky,Carnell&Tillery,2005;Gross,McTigue,&Tierney,2004; Gardner,2011;Gresham&Little,2012;Hodges,Rose,&Hicks,2012;Kamii&Rummelsburg, 2008;Karp&Howell,2004;Losq,2005;Lovin,Kyger,&Allsopp,2004;Taber&Canonica, 2008;Thompson&Sproule,2005;Treahy&Gurganus,2010;Truelove,Holaway-Johnson, Leslie,&Smith,2007).MathematicsTeachingintheMiddleSchoolpublishedninearticleabout workingwithstudentwithdisabilitiessince2004(Bennett,2012;Dieker,Stephan,&Smith, 2012;Hord&Marita,2014;Hunt&Andreasen,2011;Lambert&Stylianou,2013;Little, Hauser,&Corbishley,Pierce&Adams,2005;2009;Suh,2010;Walker&Hunt,2011).Thelast twoarticleincludedinthiscontentanalysiswerepublishedinMathematicsTeacher(Hord, Marita,Walsh,Tomaro,&Gordon,2016;Pritchard&Lamb,2012).

StudentCharacteristics.Acrossallincludedarticles,there were92participantsidentifiedas beingat-riskorhavingdisabilitiesinelementaryschoolthroughhighschool.Studentswere groupedbydisabilitycategories:fourarticles(15%)examinedstudentswithlearningdisabilities (Baroody,2006;Hordetal.,2016;Karp&Howell,2004;Lambert&Stylianou,2013);four articles(15%)examinedstudentsthatwereconsideredat-riskforadisability(Gresham&Little, 2012;Hodgesetal.,2012;Kamii&Rummelsburg,2008;Littleetal.,2009);onearticle examinedastudentwithblindness(Pritchard&Lamb,2012);fivearticles(19%)examinedtwo ormoredisabilitieswithinthesamearticle(Bray,2005;Brodeskyetal.,2004;Diekeretal., 2012;Hord&Marita,2014;Trueloveetal.,2007);thirteenarticlesdidnotprovideadisability category(Andreasen&Hunt2012;Bennett,2012;Carnell&Tillery,2005;Gardner,2011;Hunt &Andreasen,2011;Losq,2005; Lovinetal.,2004;Pierce&Adams,2005;Suh,2010;Taber& Canonica,2008;Thompson&Sproule,2005;Treahy&Gurganus,2010;Walker&Hunt,2012).

Elevenarticles(41%)usedstudentexamplesthatweregroundedinempiricalevidence(Bennett, 2012;Bray,2005;Carnell&Tillery,2005;Diekeretal.,2012;Hodgesetal.,2012;Hord& Marita,2014;Hordetal.,2016;Kammi&Rummelsburg,2008;Lambert&Stylianou,2013; Pritchard&Lamb,2012;Taber&Canonica,2008).Theremainingsixteenarticles(59%) examinedhypotheticalstudentsintheirexamples.

AcademicSetting.Onearticle(Taber&Canonica,2008)tookplaceinaspecialeducation setting.Hodgesetal.(2012)examinedstudentswithdisabilitiesinaninterviewsetting.Two articleslookedatmultiplesettingintheirarticles.Hord&Marita(2014)lookedatstudentswith disabilitiesingeneraleducationclassroomandinstudyhall.Hordetal.(2016)lookedat studentsingeneraleducationclassroomsandintutoringsessions.Theremaining23articles examinedstudentswithdisabilitiesorat-riskingeneraleducationclassroomsettings.

Teachershadfull-timeclassroomsupports(i.e.,paraprofessional,specialeducationteacher, researcher)infive(19%)articles(Carnell&Tillery,2005;Diekeretal.,2012;Taber& Canonica,2008;Treahy&Gurganus,2010;Trueloveetal.,2007).Part-timesupportwas providedtotheclassroomteacherinonearticle(Pritchard&Lamb,2012).Teachersinthe remainingtwenty-onearticlesdidnothaveadditionalclassroomsupportsintheidentified articles.

DomainsofSpecialEducation.Articlesidentifiedforinclusioninthisanalysiswerealso categorizedbydomainsofspecialeducation.Sevendomainsofspecialeducationwere identified:inclusion,instruction,collaboration,differentiation,identification,technology,and socialskills.Fourarticles(15%)focusedsolelyoninclusion(Bennett,2012;Brodeskyetal., 2004;Hord&Marita,2014;Lambert&Stylianou,2013).Instructionwasthefocusoffour (15%)ofarticles(Hordetal.,2016;Kamii&Rummelsburg,2008;Losq,2005;Taber& Canonica,2008).Onestudyfocusedsolelyontechnology(Suh,2010).Theremainingeighteen articlesfocusedonmultipledomainsofspecialeducation.

ResearchBase.Identificationofresearchbasesthearticleswere groundedinfitintooneor moreoffivecategories:specialeducation,mathematicseducation,psychology,technology,and

UniversalDesignforLearning(UDL).Three articlesdrewinformationsolelyfromspecial educationresearch(Carnell&Tillery,2005;Karp&Howell,2004;Truelove&Garganus, 2007).Matheducationwasthesoleresearchbaseinfivearticles(Lambert &Stylianou,2013; Losq,2005;Pritchard&Lamb,2012;Taber&Canonica,2008;Thompson&Sproule,2005). Specialeducationandmathematicseducationresearchwereusedasevidenceineightarticles (Baroody,2006;Bray,2005;Brodeskyetal.,2004,Diekeretal.,2012;Gardner,2011;Gresham &Little,2012;Lovinetal.,2004;Treahy&Gurganus,2010).Mathematiceducationand psychologywereusedtosupportclaimsinfourarticles(Andreasen&Hunt,2012;Hodgesetal., 2012;Kamii&Rummelsburg,2008;Pierce&Adams,2012).Fivearticlesincludedresearch fromspecialeducation,mathematicseducation,andpsychology(Bennett,2012;Hord&Marita, 2014;Hordetal.,2016;Littleetal.,2009;Walker&Hunt,2012).Onestudy(Hunt& Andreasen,2011)reliedonresearchinspecialeducation,mathematicseducation,UDL,and technology.ThefinalstudybySuh(2010)pulledresearchfromtheareasofspecialeducation, mathematicseducation,psychology,&technologyresearch.

PresentedStrategies.Thereishighvariabilityinthestrategiespresentedintheidentified articles.Strategiesincludeinstruction,technology,manipulatives,UDL,co-teaching,material adaptations,andself-monitoringstrategies.SeeTable1fordetailedinformationonstrategies presentinthearticleinthisanalysis.

Discourse Analysis

Onlyfourarticlesprovidedteacherandstudentdiscourse(Bennett,2012;Hord&Marita,2014; Hordetal.,2016;Karp&Howell,2004).Ofthefourarticlesthatprovideteacherandstudent discoursethreearticles(Hord&Marita,2014;Hordetal.,2016,Karp&Howell,2004)havethe teacherspeakingmorewordsthanthestudentwhoistobelearningthematerial.Onlyonestudy (Bennett,2012)hasthestudenttalkingmorewordsthantheteacher.Hordandcolleagues(2016) presenttwocasestudiesshowingteacherandstudentdiscourse.Intheirfirstcasestudythe teacherMs.Thomasspeaks172wordscomparedtoherstudentwhospeaksaconsiderablylower numberofwords,70.TheirsecondcasestudytheteacherMr.Huntspeaks180wordscompared tohisstudentwhoonlyspeak72words.Hord(2014)providesacasewheretheteacherMrs. Smithspeaksatotalof201wordscomparedtoStan,herstudent,whospeaks122words.The exampleprovidedbyBennett(2012)showstheteacherspeaking57wordscomparedto111 wordsspokenbyhisstudents.

Discussion

Thepurposeofthisanalysiswastoanalyzethebodyofpractitionerliteraturepublishedby NCTMonwhatteacherarebeingtoldabouthowtoworkwithstudentswithdisabilitiesintheir mathematicsclassrooms.Acontentanalysiswasconductedtoextractcharacteristicsofeach articleonteachingstudentswithdisabilitiesmathematics.Further,adiscourseanalysiswas conductedonarticlesthatprovidedteacherandstudentdialoguetoseewhosevoiceisbeing heardmoreduringthelearningofmathematics.Resultsofthecontentanalysisshowthatthereis highvariabilityinapproachesbeingpresentedtomathematicsteachersworkingwithstudents withdisabilities.Practitionerarticlesfocusedonawiderangestrategiesteacherscanimplement

whenworkingwithstudentswithdisabilitiesinelementary,middle,andhighschool.Resultsof thediscourseanalysisshowthatinthemajorityofexamplesprovidedteachersaredoingmostof thetalkingduringstudentlearningtime.Additionally,wefoundthatteacherandstudent dialoguesarenotbeingincludedinthevastmajorityoftheidentifiedarticles.Basedonthe resultsoftheidentifiedarticlesitcanbeconcludedthatmathematicspractitionerarticles publishedbyNCTMhavebeeneffectiveinprovidingresearchbasedinformationtomathematics teachersthatareworkingwithstudentswithdisabilities.

DescriptiveStatisticsofContentAnalysis

PractitionerJournals. Basedontheidentifiedarticlestheresultsshowthatthemajorityof articlesarepresentedinjournalsfocusedonouryoungerstudents(i.e.,elementary,middle school),farlessattentionbeingpaidtomathematicsteachersworkingwithstudentswith disabilitiesinhighschoolsettings.Unfortunatelyasstudentsmoveintohighergradelevels mathematicsbecomesmoredifficultandrequireshigher-orderthinkingskills(Confrey,Nguyen, Lee,Panorkou,Corley,&Maloney,2012).Althoughthegoaloflearningmathematicsisthe developmentofproblem-solvingskillsthatispartofallfivecurricularcontentstandards (NCTM,2000)wearenotprovidingsupporttomathematicsteachersworkingwithstudentsin uppersecondarygradelevelstomeetthatend.

StudentCharacteristics.Thesuccessofstudents withdisabilitiesdependstoalargeextenton willingnessandabilityoftheirinstructorstoacceptthemandprovideaccessibleinstruction, engagement, andassessmentsothattheycanparticipatemoreequitably(Maxam&Henderson, 2013).Animportantconsiderationwhenprovidingsuggestionstoteachersaboutworkingwith studentswithdisabilitiesisensuringwearereferringtodisabilitiesinthecorrectmanner. Understandingdisabilitylabelsallowseducatorstorecognizemeaningfuldifferencesinlearning orbehaviorandisafirstandnecessarystepinrespondingresponsiblytothosedifferences (Heward,2006).Therewerethirteeninstancesinthiscontentanalysiswhereeitherterms regardingstudentswithdisabilitiesdidnotfallunderoneofthethirteencategoriesin IDEA (2004)orthedisabilitywasnotmentionedatall. Itiscriticalthateducatorshavean understandingofthesedisabilitiesinordertoprovidein-classsupportforstudentwith disabilities.

Providingteacherswithreal-lifescenariosthathaveendedinpositiveresultsforstudentswith disabilitiesinmathematicsclasshavethepotentialtoconvinceteachersthatpresentedstrategies areworthimplementingintheirclassrooms.Yet,onlyelevenarticlesinthiscontentanalysis providedsuchexamples.Theremainingarticlesusedhypotheticalexamplesintheirvignettes. Vignetteshavelongbeenusedinthesocialsciences(Hughes&Hubby,2002).However,one majorcritiqueoftheuseofvignettesisthetextualdescriptionsandhypotheticalbehaviormight notbesufficientlyrepresentativeofreal-worldphenomena,andthisraisesconcernsaboutthe validityoffindingsandconclusionsbasedonthem(Evanetal,2015).

AcademicSetting.Inclusionpracticesarearealityinelementarythroughhighschool.General educationmathematicsteachersaretaskedwiththedifficultjobofinstructingaclassroom,

sometimeupwardsof40students,aswellasprovidinginstructionalandbehavioralsupportsto studentwithdisabilitiesintheirclassrooms.Unfortunately,generaleducationteachersare woefullyunderpreparedtomeetsuchtasks.Competencyinmeetingtheneedsofstudentsin inclusiveclassroomsrequiresknowledgeinthecorecontentareasfromgeneraleducation coupledwiththeabilitytocollaborate,develop,plan,anddeliverindividualizedlessonsfor studentsreceivingspecialeducationservices,thusmaximizinglearningopportunitiesforall students(Kratochwill,Volpiansky,Clements,&Ball,2007).Acquisitionofeffectiveteaching competenciesbeginsinteachereducationprograms.Theseprogramsareresponsiblefor providingbasicskillstoteachersthatwillassisttheminmeetingtheirstudents’academicand socialneeds(Allday,Neilsen-Gatti,&Hudson,2013).

Furtherexacerbatingthechallengesgeneraleducationteachersfaceteachingstudentswith disabilitiesisthelackofclassroomsupportsintheformofparaprofessionals.Classroomsupport intheformofparaprofessionalsareakeycomponentofsuccessforstudentswithdisabilitiesso muchsothattheirimportancewasnotedinfederal legislature(IDEA,2004)statingthat paraprofessionalsarepartoftheteamthatprovideseducationalservicesto studentswith disabilities.Twenty-onearticlesidentifiedinthisanalysisdidnotdescribeanytypeofin-class supportsforteachers.

DomainsofSpecialEducation. Specialeducationismadeupoveranumberofdomains(e.g., inclusion,instructionalstrategies,socialskills).Thepractitionerarticlesidentifiedinthis analysisprovidemultipleandcomprehensiveviewsofmathematicseducationandwaysteachers canimprovetheoutcomesforstudentswithspeciallearningneeds.Therealityisthereareno one-sizefitsallformulatosupportthediverselearningneedsofstudentswithdisabilities.Yet, theNCTMandtheirpractitionerarticlesprovidegreatinsightsforeducatorsthatarelookingto supportallofthestudentsintheirclassrooms.

ResearchBase.Educatorsgenerallyagreethatbroadimplementationofpracticesshownby researchtoreliablycauseincreasedstudentperformancewillresultinincreasedstudent outcomes(Slavin,2008b).Theresearchtopracticegapissomethingresearchershavestruggled withsomeaslongasresearchandeducationcoexisted,withtranslatingtheresearchfindingsinto thepracticeofeverydayteachersbeingamajorhurdle(Cook&Odom,2013).Withinformation beingonekeyboardstrokeaway,believabilityisparamount.Theauthorsofthepractitioner articlesidentifiedinthisanalysispullevidencesfromspecialandmathematicseducation,UDL, psychology,andtechnologyresearch.Wewerepleasantlysurprisedtofindadiverseresearch basesupportingclaimsbeingmadebytheauthorsofthesearticlesthatwillallowmathematics andspecialeducatorsto haveconfidenceinthesuggestionsprovidedtothem.

PresentedStrategies.Whenteachingastudentwithanydisability,itisimportanttoremember thatmanyoftheprinciplesforinclusivedesigncouldbeconsideredbeneficialtoanystudent (Picard,n.d.).Whilethereissomeoverlap,strategiesidentifiedinthisanalysisarehighly variablefromonearticletothenext.Wewelcomethisvariabilityasthereisnouniversalstrategy thatworkforalllearners.Theideaof“UniversalDesign”isamethodofdesigningcourse

materials,content,andinstructiontobenefitalllearners.Insteadofadaptingorretrofittinga coursetoaspecificaudience,UniversalDesignemphasizesenvironmentsthatareaccessibleto everyoneregardlessofability.Byfocusingonthesedesignprincipleswhencraftingasyllabus, youmayfindthatmostofyourcourseeasilyaccommodatesallstudents(Hodge &PrestonSabin,1997).InadditiontoUDLasanapproachforinstructionseveral componentofexplicit anddirectinstructionhavebeensuggestedasstrategiestoforsupportingstudentswith disabilitiesininclusivegeneraleducationmathematicsclassrooms.Explicitinstructionisa structured,systematic,andeffectivemethodologyforteachingacademicskillscharacterizedbya seriesofsupportsorscaffolds(Archer&Hughes2011).

DiscourseAnalysis

Madison: Yeah.

Mr. Hunt: That’s5.And then west.

Madison: 12.

Mr. Hunt: Should Igothisway?

Mr. Hunt: Do youknowanyone wholivesaroundthecorner from you?

ForthepasttwodecadestheNCTMhasencouragedteacherstouseclassroomdiscourseinmath classes,tosupportbothstudents’abilitytoreasonmathematicallyandtheir abilityto communicatethatreasoning.However,onlyonescenariofromourlimitedsampleonstudents withdisabilitiesandteacherdiscourseshowstudentswithdisabilitiesbeinghighlyactiveinthis typeofdialogue.ThefollowingscenarioisanexcerptfromHordetal.(2016).Inthisscenario theteacherspeaks180wordscomparedtothestudentwhospeaks72words. Madison: Youarewalkingtoa friend’shouse.Shelives5 blockssouthand12blockswest ofyou. Ifittakes you1minute towalkablock,howlong wouldittakeyoutogettoher houseifyoucouldcutthrough blocksandgostraighttoher house?

Mr. Hunt: Soyoudidnorth, south,east,west.And you wrote5blocksbythesouth. Whydid youwrite5blocksby thesouth?

Madison: Becauseitsaysright there.

Mr. Hunt: So,if you’relooking atthesheet,lives5blocksfrom southand12blockstothewest. Youwrote“12blocks”by “west.”Shelives5blockssouth and12blockswest.Imagine thatthisisnorth,west,east,and thisissouth.So,let’ssaywe startinthemiddle,Iguess.Five milessouth.So,wegothisway. Youwanttodoitthatway?

Madison: Yes.

Mr. Hunt: Sotheylivearound here,and youlivehere?

Madison: Yes.

Mr. Hunt:If youwerewalking totheirhouse,itwouldbethe5 blocksandthenthe12blocks likeinthepicture?

Madison: Yes.

Mr. Hunt: OK,nowif youwere inarush,wouldn’t youliketo cutthroughthe yardandwalk straighttoherhouse?

Madison:Yes,thatwouldbe shorter.

Mr. Hunt:Me,too!Let’stryand findthelengthofthatthen.

Madison: Itshouldbea hypotenuseequation.

FromaspecialeducationperspectiveitiseasytoseethatMr.Huntmeanswellandistryingto leadMadisontothecorrectanswer. However,Mr.Huntisdoingthemajorityofthetalkingand Madisonappearstobeapassivelearnerinthisscenario.Withthislevelofengagementfrom Madisonitisdifficulttoclaimthatshehasunderstoodthisproblemconceptuallyorwouldbe abletocorrectcompletethistypeofprobleminthefuture.Theideaofactivelearningoractive studentrespondinginvolvesgeneratingobservablestudentresponsestoinstructionalantecedents andhasbeenfoundtohavepositiveresultsacrossawidevarietyorstudentsandacademic settings(Cavanaugh,Heward,&Donelson,1996).Byengaginginactivelearningstrategies teachersareabletoascertainifstudentsunderstandthemathematicsatadeeperconceptuallevel. Onewaytoensurethisisoccurringistoallowstudentswithdisabilitiestohaveavoiceintheir learning.Aseducatorswewanttobesuretosupportandteachourstudentsbutwealsowant themtobeanactivepartofthelearningprocess.

ExaminingtheexchangebetweenMr.HuntandMadisonfromamathematicseducation perspective,werecognizethatthemathematicallearninggoalforthistaskseemstoberelatedto thePythagoreanformula.ThestoryproblemthatMadisonreadsaloudatthebeginningdescribes thelengthsofthetwolegsofarighttriangle,andtheintentionisforstudentstorecognizethat theshortestdistancebetweenthetwohouseswouldbethestraightlinebetweenthetwohouses, whichwouldcorrespondtothehypotenuseofthattriangle,andcouldtherebybedetermined usingthePythagoreanformula.Attheendoftheexchange,Madisonsuccessfullyidentifiesthat formulaasbeingtheappropriateone,butwealsonotethatacentralinsightofthistask—thatthe distancebetweenthe2housesistherelevantone,notthedistancesofthedirectionalblocks—is providedbyMr.Hunt. ItisnotclearthatMadisonknowsorunderstandsthisconceptbecause althoughsheagreeswithMr.Hunt’ssuggestion,thoseportionsoftheexchangefollowthe funnelingpatternofquestioning,whichhasbeenshowntolimittheopportunitiesforstudentsto deeplyengagewiththetargetedmathematicalconceptofthePythagoreanformula(HerbelEisenmann&Breyfogle,2005;Wood,1998).

Thesubsequentscenarioshowsagroupofstudentsactivelyengagedintheirmathematicstask andtheteacheristakingmoreofabackseat.

Teacher:Sowhatwouldthis graphlooklike?

Carry:Straightup,startingat zero.

Teacher:OK,sothelinestarts righthereandherunsso fast that,boom,hegoeslikethis.

Aaron:Buthecannot.

Teacher:Whynot? Yousaid thatithadtostartatzero.

Carry:Becausehecan’tstay thatfast.

Teacher:Well,isn’therunning awaywithsuperspeed,though?

Megan:Butthetime;itcan’t stayatzero.

Carry: Actually,itwouldbe impossiblebecausethetimeis notchanging.Thiscan’t happen.

Aaron:Itisweird.Hewould havetobeindifferentspotsat thesametime.

Teacher:Sohowwouldyoudescribethisslope?

Aaron:Zeroslope.

Carry:But Ithoughtzeroslope wentlikethis.

Megan:Ithinkthatsincethisis impossible,itcan’thavea slope.

Aaron:Soifthetimecan changebuthisthenitiszero slope.Butifhis...changesbut nothistime,thenitis impossible.Isthatright?

Megan:Yeah.

Teacher:Soisitzeroslope?

Carry:It’slikewhatAaronsaid, itcan’tbe.

Inthisexamplefrom Bennett(2012)wecanseethatthestudentsareactivelyworkingonthis problem.Thewordcountforthestudentsis111whereastheteacheronlyspeaks57words.This isinthecontextofasmallgroupofstudentsworking,thoughwecanseehowthestudentsare drivingthediscoursenottheotherwayaround.Fromaspecialeducationpointofviewwecan seehowtheteacherisprovidingstructuredsupporttothestudentsyetthestudentsareengagedin qualityacademiclearningtime.Academiclearningtimeisdefinedinseminalresearchasthe amountoftimeastudentspendsengagedinanacademictaskthatsheorhecanperformwith highsuccess(Fisher,Berliner,Filby,Marliave,Cahen,&Dishaw,1981)

Similarly,mathematicseducationresearchonmathematicaldiscoursewouldhighlighttheactive engagementofthestudentsinthisexchange,notjustingeneral,motivationalways(whichareof courseimportant),butitisalsonoteworthythatthestudentsareengagedwithimportant, significantmathematics,whichweknowisacharacteristicofeffectiveclassroomteaching (Hiebert&Grouws,2007).Wethinkit’ssignificantthattheteacherisnottheonlyonewho posesquestions—Aaronalsoposesathoughtfulquestionaboutslopes.Furthermore,theteacher isnottheonly“evaluator”intheexchange,ascritiquedinresearchabouttheIREexchange patternthatissoprevalent(Mehan,1979),butthe studentsshareandcritiqueoneanother’s ideas,too.Itisimportanttonotethatonlyfourarticlesidentifiedinthisanalysisincludedany

discourse.Duetothis,resultsofthediscourseanalysisshouldbeinterpretedwithcautionto preventovergeneralization.

ImplicationsforResearchandPractice

Infall2013,some95percentof6-to21-year-oldstudentswithdisabilitieswereservedin regularschoolswith61.8%ofthosestudentsspending80%ormoreoftheirtimeingeneral educationclassrooms(NationalCenterforEducationalStatistics,2016).Basedontheresultsof thisanalysisrecommendationsforauthorsofmathematicspractitionerjournalsareasfollows: mathematicsandspecialeducationresearchersshouldbeusingcommonterminologywhen referringtostudentswithdisabilities,shouldincludemoreempiricaldialogueintheformof scenariosand/orvignettes,strategiesthatfocusonactiveparticipationshouldbehighlighted, articlesshouldfocusonlowincidencedisabilitiesaswellashighincidencedisabilities,engage indiscussionabouttheimportanceofclassroom supportintheeraofinclusion,displayexamples ofwhatco-teachinglookslikeratherthanjustexplainingwhatitis,mathematicsandspecial educationresearchersmustcontinuetoworktogetheranddrawfromeachother’sexpertiseto bridgetheresearchtopracticegapsurroundinginclusiveteachingpractices.Futureresearch shouldbeexpandedtoarticlesbefore2004,practitionerjournalsoutsideofNCTM,conference presentations,CECpractitionerjournals,teacherblogs,andresearcharticlesinbothmathematics andspecialeducationjournals.

Nomatterwhereyoustandindebatesaboutinclusionandotherpracticesforstudentswith disabilities,thefactisthatincludingstudentsintheirleastrestrictiveenvironmentisfederallaw. Generalelementary,mathematics,andothercontentareateachersarefacingnewchallengesin instruction,manyofwhichtheyareillequippedtohandleduetoalackofsupportandformal training.Fortunately,specialeducationteachersaretrainedinapproachestofacethese challenges.Collaborationbetweenacademicfieldsiscriticalifwearetosupportalllearnersin allclassrooms.These are our studentsandwemustwork together tosupportallstudentsinour classrooms.

References

References marked with an asterisk indicate articles included in the analysis

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Archer,A.L.,&Hughes,C.A.(2011). Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching. GuilfordPress.

*Baroody,A.J.(2006).Whychildrenhavedifficultiesmasteringthebasicnumber combinationsandhowtohelpthem. Teaching Children Mathematics, 13(1),22-31.

*Bennett,C.A.(2012).Usingtieredexplorationstopromotereasoning. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 18(3),166-173.

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*Bray,W.S.(2005).Supportingdiverselearners:Teachercollaborationinaninclusive classroom. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(6),324.

*Brodesky,A.R.,Gross,F.E.,McTigue,A.S.,&Tierney,C.C.(2004).Planningstrategiesfor studentswithspecialneeds:Aprofessionaldevelopmentactivity. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(3),146-155.

*Carnell, L.J.,&Tillery,M.W.(2005).Preparingpreserviceteachersforinclusivecoteaching: Anewapproachformathematicsmethodsinstruction. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(7),384-389.

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*Dieker,L.A.,Stephan,M.,&Smith,J.(2013).Secondarymathematicsinclusion:Merging withspecialeducation. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 18(5),292-299.

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*Gardner,T.J.(2011).Disabilitiesinwrittenexpression. Teaching Children's Mathematics, 18(1),46-54.doi:10.5951/teacchilmath.18.1.0046

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*Gresham,G.,&Little,M.(2012).RtIinmathclass. Teaching Children's Mathematics, 19(1), 20-29.doi:10.5951/teacchilmath.19.1.0020

Herbel-Eisenmann,B.,&Breyfogle,L.(2005).Questioningourpatternsofquestioning. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 10(9),484-489.

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Hiebert,J.,&Grouws,D.(2007).Theeffectsofclassroommathematicsteachingonstudents’ learning.InF.Lester(Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 371-404). Charlotte,NC:InformationAge.

Hodge,B.M.,&Preston-Sabin,J.(1997). Accommodations–or just good teaching?: Strategies for teaching college students with disabilities.Westport,Conn:Praeger.

*Hodges,T.E.,Rose,T.D.,&Hicks,A.D.(2012).InterviewsasRtItools. Teaching Children's Mathematics, 19(1),30-36.doi:10.5951/teacchilmath.19.1.0030

*Hord,C.,&Marita,S.(2014).Studentswithlearningdisabilitiestackle multistepproblems. Mathematics teaching in the Middle school, 19(9),548-555.

*Hord,C.,Marita,S.,Walsh,J.B.,Tomaro,T.M.,&Gordon,K.(2016).Encouragingstudents withlearningdisabilities. Mathematics Teacher, 109(8),612-617.

Hughes,R.,&Huby,M.(2002).Theapplicationofvignettesinsocialandnursingresearch.

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*Hunt,J.H.,&Andreasen,J.B.(2011).Makingthemostofuniversaldesignforlearning. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 17(3),166-172.

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*Kamii,C.,&Rummelsburg,J.(2008).Arithmeticforfirstgraderslackingnumberconcepts. Teaching children mathematics, 14(7),389-394.

*Karp,K.,&Howell,P.(2004).Buildingresponsibilityforlearninginstudentswithspecial needs. Teaching children mathematics, 11(3),118-127.

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*Lambert,R.,&Stylianou,D.A.(2013).Posingcognitivelydemandingtaskstoall students. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 18(8),500-506.

*Little,C.A.,Hauser,S.,&Corbishley,J.(2009).Constructingcomplexityfordifferentiated learning. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15(1),34-42.

*Losq,C.S.(2005).Numberconceptsandspecialneedsstudents:ThePowerofTen-Frame Tiles. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(6),310.

*Lovin,L.,Kyger,M.,&Allsopp,D.(2004).Differentiationforspecialneedslearners. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(3),158-168.

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*Pierce,R.L.,&Adams,C.M.(2005).Usingtieredlessonsinmathematics. Mathematics teaching in the middle school, 11(3),144-149.

*Pritchard,C.K.,&Lamb,J.H.(2012).Teachinggeometrytovisuallyimpairedstudents. Mathematics Teacher, 106(1),22-27.

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Slavin,R.E.(2008b).Whatworks? Issuesinsynthesizingeducationalprogramevaluations. Educational Researcher, 37, 5-14.

*Suh,J.M.(2010).Tech-knowledgy&diverselearners. Mathematics teaching in the middle school, 15(8),440-447.

*Taber,S. B.,&Canonica,M.(2008).Sharing"catgames"andcookies:"specialeducation studentsinvestigatedivision". Teaching Children Mathematics, 15(1),55-61.

*Thompson,T.,&Sproule,S.(2005).Calculatorsforstudentswithspecialneeds. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(7),391-395.

*Treahy,D.L.,&Gurganus,S.P.(2010).Modelsforspecialneedsstudents. Teaching Children Mathematics, 16(8),484-490.

*Truelove,J.E.,Holaway-Johnson,C.A.,Leslie,K.M.,&Smith,T.E.(2007).Tipsfor includingelementarystudentswithdisabilitiesinmathematicsclass. Teaching Children Mathematics, 13(6),336.

U.S.DepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.(2016). Digest of Education Statistics, 2015 (NCES2016-014).Retrievedfrom https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59

Walker,Z.M.,&Hunt,J.H.(2011).Socialskilldevelopmentthroughmath. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 17(5),296. Wood,T.(1998).Alternativepatternsofcommunicationinmathematicsclasses:Funnelingor focusing? InH.Steinbring,M.Bussi,&A.Sierpinska(Eds.), Language and Communication in the Mathematics Classroom (pp. 167-178). Reston,VA:National CouncilofTeachersofMathematics.

Table1

Summary of articles

Hodges, Rose,& Hicks (2012)

Hord& Marita (2014)

Hord,Marita, Walsh, Tomaro,& Gordon (2016)

np E Atrisk Instruction, identificatio n

Mthed, psych Addition, multiplication Student Interview

6th,7th E LD,ID Inclusion Spled, mthed, psych

np E LD Instruction

mthed, psych

Multi-step wordproblems

Gened, studyhall

Algebra1& Geometry Student Gened andtutor session

Kamii& Rummelsburg(2008)

1st E Atrisk Instruction

Spled,

Rational numbers, ratios,and proportions

7th H np Instruction, inclusion Instructional

Mthed,

Karp& Howell (2004) Spled

Lambert& Stylianou (2013)

7th E LD Inclusion

Mthed

th,7th H Atrisk Inclusion, differentiatio n

Spled,

Gened

Geometry Student Gened

Rational numbersand percentages

Algebra, Statistics

Losq(2005) 2nd H np Instruction Mthed Counting,base ten,algebra

2nd,3rd H np Inclusion, differentiatio n

Instructional Gened

Student

Gened

Gened

Mthed,

Pierce& Adams (2005) Instructional

HOFSTRAUNIVERSITY SPECIALEDUCATIONRESEARCH,POLICY&PRACTICE Page |86

Gened

Note. ADHD=AttentionDeficitHyperactivityDisorder;EBD=EmotionalBehavioral Disorder,E=Empirical;Gened=GeneralEducation;H=Hypothetical;LD=Learning

Disability,MR=MentalRetardation;np=NotProvided,PD=PhysicalDisability;Psych= Psychology;S&L=SpeechandLanguage;Spled=SpecialEducation;Tech=Technology;

UDL=UniversalDesign forLearning

Comparison of Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

MelissaBittner,PhD. CaliforniaStateUniversity,LongBeach

MariyaDavis,Ph.D. TexasA&MUniversity,SanAntonio

Abstract

TheEveryStudentSucceedsAct(ESSA,2015)reinforcesandclearlydefinestherequirementof schooldistrictstouseevidence-basedpractices(EBPs)toimprovestudent outcomes.TheESSA requiresschoolstofind,evaluate,andimplementeffectiveEBPsthatsupporthigh-quality learningfor allstudents,includingthosewithautismspectrumdisorder(ASD).Itisnecessaryfor teacherstouseidentifiedEBPswhendevelopingindividualizededucationprogramsand providingnecessaryinterventionsforstudentswithASD.Thepurposeofthisarticleisto:(a) examineEBPsdeterminedbytwonationalorganizations(i.e.,NationalProfessional DevelopmentCenter,NationalStandardsProjectPhase2),(b)compareoverlappingEBPsto determinetheireffectivenessforstudentswithASD,and(c)makerecommendationsfor educatorsandotherschoolprofessionalsteachingstudentswithASDinschoolsettings. IdentificationandimplementationofEBPsisessentialforteacherswhoworkwithstudentswith ASDtoincreasetheiracademicandfunctionalachievementandreachtheirfullestpotential.

Keywords: ASD,autism,evidence-basedpractices,interventions

Comparison of Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

TheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationAct(IDEA,2004)andEveryStudentSucceedsAct (ESSA,2015)reinforceandclearlydefinetherequirementofusingevidence-basedpractices (EBPs)toimprovestudentoutcomes.Evidence-basedpracticesaredefinedastreatmentsor approachesthathavebeenfoundeffectivethroughreplicatedresearch(Boutot,Raulston,& Dukes,2017).Althoughmultipleinterventionsareavailabletosupportstudentswithautism spectrumdisorder(ASD)inschoolsettings,carefulconsiderationisrequiredtodiscernwhich practicesareconsideredevidence-based. Inaccordancewithfederallaw,educatorsarerequired touseresearch-basedinterventions,orthosewithevidenceofeffectivenessfrompublicationsin peer-reviewedjournals(IDEA,2004;Yell,2016).IDEAspecificallymandatesthattheIEP includespecialeducationandrelatedservicesderivedfrompeer-reviewedresearch,andthe ESSA(2015)requiresschooldistrictstouseEBPsshowingastatisticallysignificant effecton studentoutcomes(ESSA,2015).Thatis,inordertopromotein-schooland post-schoolsuccess ofstudentswithdisabilities,educatorsmustusestrategiesthathavebeenshowntobeeffective throughreplicatedresearch.TheproperidentificationandimplementationofEBPsisnotonly necessarybutessentialwhenitcomestothedevelopmentofindividualizedintervention programsforstudentswithASDinordertosupporttheiracademicandfunctionalneeds.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

DefinitionofASD

AccordingtotheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC,2018),ASDisoneofthe mostcommonlydiagnoseddisabilitiesforchildrenintheUnitedStatesandthefastestgrowing seriousdevelopmentaldisabilitythatcan causesignificantsocial,communicationandbehavioral challenges.DiagnosticandStatisticalManualofMentalDisorders(DSM-5)definesASDin termsoftwocategories:persistentimpairmentinreciprocalsocialcommunicationandsocial interaction,andrestricted,repetitivepatternofbehavior.Themanualprovidesanalgorithmfor howmanysymptomsineachbehavioraldomain arenecessaryforadiagnosis,requiresthe specificationofseveritylevels,andusesspecifierstodescribecomorbidities,suchaslanguage andintellectualimpairments(Harker&Stone,2014).UnderDSM-5criteria,individualswith ASDmustshowsymptomsintheearlydevelopmentalperiod;however,thosesymptomsmay notfullymanifestuntilsocialdemandsexceedlimitedcapacities.Itisimportanttoacknowledge thecurrentneurodiversitymovement,whichpreferstoviewindividualswithASDandother cognitiveorneurologicaldisabilitiesaspeoplewithnormalhumandifferencesinbehavior.The argumentforneurodiversityisthatASDtraitsandcharacteristicsviewedasabnormalandin needofcorrectionshouldbeincludedinthenormalrangeofhumanbehaviors (AppliedBehaviorAnalysisEDU,2018).

Contrarytoclinicaldiagnoses,educationalidentificationisdesignedtodetermineifastudentis eligibleforspecialeducationservicesunderthecategoryof autism accordingtocriteriaoutlined intheIDEA.Itshouldbenotedthatunderthelaw,alltypesofASDareclassifiedunderone term autism.AccordingtoIDEA(2004), autism meansadevelopmentaldisabilitythat significantlyaffectscommunicationandsocialinteraction.TheIDEAcriteriaforautism eligibilityincludeengagementinrepetitiveactivitiesorstereotypicmovements,resistanceto environmentalchangesorchangesinroutines,andunusualsensoryresponses.Inaddition,IDEA requiresanadverseeffectoneducationalperformance.

PrevalenceandCharacteristicsofASD

TheASDprevalencerateincreasedfromanaverageof4per10,000childreninthemid-60s (Fombonne,2005)to1per59in2018(CDC).Thus,schoolsareeducatingagreaternumberof studentswithASDandarerequiredtoaddressthespecificneedsofthesestudentsandcarefully planappropriateinterventionsandsupportservices.StudentswithASDoftenhavechallenges withsocialinteraction,communication,andrestrictedorrepetitivebehaviors,interests,or activities.ResearchindicatesthatamongindividualswithASD,difficultieswithsocial interactionspersistacrossthelifespan(Mackay,Knott,&Dunlop,2007;Wehmanetal.,2014) andtendtoincreasewithagewithouteffectiveintervention(Howlin,Mawhood,&Rutter, 2000).

Inthisarticle,theauthorsexaminedtheidentifiedEBPswithanemphasisonpractices appropriateforindividualsbirthto22yearsofageaimedtofacilitatetheiracademicand functionalgrowthwhileattendingtotheirsocialandemotionalneeds.First,theauthors examinedeffectiveEBPsforstudentswithASDasreportedbytheNationalProfessional

DevelopmentCenter(NPDC)andtheNationalStandardsProject,Phase2(NSPP2)and identifiedcommontrends.Then,theauthorspresentrecommendationsspecifictoschoolsettings foreducatorsandothereducationpractitionersworkingwithstudentswithASD.Thepurposeof thisarticleisto:(a)examineEBPsdeterminedbytwonationalorganizations(i.e.,NPDC, NSPP2);(b)compareoverlappingEBPstodeterminetheireffectivenessforstudentswithASD; and(c)makerecommendationsforeducatorsandotherschoolprofessionalsteachingstudents withASDinschoolsettings.

Organizations

ResearchonEBPsforindividualswithASDisdynamicandevolving.Therehavebeenseveral reviewsofexistingliteraturetodeterminewhatstrategiesandprogramsareevidence-based supported(e.g.,Odom,Collet-Klingenberg,Rogers,&Hatton,2010;Wongetal.,2015). OrganizationssuchastheNPDC(2014)andtheNSPP2(2015)havereportedonEBPsusedin schoolsettingsforstudentswithASD.Overall,bothorganizationsprovideanabundanceof informationrelatedtoEBPsforindividualswithASD.Theexistingplethoraofresearchcreates difficultiesforpractitionerstaskedwithidentificationandimplementationofEBPs.Theability toaccessaccurateinformationaboutEBPsisessentialtoteachersandothereducation practitioners.

NationalProfessionalDevelopmentCenteron ASD

Families,educators,andserviceprovidersareconstantlybombardedbyamassiveamountof confusingandoftenconflictinginformationaboutthemyriadtreatmentsavailabletoindividuals withASD.TheNPDConASDwasfundedbytheOfficeofSpecialEducationProgramsinthe USDepartmentofEducationtopromotetheuseofEBPsforindividualswithASD,birthto22 yearsofage.TheworkoftheNPDCwasacollaborationamongthreeuniversities:theUniversity ofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill,theUniversityofWisconsinatMadison,andtheMIND Institute,UniversityofCalifornia-Davis.TheNPDChadexaminedthecurrentliteratureand identifiedfocusedinterventionsthatteachersandotherpractitionerscaneasilyaccessandutilize inteachingspecificskillsandconceptstostudentswithASD(Odometal.,2010).TheNPDC definedEBPsasinterventionsthathavebeenproventobeeffective(i.e.,supportedbyresearch) andusedtheirowncriteriaforevaluationwhenreviewingpeer-reviewedresearchinscientific journalstoreportedon27EBPsforchildrenwithASD(NPDC,2014).

TheNPDC(2014)createdcriteriatoclassifyandestablishinterventionsasEBPsforusein schoolsforindividualswithASD.Inclusioncriteriaforstudieswereasfollows:(a)participant's age0to22 years;(b)diagnosedwithASD;(c)interventionhadtobebehavioral,developmental, oreducational;(d)methoddesignhadtocompareanexperimentalconditiontoacontrol;and(e) interventionpracticeshadtogeneratebehavioral, developmental,oracademicoutcomes. Furthermore,researchhadtoconsistofeither:(a)twohighqualityexperimentalorquasiexperimentalgroupdesignstudiesconductedbyatleasttwodifferentresearchersorresearch groups;(b)fivehighqualitysinglesubjectdesignstudiesconductedbythreedifferent investigatorsorresearchgroupsandhavingatotalofatleast20participantsacrossstudies;or(c) onehighqualityrandomizedorquasi-experimentalgroupdesignstudyandatleastthreehigh qualitysinglesubjectdesignstudiesconductedbyatleastthreedifferentinvestigatorsor researchgroups.Byusingthesecriteria,theNPDCdetermined27EBPsforindividualswith ASD(seeTable1).

Table1

NPDC Evidence-based Practices

Antecedent-basedIntervention

NPDCEvidence-basedPractices

CognitiveBehavioralIntervention

DifferentialReinforcementofAlternative,IncompatibleorOtherBehavior

DiscreteTrialTraining

Exercise

Extinction

FunctionalBehaviorAssessment

FunctionalCommunicationTraining

Modeling

NaturalisticInterventions

Parent-implementedintervention

Peer-mediatedinstructionandintervention

PictureExchangeCommunicationSystem

PivotalResponseTraining

Prompting

Reinforcement

ResponseInterruption/Redirection

Scripting

Self-management

SocialNarratives

SocialSkillsTraining

StructuredPlayGroup

TaskAnalysis

Technology-aidedInstructionandIntervention

TimeDelay

VideoModeling

VisualSupport

NationalAutismCenter,NationalStandardsProject,Phase2

AtthesametimetheNPDCwasreleasingtheirreport,theNationalAutismCenter,fundedby individualdonationsandgrants,initiateditsmissiontoprovideleadershipandresourcesto practitioners,families,andpolicymakers.TheagencydevelopedtheNationalStandardsProject whichhelpstoreducetheresultingturmoilanduncertaintybyaddressingtheneedforEBP standardsandprovidesguidelinesforhowtomakecorrectchoicesaboutinterventions(2015). TheNationalStandardsProject,Phase1(2009)andNSPP2(2015),helpwithidentificationof EBPsforindividualswithASD.Phase1examinedandquantifiedthelevelofresearch supportinginterventionsthattargetthecorecharacteristicsofstudents(below22yearsofage) withASD.Phase2providesanupdatetotheliteratureandalsoincludedstudiesevaluating interventionsforadults(i.e.,over22 years),whichhaveneverpreviouslybeensystematically reported(NSPP2,2015).

ScientificMeritRating Scale.TheScientificMeritRatingScale(SMRS) wasdevelopedbythe NationalAutismCenterasameanstoobjectivelyevaluateifthemethodsusedineach investigationwerestrongenoughtodeterminewhetherornotaninterventionwaseffectivefor individualswithASD(NSPP2,2015).TheSMRSinvolvesfivedimensionsofrigorthatcanbe appliedtodeterminetheextenttowhichinterventionsareeffective.Theyare:(a)research design,(b)measurement ofthedependentvariable,(c)measurementoftheindependentvariable, (d)participantascertainment,and(e)generalizationandmaintenance(NSPP2,2015).SeeTable 2foradefinitionoftheSMRSdimensions.

Table2

Scientific Merit Rating Scale

ScientificMeritRatingScale

Score 1 2 3 4 5

Dimension ofRigor Experimental Control Measurement ofthe Dependent Variable

Example Numberof participants and/or groups

Extentto which attritionor intervention disruption occurred

Typeof research design employed

Typeof measurement systemused

Psychometric support and/or reliability

Extentto which evaluators wereblind and/or independent

Measurement ofIndependent Variable

Participant Ascertainment Generalization and Maintenance

Implementation accuracy

Percentageand typeofsessions duringwhich datawere collected

Extenttowhich intervention fidelitywas reliably measured

Degreeto whichwellestablished diagnostic toolsand procedures wereused

Eligibilityfor participant inclusion

Extentto which diagnosticians andevaluators were independentto the intervention conditions

Extentto which researchers attemptedto objectively demonstrate thespreadof interventions effectsacross time,settings, stimuli, responses,or persons

Foreachofthefivedimensions,ascorebetweenzeroandfivewasassigned(i.e.,0representing apoorscore;5representingastrongscore).Thedimensionscoreswerecombinedtoproducea compositescorethatwasroundedtothenearestwholenumber,whichwascalledtheSMRS score.Theformulaforcombiningthesedimensionsisasfollows:ResearchDesign(.30)+ DependentVariable(.25)+ParticipantAscertainment(.20)+Procedural Integrity(.15)+ GeneralizationandMaintenance(.10;NSPP2,2015).

SMRSscoresof3,4,or5indicatethatadequatescientificrigorhasbeenapplied(NSPP2,2015). Therefore,theseinterventionsarecategorizedasbeing“Established”forindividualswithASD. SMRSscoresof2arecategorizedas“Emerging”meaningmorerigorousresearchmustbe conductedtoconfirminterventionresultsforindividualswithASD.SMRSscoresof0or1 provideinsufficientevidenceandarecategorizedas“Unestablished.”Furtherresearchis necessarytoinvestigatetheeffectivenessoftheseinterventionsforindividualswithASD(NSP2, 2015).ThroughtheSMRS,theNSPP2determined14“Established”EBPsand18“Emerging” interventionsthatareacceptableforindividualswithASD(seeTable3).

Table3

NSPP2 Emerging and Established Evidence-based Practices

NSPP2EstablishedEvidence-basedPractices

Behavioral Interventions

CognitiveBehavioralInterventions

ComprehensiveBehavioralTreatmentfor YoungChildren

LanguageTraining

Modeling

NaturalTeachingStrategies

ParentTraining

PeerTrainingPackage

PivotalResponseTraining

Schedules

Scripting

Self-management

SocialSkillsPackage

Story-basedInterventions

NSPP2EmergingEvidence-basedPractices

AugmentativeandAlternative

CommunicationDevices

DevelopmentalRelationship-basedTreatment

Exercise

ExposurePackage

FunctionalCommunicationTraining

Imitation-basedIntervention

InitiationTraining

LanguageTraining(Production& Understanding)

MassageTherapy

Multi-componentPackage

MusicTherapy

PictureExchangeCommunicationSystem

ReductivePackage

SignInstruction

SocialCommunicationIntervention

StructuredTeaching

Technology-basedIntervention

TheoryofMindTraining

Results

GiventheprevalenceofASD,educatorsarefacedwithanincreasinglychallengingtaskof ensuringthatstudentswithASDbenefitacademicallyandsocially.Thus,determiningeffective interventionsandpracticesforworkingwithstudentswithASDisimperative.Althoughtheuse ofEBPsisfederallymandated,theprocessofidentificationandimplementationcanbedifficult foreducatorsandotherschoolprofessionalsresponsibleforacademicandfunctional achievementforindividualswithASD.ThepurposeofthisarticlewastocompareEBPs determinedbytwonationalorganizations(i.e.,NPDC,NSPP2)aseffectiveforstudentswith ASDandmakerecommendationsforeducatorsandotherschoolprofessionalsworkingwith studentswithASDinschoolsettings.

OverlappingEBPs

TheNPDCandtheNSPP2havebothidentifiedEBPsthroughextensiveliteraturereviewsusing differentevaluationprocessesandcriteria.Overall,27EBPswerecategorizedbytheNPDCas evidence-based;14establishedand18emergingEBPswereidentifiedbytheNSPP2.This investigationhasidentified18instructionalpracticesforstudentswithASDthatboth organizations(i.e.,NPDC,NSPP2)haveidentifiedasevidence-based.Whilesomedifferencesin conceptualfindingsdoexist,thereisasubstantialagreementbetweenthetwoorganizationsas evidencedinTable4.

Table4

ComparisonofEstablishedEvidence-basedPracticesfromNPDCandNSPP2

NPDC

Established Evidence-based Practices

Antecedent-based Intervention

Cognitive Behavioral Intervention

Differential Reinforcementof Alternative, Incompatible,or

OtherBehavior

DiscreteTrial Teaching

Parentimplemented intervention

Peer-mediated instructionand intervention

PivotalResponse Training

Prompting Reinforcement

Behavioral Interventions Cognitive Behavioral Interventions

Modeling Natural Teaching Strategies

NSPP2EstablishedEvidence-basedPractices

Parent Training Peer Training Package

Pivotal Response Training

Schedules Scripting Selfmanagement Social Skills Package

Story-based Interventions

Response

Interruption/Redir

ection

Scripting

Self-management

SocialNarratives

SocialSkills

Training

TaskAnalysis

TimeDelay

VideoModeling

VisualSupport

Note.Darkgray=NSPP2andNPDCbothconsiderestablishedEBPs

TheNPDCandNSPP2have18instructionalpracticesforstudentswithASDthatboth organizationshaveidentifiedasevidence-based.Thefollowingdefinitionsandexamplesare waystoincorporatethese duallyestablishedEBPs intobestteachingpractices.

Antecedent-basedIntervention –focusontwotypesofantecedentevents:discriminantstimuli (eventsthatserveassignalsforbehaviortooccur)andestablishingoperations(eventsthatalter thereinforcingpropertiesofanotherevent;Kern,Claire,&Sokol,2002).Adiscriminantstimuli examplemaybedisplayedwhenateacherassignsadifficultwritingassignment.Thestudent proceedstodestroythemathpaper.Asaconsequence,thestudentissenttotheoffice.Inthis example,thedestructivebehaviorislikelytocontinueinthefuturewhenundesirablewriting assignmentsarepresentedinthefutureasithasallowedthestudenttoescapetheassignment.An exampleofestablishingoperationswouldbenoteatingbreakfast.Forexample,alengthy homeworkassignmentmaynotbetypicallyassociatedwithtempertantrums.However,ifachild hasnoteatenanybreakfast,alengthyassignmentmayresultinatantrum.Establishing operationstypicallyoccuratatimedistantfromproblembehaviors.Formoreinformationon antecedent-basedinterventionseeKernetal.(2002).

CognitiveBehavioralIntervention –instructiononmanagementorcontrolofcognitive processesthatleadtochangesinovertbehavior(Wongetal.,2015).Ratherthanattemptingto controlstudentbehaviorwithexternalreinforcement(e.g.,tokeneconomysystem,praisefor correctbehavior),cognitivebehavioralinterventionteachesstudentstousetheirinnerspeechor self-talk.Cognitivestrategiescanhelpstudentslearnhowtothink.Forexample,astudentwho struggleswithadditionmaysay“Ican’tdomath,itistoohard.”Usingcognitivebehavioral interventions,theteacherwouldhelpthestudenttochangetheirself-talktosomethingmore positive,suchas“Mathischallenging,but Iwilltrymybest. Iamsmart.”

DifferentialReinforcementofAlternative,IncompatibleorOtherBehavior

(DRA/DRI/DRO)–consistsofwithholdingreinforcementforthechallengingbehaviorand providingreinforcement foranappropriatealternativebehavior,anincompatiblebehavior,or absenceofthechallengingbehavior(Chazin&Ledford,2016). Areinforcerisprovided:(a) whenthestudentisengaginginaspecificappropriate/alternativedesiredbehaviorotherthanthe inappropriatebehavior(DRA);(b)whenthestudentisengagingin abehaviorthatisphysically impossibletodoorincompatiblewhileexhibitingtheinappropriatebehavior(DRI);or(c)when thestudentisnotengagingintheinterferingbehavior(DRO;Wongetal.,2015).Forexample, theteachercoulduseplannedignoringuntilthestudentstopstalkingandthenverballypraise himwhenheislistening. Listeningisthealternativebehaviorthestudenthaschosentodo insteadoftalking(DRA;Lavay,French,&Henderson,2016).Then,ifastudentistalkingwhile theteacheris givinginstructionsorduringindependentwork,theteachercouldreinforce followingthetalk/movementrules(DRI;Scheuermann&Hall,2016).Finally,theteachercould reinforceforincreasinglylongerperiodsoftimeduringwhichnooff-tasktalkingoccured(DRO; Scheuermann&Hall,2016).ForfurtherinformationondifferentialreinforcementseeCooper, Heron,andHeward(2007).

DiscreteTrialTeaching –one-to-oneinstructionalapproachthatteachesskillsusingprompting

andreinforcementinaplanned,controlled,andsystematicmanner(Neitzel,2010).Positive praiseandtangiblerewardsareusedtoreinforcedesiredskillsandbehaviors. Forexample,the teachermayaskastudenttoidentifyshapesusingdiscriminationtrainingbypointingtoeither thecircleorsquarefollowedbyaconsequence(e.g.,verbalpraise)fromtheteacherforacorrect (e.g.,“Great, youfoundthesquare”)orincorrectresponse(e.g.,“No,pleasetryagain”).For additionalinformationondiscretetrialteaching,seeLeaf,Cihon,Leaf,Mceachin,andTaubman (2016).

Parent-implementedintervention –interventionprovidedbyparentstotheirchildtoimprovea widevarietyofskillsand/orreduceinterferingbehaviors.Parentslearntodeliverinterventionsin theirhomeand/orcommunitythroughastructuredparenttrainingprogram(Wongetal.,2015). Parentsaretaughthowtoembedstrategiestosupportsocialcommunicationthroughouteveryday activities.Forexample,parentsareinstructedhowtohelpinitiatesocialinteractioninagrocery storefortheirchild.

Peer-mediatedinstructionandintervention –typicallydevelopingpeersinteractand/orhelp studentswithASDtoacquirenewbehavior,communication,andsocialskillsbyincreasing socialandlearningopportunitieswithinnaturalenvironments.Teachersandserviceproviders systematicallyusepeers-mediatedstrategiesforengagingstudentswithASDinpositiveand extendedsocialinteractionsinbothteacher-directedandlearner-initiatedactivities(Wongetal., 2015).Forexample,teacherscanuseapeerbuddyprogramduringphysicaleducation.Peer buddieswouldbetrainedonhowtoproperlymodelskills,givespecificfeedback,and communicatewiththeirpeerswithdisabilities.

PivotalResponseTraining –teachesstudentstorespondtonaturallyoccurringlearning opportunitiesandtoseekoutsuchopportunities.Itwasdevelopedtoenhancefourpivotal learningvariables:motivation(e.g.,interests,choices),responsivenesstomultiplecues(e.g., avoidanceofasingularfocus),socialinitiations(e.g.,askingquestions,obtainingattention, askingforassistance),andself-regulation(e.g.,self-monitor,self-evaluate,self-reinforce; Neitzel,2010).Teacherscanusepivotalresponsetrainingactivitiessuchasart. Forexample, theteachermayholdtwocrayonsinherhandandask“Whichcolordo youwant?”Whenthe childpointstothecrayonofhispreference,theteacherwillprovidethecue“Redcrayon”and thechildrepeats“Redcrayon”.Theteacherwillcontinuevaryinghercuesandexpectimitative responsefromthechild.Forfurtherinformationonpivotalresponsetraining,seeKoegeland KernKoegel(2006).

Prompting–verbal,gestural,orphysicalassistancegiventolearnerstoassistwithacquiringor engaginginatargetedbehaviororskill.Promptsaregenerallygivenbyanadultorpeerbefore orasalearnerattemptstouseaskill(Wongetal.,2015).Forexample,averbalpromptwouldbe tellingthestudent“Throwtheballtothetargetoverhand.”Foragesturalprompt,theteacher wouldsimplypointtothetarget;thiswouldserveasindicationforthestudenttothrow overhand.Aphysicalpromptisphysicallyguidingortouchingthestudenttohelpherusethe correctformforthrowingtheballoverhand.

Reinforcement–anevent,activity,orothercircumstanceoccurringwhenthereisapresentation ofastimulus(consequence)immediatelyfollowingaresponse(behavior)thatresultsinan increasedprobabilityofthebehaviorinthefuture(Cooper,Heron,&Heward,2007).For example,afterappropriatelypointingtothecolorblue,theteachergivesthestudentahigh-five.

ResponseInterruption/Redirection –introductionofaprompt,comment,orotherdistracters whenaninterferingbehaviorisoccurringthatisdesignedtodivertthestudent’sattentionaway fromtheinterferingbehaviorandresultsinitsreduction(Wongetal.,2015).Thefirststepisto identifytheinterferingbehavior,followedbybaselinedatacollection,andimplementationofthe responseinterruption/redirection.Forexample,teacherscanuse redirectionbyprovidingan objecttoplaywith(e.g.,tactileball,playdough)whenaddressingstereotypicalhandflapping behavior.Finally,thelaststepistomonitorthelearnerprogress(TexasEducationAgency, 2015).Forfurtherinformationonresponseinterruption/redirectionseeAhearn,Clark, MacDonald,andChung(2007).

Scripting–averbaland/orwrittendescriptionaboutaspecificskillorsituationthatservesasa modelforthestudent.Scriptsareusuallypracticedrepeatedlybeforetheskillisusedinthe actualsituation(Wongetal.,2015).Forexample,theteacherbeginsscriptingbygivingthe studentachoice:“Do youwanttheredorblueLego?”(Shanks,2017).Then,theteachermoves thestoryforwardwithasuggestionofwhatcanhappensuchas:“Howabout…,”“Maybe…,”“I wonder….”,or“HowaboutstackingtheblueLegos?”Theteacherbecomesthenarratorwho putsthestoryintowords(e.g.,“Wow,youpicked blueLegosandstackedthemtobuilda tower!”)andcontinuestheprocessbyofferinganopen-endedphrase(e.g.,“Let’ssee…what you candonext.”).Theteachercouldalsousewrittenscripting.Forexample,theteachercould give thestudentacuecardwithawrittenscriptand asktoreaditaloud.Ifthestudentfailstofollow theteacher’sdirection,heorshemightbegivenaverbalprompttodoso.

Self-management–methodinwhichlearnersaretaughttomonitor,record,andreportdataand reinforcetheirownbehavior(Boutot,Raulston,&Dukes,2017).Therearetwotypesofselfmanagementsystems:duration(intervalsystem)andfrequency(frequencysystem)ofthe behavior(Nietzel&Busick,2009).Teacherscanuseanintervalsystemtoincreasetheduration thatadesiredbehavioroccurs(e.g.,remaininginseat)ordecreasethedurationthatanundesired behavioroccurs(e.g.,flappinghands).Forexample,teacherscanhelpstudentslearnhowtouse atimer,adeviceorafeatureontheiriPhone/iPad,andrecordthedurationofstayingintheirseat orstayingontask.Toaddressthefrequencyofabehavior(e.g.,raisinghandinclass),teachers shouldconsiderafrequencycriterion.Theself-recordingdeviceshouldbeeasyforlearnersto recordtheirbehaviors(e.g.,checkingyesorno;circlingasmileyfaceorafrownface).

SocialNarratives–narrativesthatdescribesocialsituations,includingsocialstories,insome detailbyhighlightingrelevantcuesandofferingexamplesofappropriateresponding.Social narrativesareindividualizedaccordingtolearnerneedsandtypicallyarequiteshort,perhaps includingpicturesorothervisualaids(Wongetal.,2015).Forexample,asocialnarrativecould beconstructeddetailingthestepsnecessaryforwalkingthroughthehallway(e.g.,quietvoices, handstoself).

SocialSkillsTraining –grouporindividualinstructiondesignedtoteachstudentswithASD waystoappropriatelyinteractwithpeers,adults,andotherindividuals.Mostsocialskill meetingsincludeinstructiononbasicconcepts,role-playingorpractice,andfeedbacktohelp learnerswithASDacquireandpracticecommunication,play,orsocialskillstopromotepositive interactionswithpeers(Wongetal.,2015).Ateachercanuserole-playingwithscriptedand unscriptedelementstoteachinteractionskillsinvolvinginitiation,responding,andtermination ofinteractions.Forexample,astudentcanbeprovidedwithascenarioandanopportunityto practiceinitiatingaconversationwithanotherstudentoranadult.

TaskAnalysis –aprocessinwhichanactivityor behaviorisdividedintosmall,manageable stepsinordertoassessandteachtheskill.Otherpractices,suchasreinforcement,video modeling,ortimedelay,areoftenusedtofacilitateacquisitionofthesmallersteps(Wongetal., 2015).Forexample,whenteachinghowtoperformanunderhandtoss,thetaskanalysissteps are:(a)facethetarget;(b)stepwiththeoppositefoottowardsthetarget(i.e.,ifthrowingwith righthand,steptowardstargetwithleftfoot);(c)useapendulumarmmotionwiththethrowing arm(e.g.,“ticktocklikeaclock”);and(d)followthroughtotheskyorceilingwiththehand doingthethrowing.

TimeDelay–inasettingoractivityinwhichalearnershouldengageinabehaviororskill,a briefdelayoccursbetweentheopportunitytousetheskillandanyadditionalinstructionsor prompts.Thepurposeofthetimedelayistoallowthelearnertorespondwithouthavingto receiveapromptandthusfocusesonfadingtheuseofpromptsduringinstructionalactivities (Wongetal.,2015).Therearetwotypesoftimedelayprocedures:progressiveandconstant (Nietzel,2009).Withprogressivetimedelay,asthestudentbecomesmoreproficientat completingaskill(e.g., writingname),theteachergraduallyincreasesthewaitingtimebetween theinstructionandtheprompt(e.g.,pickuppencil).Progressivetimedelaypromptshave multiplelevels;regardlessofthenumberoflevels,itisalwaysstartedwithazeroseconddelay. Afterapredeterminednumberoftrialswithazeroseconddelay,thetimebetweentheinstruction andpromptisgraduallyincreaseduntilamaximumdelayintervalisreached(Grattan& Demchak,n.d.).Similartoprogressivetimedelay,withconstanttimedelay,thereisnodelay betweentheinstructionandpromptwhenastudentisfirstlearningaskill.Theteachercanusea fixedamountoftimebetweentheinstructionandthepromptasthestudentbecomesmore proficientatthenewskill.Formoreinformationontimedelaystrategies,seeWalker(2008).

VideoModeling–avisualmodelofthetargetedbehaviororskill(typicallyinthebehavior, communication,play,orsocialdomains),providedviavideorecordinganddisplayequipmentto assistlearninginorengaginginadesiredbehaviororskill(Wongetal.,2015).Forexample,the teachercanshowavideoofapeermodelmaturelydemonstratinghowtodribbleabasketball (e.g.,fingertipsonly,ballatwaistlevel).Itisnecessaryforthemodeltodemonstratetheskillat amasterylevelaswhatthestudentisshowniswhathewillreplicate(Bittner,Silliman-French, Myers,&Nichols,2018).Afterviewingthevideo,theteacherwillhandabasketballtothe studentandaskhimtodribble.

VisualSupport-anyvisualdisplaythatsupportsthestudentengaginginadesiredbehavioror skillsindependentofprompts.Visualsupportsincludepictures,writtenwords,objectswithinthe environment,arrangementoftheenvironmentorvisualboundaries,schedules,maps,labels,

organizationsystems,andtimelines(Wongetal.,2015).Forexample,theteachercanusea pictorialrepresentationofastudent’sdailyschedule(e.g.,tabletime,physicaleducation, reading,lunch,workstation,break,lifeskillsroom).

Discussion

Undercurrentpolicy,educatorsareexpectedtoselectandimplementstrategiesdemonstratedby researchaseffectiveforindividualswithASD.Thepurposeofthisarticleisto:(a)examine EBPsdeterminedbytwonationalorganizations(i.e.,NPDC,NSPP2);(b)compareoverlapping EBPstodeterminetheireffectivenessforstudentswithASD;and(c)makerecommendationsfor educatorsandotherschoolprofessionalsteachingstudentswithASDinschoolsettings.The identifiedsetofEBPs,whichhavebeenacceptedasestablishedpracticesbybothorganizations, isatoolthateducatorscanuseindevelopinganinterventionprogramforstudentswithASD. EducatorsareencouragedtouseestablishedEBPsbecausethereissufficientevidencethatthese EBPsareeffectiveforindividualswithASD.

BetteroutcomesforstudentswithASDdependnotonlyonselectionandimplementationof EBPs,butalsoonprofessionaldevelopmentandsupportforeducatorsandotherschool professionalsresponsibleforimplementingthepracticeswithfidelity.Educatorsneedtoknow thecorecomponentsofinterventionsandhavetheskillsnecessaryfortheireffective implementation.However,teachersareoftenunderpreparedtoeffectivelyteachstudentswith ASDduetothelackofprofessionaldevelopmentinuniversitypreparationandin-service training(Machaliceketal.,2008;Suhrheinrich,2011).ThebriefdescriptionsofEBPspresented inthisarticleshouldbeusedasaspringboardbyeducatorsandotherschoolprofessionalsin furtheringtheirknowledgeandskills.

Theresourcesdescribedinthisarticleareonlyafractionoftheexistingresourcesdesignedto assisteducatorswithselectionandimplementationofEBPs.Severalwebsitesprovide informationandmaterialstoassistteachersintheimplementationofEBPs.Educatorsmayfind helpfulresourcesprovidedbytheNationalProfessionalDevelopmentCenteronASD (https://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/evidence-based-practices),AutismInternetModules (http://www.autisminternetmodules.org/),TEACCHAutismProgram (https://teacch.com/trainings/online-learning-opportunities/),andNationalAutismCenter (http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/resources/for-educators/). Thesewebsiteresourcesinclude anoverviewoftheEBPs,step-by-stepinstructionsforimplementation,guidelinesandchecklists, trainingmodules,andadditionalreferencespertinenttotheEBPs.

Limitations

Theresultsofthecurrent studyexaminingEBPsforstudentswithASDarelimitedbyseveral factors. First,theaimofthisstudywastoreviewEBPsreportedbytworeputablenational organizations(i.e.,NPDCandNSPP2),compareoverlappingEBPs,andprovide recommendationsforpractitionersontheuseofreportedEBPsinschoolsettings.Thus,only EBPsreportedbyNPDCandNSPP2wereconsidered.

Second,eachorganizationusedtheirowncriteria forevaluationwhenreviewingpeer-reviewed researchinscientificjournalstoreportedonEBPsforchildrenwithASD.Somedifferences occuredintheevaluationprocessandcriteria,aswellasinthedefinitionandorganizationof EBPs.Perhaps,themaindifferencerelatestoexistingdiscrepanciesinterminology.For example,conceptualdifferencesbetweenpromptdelayandtimedelay,andvisualsupportand scheduleremainuncertain.Furthermore,theNSPP2usestheterminology“behavioral intervention”whereastheNPDCindicatesnineseparateinterventioncategories(seeTable4for details).Whilethemethodsusedbyeachorganizationwerestrongenoughtodeterminewhether ornotaninterventionwaseffectiveforindividualswithASD,theauthorshadnocontrolover thevalidityoftheirinstruments(e.g.,theSMRSscale).

Third,thisstudyreviewwasnotintendedtobea comprehensivereviewofallliteraturerelatedto EBPsforstudentswithASD.Therefore,theidentifiedEBPsshouldnotbeinterpretedasa completelistforaddressingtheneedsofstudentswithASD.Finally,reportedEBPswere describedandsupportedbyexamples,butnotaddressedingreatdetail.

Implications

Despitesuchlimitations,thisstudyhasseveralimplicationsforresearchandpractice.First,this studyaddstopreviousresearchonEBPsforstudentswithASD.Drawingonrelevantsupport fromtwonationalorganizations,authorsproposedaconceptualframeworkofcriticalEBPsfor addressingtheneedsofstudentswithASDinschoolsettings.

Further,theresultsofthisstudyhaveimplicationsforteachersandotherschoolprofessionals teachingstudentswithASD.ItisanticipatedthatthesepractitionerswillexplorereportedEPBs formeetingtheacademic andfunctionalneedsofstudentswithASDandutilizethemfor creatingindividualizedinterventionprogramsforthesestudents.Administratorsalsomaybe willingtoexplorenewwaystosupportfacultywhoworkwithstudentswithASDthrough pertinentprofessionaldevelopment.

Future Directions

GiventhegrowingnumberofstudentswithASDintoday’sschools,theneedforadditional researchfocusedoneffectivepracticesformeetingtheirneedsishighlyimportant.First, additionalresearchisneededtomoredeeplyaddresseachofthereportedEBPsanddescribe

effectivemethodsforimplementation.Futureresearchalsoshouldexploretheimpactofearly implementationofEBPsinpromotingsuccessofstudentswithASD.

Second,futureresearchshouldconductacomprehensiveevaluationofavailableliteratureon EBPsforstudentswithASD.ItmightbeusefultoanalyzemultipleEBPreportsandcompare theirresults.Oneimportantresponsibilityforfutureresearchersisnotonlytoconductstudies thatmeethighqualitystandards,butalsototranslateresearchtopractice.Researchersshould addresstheneedforpracticaltoolsteachersworkingwithstudentswithASDcanutilizeintheir classrooms.

Third,futureresearchshouldemploymethodsthatprovideinsightonspecificfactorsthat contributetoEBPsforstudentswithASD.Specifically,itmaybeusefultoexplorethe perceptionsofteachersandotherschoolprofessionalsworkingwithstudentswithASD regardingtheEBPstheyutilizetosupportstudentswithASD.Finally,researchersshould evaluatetrainingforteachersonpracticesfoundtobeempiricallyvalidatedforstudentswith ASDandbarrierstoeffectiveimplementationofEBPs.

Conclusion

TheESSA(2015)requiresschoolstofind,evaluate,andimplementeffectiveEBPsthatsupport high-qualitylearningforallstudentswithdisabilities,includingthosewithASD.Theabilityto accessaccurateinformationaboutEBPsisessentialtoteachersandothereducationpractitioners; however,theexistingplethoraofresearchonEBPscreatesdifficultiesforpractitionerstasked withidentificationandimplementationofEBPs.Forthisreason,itisimportantthatpractitioners areefficientinlocatingandincorporatingEBPsthenintotheirdailyinstructiontohelpstudents withASDrealizetheirfullpotential.Inthisarticle,authorsplacedtheemphasisonidentifying practicesthatareefficaciousandusefulforpractitioners.Usingstrategiesdescribedinthisarticle EBPsandprovidedresources,educatorsandotherschoolprofessionalscanassistwithspecific approachesforimprovingperformanceandachievementforstudentswithASD,increasingthe likelihoodofimprovededucationaloutcomesandenhancedqualityoflifeforthesestudents.

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About the Authors

MelissaBittner,PhD.,isanassistantprofessorintheDepartmentofKinesiologyatCalifornia StateUniversity,LongBeach.Herscholarlyinterestsarephysicalactivityevidence-based practicesforchildren/youthwithautismspectrumdisorderandadvocacyforadaptedphysical education.Email: Melissa.bittner@csulb.edu

MariyaDavis,Ph.D.,isanAssistantProfessorofSpecialEducationintheDepartmentof EducatorandLeadershipPreparationatTexasA&MUniversity–SanAntonio.Herresearch interestsincludeassessmentinspecialeducation,autism,inclusivepractices,student empowerment,familyengagement,transitiontoadulthood,andprofessionaldevelopment. Email:Mariya.Davis@tamusa.edu

A Systematic Review of Peer-Assisted, Parent-Assisted, and Technology-Mediated Social Skills Interventions for High School Students with Autism

Spectrum Disorder

AnnelaCosta,Ed.S.

JosefinaBeyra,M.S.

RubaMonem,Ed.D.

FloridaInternationalUniversity

Abstract

Asystematicreviewoftheliteraturewasconductedtoinvestigate andcomparepeer-assisted, parent-assisted,andtechnology-mediatedsocialskillsinterventionsforyouthwithAutism SpectrumDisorder(ASD).Articlesselectedforreviewinvolvedexperimental,quasiexperimental,orsingle-subjectexperimentalstudiesassessingvariablesrelatedtosocialskillsin highschoolstudentsbetween14and18 yearsofagewithadiagnosisofhighfunctioningASD. Ofthearticlesreviewed,onlysixstudiesmetcriteriaforinclusion.Theresultsrevealedthat peer-assistedsocialskillsinterventionswerethemostprevalentintheliteraturewhencompared toparent-assistedandtechnology-mediatedinterventions.Gapswerealsonotedwithregardsto thetargetedagegroupandthelackofstudiesconductedinschool-basedsettings.Implications areprovidedforeducationalprofessionalsandfurtheravenuesofresearch.

Keywords:autismspectrumdisorder,ASD,highfunctioning,highschool, adolescents,social skillsinterventions,peer-assisted,parent-assisted,technology-mediated

A Systematic Review of Peer-Assisted, Parent-Assisted, and Technology-Mediated Social Skills Interventions for High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Socialskillsencompassawiderangeofabilitiesthatarenecessaryforandfacilitateappropriate socialengagementandinteraction.Withinthetypicaldevelopmentalcontinuum,adolescence providesboththematurationalpushandenvironmentalbackdropforthedevelopmentand applicationofsocialskillssuchasinitiatinginteractionverballyandnonverbally,reciprocating conversation,displayingempathyandperspectivetaking,andsolvingsocialproblems (Beauchamp&Anderson,2010;McDonald&Machalicek,2013).However,for youthwith AutismSpectrumDisorder(ASD)thedevelopmentofsocialskillsnecessaryforsocial interactionandcommunicationareimpaired. AsstatedbytheAmericanPsychological Association(2013),anindividualwithASDengagesinrepetitiveorrestrictivebehaviorsand alsopresentswithimpairmentsinsocialcommunicationandsocialinteraction.Researchon socialskillsinyouthwithASDhasinturnbecomeafocusintheliteratureonASDandrelated developmentaldisorders(Mcmahon&Solomon,2015;Vernon,Miller,Ko,Barrett,&McGarry, 2018).

Ofparticularinteresthasbeenthedevelopmentofevidenced-basedinterventionsforindividuals

withASD.AsWaltonandIngersoll(2013)noted,theresearchbasesupportstheuseofvarious typesofinterventionsinpromotingsocialskills,suchassocialskillsgroupswithpeersand technology-mediatedinterventionsusingcomputerapplicationsandvideomodeling.This researchbasehaslargelyfocusedonpreschooland school-agedpopulations.Waltonand Ingersoll(2013)emphasizedthatthesocialimpairmentsassociatedwithASDarepervasiveand requiresupportbeyondtheearlyinterventionwindow.

Oneapproachthathasbeenexplored,bothwithchildrenandadolescents,ispeer-assistedor peer-mediatedinterventions.AsdefinedinChangand Locke (2016),peer-mediatedinterventions refertointerventionsthatinvolvetypicallydevelopingpeers,oftentimeswithinthegeneral educationsetting,inteachingarangeofskillsto youthwithASD.Suchinterventionsafford individualswithASDtheopportunitytoobservemodelsofappropriatebehaviorsaswellasthe abilitytopracticesuchskillswithinsocialsettingswithpeers(Chang&Locke,2016;Charlop, Lang,&Rispoli,2018).Intheirsystematicreviewofpeer-mediatedsocialskillsinterventionsin generaleducationsettings,Watkinsetal.,(2015)foundpositiveoutcomesinrelationtosocial initiationandresponses,socialengagement,andextendedinteractionamongchildrenand adolescentswithASDandrelateddevelopmentaldisorders.Similaroutcomeshavealsobeen foundinusingpeer-mediatedinterventionsforsocialskillswithingroupsettingsandwith school-agedindividualswithASD(Chang&Locke,2016).

Similarly,parent-assistedinterventionshavealsobeenconsideredwithregardstosupporting socialdevelopmentofindividualswithASD,yetmuchofthefocushasbeenonearly intervention(e.g.,Casenhiser,Shanker,&Stieben,2013;Haven,Manangan,Sparrow,&Wilson, 2014;Ingersoll&Wainer,2013).Earlyparent-childinteractionsprovidemodelsfromwhich youngchildrenbegintoacquiresocialskills,suchasreciprocityandturntaking,andpromotes generalizationofskillstoothercontexts(Havenetal.,2014;Ingersoll&Wainer,2013).Haven etal.(2014)foundthatemotionalsupportandcohesivenessinparent-childinteractionswere relatedtosocialskillsinyoungchildren.WhencomparingchildrenwithASDtothosewhowere typically-developing,thissenseofclosenessinparent-childinteractionsappearedmostsalientto thedevelopmentofsocialskillsinchildrenwithASD.Inasystematicreviewoftheliterature, Patterson,Smith,andMirenda(2012) foundthatparenttrainingsdesignedtoteachparentshow todelivercommunicationandsocialskillsinterventionsshowedoverallpositiveoutcomesin preschool-agedchildrenwithASD.Similarresultshavebeenfoundinsocialskillinterventions comparingparentinvolvementversustraditionalcommunitytreatmentsinacohortofpreschoolagedchildrenwithASD.Theseoutcomesinvolvedimprovedattentivenessandjointattentionin interactionswithcaregivers;childrenalsodisplayedmoreenjoymentthroughoutthese interactions(e.g.,excitedtone,facialexpressions,andgestures;Casenhiseretal.,2013). IngersollandWainer(2013)alsoimplementedschool-basedparentandteachertrainingson behavioralstrategiesaimedatpromotingengagement,language,imitation,andplayandfound improvedsocialcommunicationinpreschoolchildrenwithASD.Beyondtheearlieststagesof development,parent-assistedsocialskillsinterventionshavealsobeenexploredwithschoolagedchildrenwithhighfunctioningASD.Theuse ofmanualizedfriendshiptrainingprograms withparentinvolvement havesupportedbothimmediateandmaintainedoutcomesin participants’friendship-makingskillsandplayreciprocitywhencomparedtothecontrolgroups

(Frankel,Myatt,Sugar,Whitham,Gorospe,&Laugeson,2010;Mandelberg,Frankel, Cunningham,Gorospe,&Laugeson,2014).

Alternatively,whiletherearemanyavailablemethodstoimprovesocialskillsthroughhuman interaction,researchershavealsostudiedavarietyoftechnology-mediatedinterventions.For mostpeopletoday,technologyisanessentialpartofdailyliving.Theuseoftechnologyasan instructionalintervention,however,hasmanyimplicationsforexpertsinthefieldsofeducation, psychology,industrialdesign,engineering,andcomputerscience.Educatorsandrelatedservice professionalsworkingwithstudentswithASDoftenturntotechnologyforassistancein modelingsocialskills.Thesetechnologiesinclude,butarenotlimitedto,videos(LePage& Courey,2011);video-modeling(Bellini&Akullian2007;Delano,2007;Plavnick, MacFarland, &Ferreri,2015);virtualreality(Didehbani,Allen,Kandalaft,Krawczyk,&Chapmanetal., 2016);androboticsaswellasdesktopsandcomputer-basedapplications(Hopkinsetal.,2011). Forthepastseveralyears,someofthesetechnologieshaveshownpromiseinimprovingboth academicskillsandpersonalgrowthforchildrenwithASD(Grynszpan,Weiss,Perez,Diaz,& Gal,2014).ResearchersconcludethatindividualswithASDrespondpositivelytotechnology becauseofthedynamicvisualsaswellasthepredictabilityandconsistencythatthese technologiesprovide(Grynszpanetal.,2014).Forexample,researchersinvestigatedtheefficacy oftechnology-mediatedinterventionsforadolescentsusingB.J.Fogg’sPersuasionTheoryasa premise,whichsuggeststhattechnology,throughcredibilityandfunctionality,hasthepotential tomotivateandconsequentlychangebehavior(Odometal.,2014).

Atthecruxoftheliterature,arefindingsoninterventionsandprogramswithempiricalsupport forimprovingsocialskillsin youthwithASD.Yet,thereislackingresearchthatexamines parent-assisted,peer-assisted,andtechnology-mediatedsocialskillsinterventionsspecifically withadolescentswithhigherfunctioningASD.Inturn,thepurposeofthis paperistoconducta systematicreviewoftheliteratureto:(a)investigatepeer-assisted,parent-assisted,and technology-mediatedsocialskillsinterventionsavailableforadolescentsinhighschoolswith highfunctioningASDand(b)provideeducationalprofessionalswithacomprehensiveanalysis ofresearch-basedinterventionsandtheirefficacy.

Method

SearchProcedures

Asystematicreviewoftheliteraturewasconductedacrossthreeelectronicdatabases:Education Resources InformationCenter(ERIC),PsychInfo,andSocialSciencesDatabase.Searchterms were enteredinthekeywordfieldsinthedatabasesindifferentcombinations.Theseincludedthe followingkeywords:“autismspectrumdisorder,”“autism,”“ASD,”“teenagers,”“highschool,” “adolescents,”“secondary,”“youth,”“young,”“parent,” “peer,”“treatment,”“intervention,” “assisted,”“socialskills,”“technology,”“videomodeling,”“robot,”“virtualreality,”and “simulation.”Thesearchconductedwaslimitedtopeer-reviewedarticlespublishedinscholarly journalsfrom2000to2016.Filterfeatureswithinthedatabaseswerealsoenteredaspartofthe systematicsearch.Thefiltersincludedtypeofarticle(i.e.,peerreviewed),source(i.e.,scholarly journals),publicationyear(i.e.,from2000to2016),language(i.e.English)andagegroup(i.e.,

adolescents).Thereferencelistsofselectedarticlesthatmetcriteriaduringthefinalphaseofthe screeningprocesswere alsoscreenedforadditionalarticlestoinclude.

InclusionandExclusionCriteria

Asetofinclusionandexclusioncriteriawasestablished.Thearticleshadtoincludeatleastone maleorfemaleparticipantinhighschoolbetween14and18yearsofage.Alternatively,if individualagesofparticipantswerenotprovided, thearticleshadtoincludeagroupmeanageof atleast14yearsofage.Participantsalsohadtohaveadiagnosisofautismandbedescribedas “highfunctioning”inthearticleoridentifiedashavinganoveralllevelofintellectual functioningthatfellwithintwostandarddeviationsofthemean,astandardscoregreaterthan70. ParticipantswithAsperger’sSyndromewerealsoincludedpercriteriaestablishedbythe previouseditionoftheDiagnosticandStatisticalManual-FourthEdition(DSM-IV)that identifiedsuchindividualsashavingimpairmentsinsocialinteraction yetnocognitiveor languagedelays.Studieswithparticipantswhowereenrolledinhighschoolorsecondary program yetolderthan18yearsofagewerenotincludedaspartofthereview.Studieswith participantswithintheagerangeof14to18whowereconsideredmiddleschoolstudentswere alsonotincludedforreview.Thearticleshadtoincludeapeerorparent-assistedsocialskills interventionoratechnology-mediatedsocialskillsintervention.Atleastoneofthedependent variableshadtoberelatedtosocialskills.Finally,thearticleshadtoinvolveanexperimental, quasi-experimental,orsingle-subjectexperimentaldesign.Articlesthatinvolvedreviewsofthe literatureorsystematic reviewswerenotincluded.Articlesbasedonstudiesconductedoutsideof theUnitedStateswerealsoexcludedduetotheculturalfactorsthatinfluencesocialskills.

DataExtractionandCodingProcedures

Screening.Followingthesystematicsearch,thearticlesunderwentatertiary-phasereview conductedbytheprimaryandsecondaryauthorsindependently.Duringthefirstphase,the citationsandabstractsofthe166articleswerescreenedforpossibleinclusionbasedonthe establishedinclusionandexclusioncriteria.Thisinitialscreeninginvolvedtheprimaryand secondaryauthorscodingthearticlesasmeetingcriteriaornotmeetingcriteria(i.e.,acceptor discard). Fromthisinitialscreening,48articleswereadvancedtothesecondscreeningphase.At thesecondaryphase,theintroductionandmethodsectionsoftheadvancedarticleswerefurther reviewed.Theprimaryandsecondaryauthorsagaincodedthearticlesasmeetingcriteriaornot meetingcriteria (i.e.,acceptordiscard). Intheeventthatauthorswerenotinagreementonthe inclusionofanarticleduringthefirstandsecondphaseofscreeningarticleswerereviewedand discusseduntilreaching100%agreementonthedecisiontoincludethearticleinthereview. Articlesmeetingcriteriafromtheselattertwophasesthenadvancedtothefinalphasewherein thefulltextreviewswereconducted.

Dataextractionandcodingprocedures. Dataextractionoftheadvancedarticleswere conductedcollaborativelybytheprimaryandsecondaryauthors.Ofthesixarticlesscreenedand advancedtothefinalphase,eachauthorcoded50%ofthearticles.Articleswerecodedfor:(a) participantcharacteristics,(b)typeofsocialskilltargeted,(c)typeofinterventionand interventionprocedures,(d)interventionoutcomes,(e)maintenanceandgeneralizationof outcomes,(f)socialvalidity,(g)interobserveragreementandtreatmentfidelity,and(h)quality

ofevidence.Morespecifically,informationcodedforparticipantcharacteristicsincludedgender, age/grade,anddiagnoses.Theinterventiontypewascodedasparent-assisted,peer-assisted,or technology-mediated.Thesettingandtypeofdesignwerealsonotedfortheintervention procedures.Interventionoutcomeswerecodedaspositive(i.e.,significanteffectsreportedfor all participants),negative(i.e.,nosignificanteffectsreportedforparticipants),ormixed(i.e., significantandinsignificanteffectsreported).Ifreported,outcomesrelatedtomaintenanceofthe socialsskillswithtimeandgeneralizationbeyondtheexperimentalcontextwere alsocoded.

QualityAssessmentoftheStudies

Toassessthequalityoftheevidence,theprimaryandsecondaryauthorsdrewuponthecertainty frameworkdescribedbySmith(1981)andadaptedmorerecentlyinsystematicreviews(e.g., Neely,Gerow,Rispoli, Lang,&Pullen,2016;Palmen,Didden,&Lang,2012).Basedonthis model,studiesarehierarchicallyclassifiedas yieldingevidencethatissuggestive,preponderant, orconclusive.Studiesyieldingsuggestiveevidenceinvolvedquasi-experimentaldesignsthat lackedrandomization,suchasisthecaseinstudiesinvolvingpre-postdesigns.Studiesproviding preponderantevidencewerecharacterizedbyexperimentalcontrol,operationallydefined dependentvariables,replicableprocedures,andreportedinterobserverorinterrateragreement. Adequateagreementwasdeterminedtobe80%orhigherforatleast20%oftheobservations.At thehighestlevelofcertainty,conclusiveevidencedemonstratedthecharacteristicsof preponderantevidence; yet,unlikethemixedresultsacceptedforthelatter,conclusiveevidence supportspositiveoutcomesforallparticipants.

InterraterReliability

Thesystematicsearch yielded166articlesforpotentialinclusion.Toestablishinterrater reliabilityatthescreeningphase,theprimaryandsecondaryauthorsindependentlyreviewedthe articlesandresultswere discussed.Initialagreementonthefirstphaseofthescreeningprocess fortheinclusioncriteria was82%.Upondiscussion,interrateragreementincreasedto95%,98%, and100%,respectively.Interraterreliabilitywasalsodeterminedforthedataextractionand codingprocedures.Asstatedabove,theprimaryandsecondaryauthorscoded50%ofthearticles thatadvancedtothedataextractionandcodingphase.Theauthorsthenreviewedthecoding summariesofthearticles.Eacharticlewasratedonthesixcodingcategories.Agreementwas reachedfor100%ofthearticles.

Results

ParticipantCharacteristics

Thearticlesreviewedconsistedofatotalof181participants.Oftheseparticipants,150were maleand31werefemale withaverageagesrangingfrom14.0to16.0.Primarydiagnoses includedAutismSpectrumDisorder(ASD),highfunctioningAutismSpectrumDisorder(i.e., Asperger’s),orPervasiveDevelopmentalDisorder-NotOtherwiseSpecified(PDD-NOS). Comorbiddiagnoseswerealsoreportedinthearticles,includingAttentionDeficitHyperactivity Disorder(ADHD),MajorDepressiveDisorder(MDD),GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder(GAD), AdjustmentDisorder(AD),andlearningdifficulties(seeTable1).Intellectualfunctioningwas assessedmostcommonlythroughformalstandardizedmeasures(e.g.,KaufmanBrief IntelligenceTest-SecondEdition-KBIT-2;WechslerIntelligenceScaleforChildren-Fourth

Edition-WISC-IV) yieldingstandardscores(i.e.,mean,100;standarddeviation,15).Participants’ averageintellectualfunctioningrangedfrom94to104. Educationalplacementreportedfor participantsincludedthegeneral educationsetting,variousspecialeducationservicedelivery models(e.g.,full-time,pull-out),homeschooling,andothereducationalplacementsacrosspublic andprivateschoolsettings.Medicationusebyparticipantswasalsoreportedin50%ofthe studies(e.g.,Laugeson,Frankel,Mogil,&Dillon,2009;Reillyetal.,2014;Schohl etal.,2014).

SocialSkills

Thesocialskillstargetedinthearticlesreviewedindicatedvariabilitywithinandbetween researchstudies.Asawhole,thearticlesinvolvingparent-assistedinterventionstargetedsocial skillsnecessaryforinitiatingandmaintainingpeerrelationships.Suchskillsincluded conversationalskills,peerentry,managingrejection,electroniccommunicationandcyber bullying(e.g.,Schohletal.,2014).Thetechnology-mediatedinterventionswithpeermodels targetedbothsocialskills,includingcollaboration,sharedinterest,listening,andunderstanding others,aswellasvocationalskills(e.g.,roboticsknowledge)andsocialanxietyreduction.In contrast,thepeer-assistedinterventionspecificallytargetednovelpeer-directedquestioning, whichinvolvesaskingthespontaneousandnovelquestionstoaconversationalpartnerwithout prompts.

InterventionTypeandProcedures

Typeofintervention.Thearticlesreviewedindicatedthatthemajorityofthesocialskills interventionsexploredforadolescentswithhigh-functioningautisminvolvedparent-assisted procedures(67%).Inparticular,theProgramfortheEducationandEnrichmentofRelational Skills(PEERS)wasarecurringmanualized,parent-assistedinterventionprovidedtoadolescents inmiddleschoolorhighschoolwhohadaprimarydiagnosisofautism(e.g.,Laugeson,Frankel, Gantman,Dillon,&Mogil,2012;Mandelberg,Laugeson,Cunningham,Ellingsen,Bates,& Frankeletal.,2014;Laugesonetal.,2009; Schohletal.,2014).Onlyonestudymeeting inclusionandexclusioncriteriainvolvedpeer-assistedintervention(i.e., Reillyetal.,2014). Similarly,onlyonestudyinvolvedtechnology,althoughthisstudyalsoincorporatedaprimary peer-assistedcomponent (i.e.,Kaboskietal.,2014).

Setting.Ofthesix articlesanalyzedformeetingcriteria,fiveoftheinterventions(83%)were deliveredinauniversity-basedexperimentalsetting(e.g., Kaboskietal.,2014;Laugesonetal., 2009;Laugesonetal.,2012;Mandelberg,Laugesonetal.,2014; Schohletal.,2014).Ofthese studies,fourstudies(i.e., Laugesonetal.,2009;Laugesonetal.,2012;Mandelberg,Laugesonet al.,2014;Schohletal.,2014)providedparticipantsopportunitiestogeneralizeskillsacquiredto theireducationalsettingsortoextracurricularactivities.Moreover,albeitthestudydescribedin Kaboskietal.(2014)washeldinanautismresearchsetting,itwasconductedwithinthecontext ofasummertreatmentprogram.Withregardstoeducationalsetting,onlyonestudy(i.e., Reilly etal.,2014)wasconductedwithinanurbanhighschoolenvironmentduringparticipants’ academicinstructionand lunchtime.Nostudieswereconductedincommunity-basedsettings.

Studydesign.Themajorityofthestudiesanalyzedinvolvedthecomparisonofacontrolgroup andanexperimentalgroup.Twodesigns(i.e.,Laugesonetal.,2009;Schohletal.,2014)

involvedarandomizedcontroltrialwherebyparticipantswererandomlyassignedtooneoftwo conditions,thewaitlistcontrolgroupandtheexperimentalgroup.Twostudies(i.e.,Laugesonet al.,2012;Mandelberg,Laugesonetal.,2014)alsousedavariationofthisdesign, yetlacked randomassignmentandwerethusconsideredquasi-experimental.Inparticular,onestudy(i.e., Mandelberg,Laugesonetal.,2014),comparedparticipants’performanceatthreedifferenttime points:pre-treatment,post-treatment,andfollowup.Thefollowupassessmentswerecompleted onaverageat29months, yetrangedfrom1to5yearspost-treatment.Thetechnology-mediated andpeer-assistedstudy(Kaboskietal.2014)furtherinvolvedaquasi-experimental,pre-post design.Onlyonestudy(i.e.,Reillyetal.,2014)includedavariationofasinglesubject-based researchmethodologyandemployedamultipleprobedesignacrossparticipants.Observed behaviorsinthisstudywerecomparedacrossthreephases:baseline,treatment,andmaintenance.

Procedures. Thefourparent-assistedstudiesthatwerereviewedallemployedthePEERS treatmentprogramaspartoftheirinterventionprocedures. AsdescribedinLaugesonetal. (2008)andothers,thePEERSinterventionisamanualized,parent-assistedgrouptreatment programthatprovidesexplicitinstructiontoadolescentsonvarioussocialskillsneededfor initiatingandmaintainingpositivepeerrelationships.Parentsandadolescentsattended concurrenttrainings.Theadolescenttrainingbeganwithaninstructionalsessionwherebythe targetsocialskillwasdiscussed.Indoingso,trainersandgroupleadersmodeledtheappropriate socialskillsandprovidedopportunitiesforroleplayingandrehearsalswith immediatefeedback. Inturn,parentsalsoreceivedasimilarinstructionalsessionfollowedbyareviewofthe expectationsfortheweeklylesson,includingprovidingadolescentsopportunitiestogeneralize thesocialskillstotheschoolsettingorextracurricularactivitiesasahomeworkactivity.These interventionsvariedbetween12to14weeksandeachsessionwas90minutesinlength.

Incontrast,thepeer-assistedinterventiondescribedinReillyetal.(2014)involvedspecific trainingonaskingnovelpeer-directedquestionsinconversation.Thetrainingbeganwithan instructionalsessionthatexplainedthepurposeforandrelevanceofaskingnovelquestionsto peersinconversationsratherthanbeingpromptdependentonthecommunicationbooks. Throughthissession,theresearchtrainermodeledtheappropriateuseofnovel,peer-directed questionsfollowedbyopportunitiesforroleplayandimmediatefeedback.Thereafter,the participantengagedin generalizationsessionswithtypically-developingpeermodelsin unstructuredschoolactivities(e.g.,lunch).Additionalpeer-trainingsessionswereprovidedto participantswhodidnotmeetmasterycriteriaforgeneralizationsessions.Theparticipant meetinginclusioncriteriaforthepurposeofthissystematicreviewdidnotreceivethelatter trainingashemetmasteryduringtheinitialinstructionalsession.

Thetechnology-mediatedandpeer-assistedstudy(i.e.,Kaboskietal.2014)matchedparticipants withautismwithtypically-developingpeersinordertocollaborateonaroboticsprojectduring twoconsecutive,week-longroboticssummercamps.Participantswereprovideddailyinstruction onroboticsandrelatedvocationalskills.Theseinstructionalsessionsincludedconcurrent discussionandpracticeofrelatedsocialskills(e.g.,listeningandrespondingtoothers).Indoing so,participantshadtheopportunitytoworkwiththeirpartnertoprogramaninteractiverobot andreceivefeedbackfromresearchcoachesontheirinteractionsacrossthespanofthe intervention.

InterventionOutcomes

Toensurethateverypossiblestudywithinthecriteriawasselected,itwasdecidedtoinclude studieswithpositive,negativeandmixedresultsinordertohaveathoroughunderstandingof interventionsthathavebeenanalyzedfortheirpossibleeffectsintheacquisitionofsocialskills. Themajority(83%)ofthestudiesanalyzed yieldedmixedresults.Asawhole,studiesexploring theparent-assistedPEERSinterventionsreportedparent,teacher,andself-reportedimprovement ofsocialskillsandrelatedknowledge.Twosuchstudies(i.e.,Laugesonetal.,2012; Schohlet al.,2014)furthernotedparent-reporteddecreaseinsymptomatologyassociatedwithautismand increaseinthenumberofsocialget-togetherswithpeers.Decreasesinproblembehaviorswere notedacrosstheparent-assistedPEERSinterventions.Improvementoffriendshipqualitywasnot consistentintheselatterparent-assistedinterventions(e.g.,Laugesonetal.,2009versus Schohl etal.,2014).Mixedresultswerealsoreportedforthetechnology-mediatedinterventionswitha reductioninsocialanxietyfrombaselinetopost-intervention;yet,nosignificantincreasein socialskillsforparticipantswithautism.Overall,positiveresultswerereportedbythepeerassistedinterventionwithimprovementinnovelpeer-directedquestionsduringconversationand adecreasingtrendinnon-novelorself-directedstatementsimmediatelyfollowingtraining (Reillyetal.,2014).Tonote,theparentorpeer-assistedinterventionsthatyieldedpositivesocial skillsoutcomessharedkeyfeatures,includingspecific,directinstructionofthetargetsocial skills,modeling,androle playingwithimmediatefeedback.Theinstructionprovidedinthe technology-mediatedinterventionlackedsuchfeatures

Maintenanceandgeneralizationofoutcomes. Withregardstothemaintenanceoftheresults, threestudies(50%)reportedmaintenanceoftheresultsinduringamaintenancephaseorfollow upperiod.Positiveoutcomeswerereportedduringthemaintenancephaseofthepeer-assisted intervention(i.e.,Reillyetal.,2014).Twooftheparent-assistedinterventionsfurtherreported partialmaintenanceoftheoutcomes.Inonestudy, mostsocialskillsoutcomes,withthe exceptionofsocialskillsknowledgetaughtexplicitlyintheintervention,weremaintained when comparingpre-treatment,post-treatment,andfollowup(Mandelberg,Laugesonetal.,2014). Mosttreatmentimprovementswerealsomaintainedat14-weekfollowupinLaugesonetal. (2012),includingdecreasedproblembehaviors.Generalizationofsocialskillsbeyondthe interventionsettingwerereportedfor5ofthe6studies(83%),specificallyforthepeer-assisted andparent-assistedinterventions(i.e.,Laugesonetal.,2009;Laugesonetal.,2012;Mandelberg, Laugesonetal.,2014; Reillyetal.,2014;Schohletal.,2014).Generalizationsoccurredfromthe trainingsettingtogeneralacademicclassroomandlunch(e.g.,Reillyetal.,2014)aswellas unspecifiedschool-basedsettingsandextracurriculars(e.g., Laugesonetal.,2009;Laugesonet al.,2012;Mandelberg,Laugesonetal.,2014; Schohletal.,2014).

Interobserveragreementandtreatmentfidelity. Interobserveragreementwasonlyreported foronestudy(i.e.,Reillyetal.,2014;16%).Reillyetal.(2014)assessedinterobserver agreementforallsocialskillsoutcomesmeasured,includinginitiations,responses,andaffect acrossparticipantsandconversationalpartners,typeofinitiation,reciprocityofinteraction,and qualityofinteraction.Agreementrangedfrom75%to100%.Treatmentfidelitywasassessedin 5ofthe6studies(i.e.,Laugesonetal.,2009;Laugesonetal.,2012;Mandelberg,Laugesonet al.,2014;Reillyetal.,2014;Schohletal.,2014;83%).However,ofthesestudies,onlythepeerassistedintervention(i.e.,Reillyetal.,2014)reportedresultsfortreatmentfidelityacross

participantsandintervention.Nointerobserveragreementortreatmentfidelitywasreportedfor thetechnology-mediatedstudy(i.e., Kaboskietal.,2014).

Socialvalidity.Assessmentofthesocialvalidityoftheinterventionwasonlyreportedforoneof thesixstudies(16%).Specifically,Reillyetal.(2014)collecteddatatoassessthesocialvalidity ofthepeer-assistedintervention.Socialvaliditymeasuresincludedassessmentofparticipants’ perspectivesontheirprogresstowardsattainingtheirsocialgoalsandtheeffectivenessofthe interventionforthesegoals.Reillyetal.(2014)revealedthatparticipantssupportedtheeffectsof theintervention.Thislatterstudywastheonlyone forwhichsocialvalidationmeasureswere collectedandinterpreted.

QualityofEvidence

Thequalityofevidenceforthesixstudiesreviewedwascategorizedacrossthreehierarchical levelsofsupport:suggestive,preponderant,and conclusive.Atthehighestlevelofsupport,only onestudy(16%)providedconclusiveevidence.Specifically,Reillyetal.(2014)involveda multipleprobedesignacrossparticipantsandincludedoperationaldefinitionsofthetargeted variablesaswellasreplicableprocedures.Interobserveragreementwasalsoreportedandmetthe previouslystatedcriteria ofatleast80%agreementfor20%oftheobservations.Inturn, suggestiveevidencewasprovidedfortheremainingfivestudies(83%).Ofthesestudies,threeof parent-assistedinterventions(i.e.,Laugesonetal.,2009;Laugesonetal.,2012;Mandelberg, Laugesonetal.,2014)metmostofthecriteriaofpreponderantevidenceyetinterobserveror interrateragreementwasnotreported.The Schohletal.(2014)study,whichexploredlong-term outcomesoftheparent-assistedintervention,alsolackedthesedataandcomparedpre-existing datatocurrentdatacollectedatafollowuptimepoint.Finally,thetechnology-mediated intervention(i.e.,Kaboskietal.,2014)alsometcriteriaforsuggestiveevidence;however,this studyinvolvedapre-postdesignthatlackedexperimentalcontrolandinterobserverorinterrater agreementwerenotreported.Mixedresultswerealsoreportedforthelatterfivestudies,which alsoinfluencedthelevelofsupportfortheirrespectivefindings.

Table1

SummaryofDataExtractionandAnalysis

Included studies Participant characteristics Social skill(s) targeted

Reillyetal. (2014)

N=3/1;Male; Age=16;IQ102; DiagnosesofASD, comorbidlearning disabilityandADHD.

Interventiontype,setting,and procedures

Novelpeerdirected questions

Type:Peer-assisted Setting:Highschoolinclusion

Procedures:Generalinstruction comparedtonovelpeerdirectedquestiontrainingina multiple-probedesignacross participants:(a)baseline,(b) novelpeer-directedquestion training,and(c)maintenance. GeneralInstruction:using communicationbookwithnonnovelquestionprompts.Novel peer-directedtraining:specific trainingonrationaleforasking novelpeer-directedquestionsin conversation,including modelingandfeedbackwith trainer,andgeneralization sessionswithtypicalpeers.

Interventionoutcomes

Results:Positive.Improvementin novelpeer-directedquestionsduring conversationanddecreasingtrendin non-novelorself-directedstatements immediatelyfollowingtraining.

Maintenance:Yes

Generalization:Yes

SocialValidity:Yes

IOA:Yes

TF:Yes

Evidence:Conclusive.Study involvedtheuseofamultiple-probe designacrossparticipants.IOA reportedandmeetingcriteria. Variablesoperationallydefined. Replicableproceduresprovided. Positiveoutcomesprovided.

Schohletal. (2014)

N=58/58;47males,11 females;Agerange11 to16;MeanAgefor experimentalgroup /waitlistgroup=14.00/ 13.31;MeanIQfor experimental group/waitlist group=102.17/ 98.45;Diagnosis: ASD

Varioussocial skills(e.g., conversational skills,peerentry andexiting, expandingand developing friendship networks)

Type:Parent-assisted Setting: University-basedwith generalizationtoothersettings includingschool.

Procedures:Comparingwaitlist controlgroupandexperimental groupinRCT.

Waitlistcontrolgroup:delivery ofsocialskillsintervention delayed14weeks.

Experimental:manualized, outpatienttreatmentprogram (PEERS)includingroleplays, rehearsals,feedback,parent involvement,and generalizationtoschool environmentorextracurricular activities.

Results:Mixed.Improvementin knowledgeoftargetedsocialskills; increasednumberofinvitedand hostedget-togetherswithpeers; decreasedsocialanxiety;decreased parentreportofASD symptomatology;decreased parent/teacherreportsofsocial problembehaviors.Nostatistically significantimprovementin friendshipqualityorparent/teacher reportsonthesocialskillsrating system.

Maintenance:NR

Generalization:Yes

SocialValidity:NR

IOA:NR

TF:Yes(resultsNR)

Evidence:Suggestive.Study involvedtheuseofRCT.Replicable proceduresprovided.Variables operationallydefined.However,IOA wasnotreported.Mixedresults indicated.

Laugesonet al.(2012)

N=28/28;(n=14 experimental;n=14 delayedtreatment group);23males,5 females;Agerange12 to17;Meanage=14.6; Ageexperimental/

Varioussocial skillsnecessary forfriendshipmaking(e.g., conversational skills,electronic communication,

Type:parent-assisted Setting: University-basedwith generalizationtoothersettings includingschool.

Results:Mixed.Overall improvementinsocialskillsas reportedbyparentsandteachers, self-reportedincreaseinsocialskills knowledge,andincreaseinthegettogetherwithpeers;decreaseinASD symptomatology.Mosttreatment

delayedtreatment group=15.0/14.3.

MeanIQfor experimental/delayed treatmentgroup= 94.1/104.5;

Diagnoses:HFA (n=13),ASD(n=14) orPDD-NOS(n=1).

friendship networks)

Procedures:Comparing delayedtreatmentcontrolgroup totreatmentgroupusing randomizedcontroltrials.

improvementsmaintainedat14weekfollowupanddecreased problembehaviorsalsonotedat followup.

Maintenance:Yes

Delayedtreatmentgroup: receivedinterventionaftera14weekwaitperiod.

Treatmentgroup:manualized, outpatienttreatmentprogram (PEERS)includingroleplays, rehearsals,feedback,parent involvement,and generalizationtoschool environmentorextracurricular activities.Includedadditional trainingonskillsneededforthe advancementoffriendshipskill (e.g.,cyberbullying; appropriateuseofhumor;long termtacticsforchangingbad reputations).

Mandelberget al.(2014)

N=53/53;43male, 10female.

Meanagepreintervention= 14.3;Meanage follow-up=17.5; MeanIQ=97.2;

Diagnoses:HFA, ASD,orPDD-NOS

Varioussocial skills,including makingand keeping friendshipsand managingpeer conflictand rejection.

Type:parent-assisted Setting:University-basedwith generalizationtoothersettings includingschool.

Procedures:Comparing outcomesatthreetimepoints (preintervention,post

Generalization:Yes

SocialValidity:NR

IOA:NR

TF:Yes(resultsNR)

Evidence:Suggestive.Studyalso involvedtheuseofarandomized controlledstudy.Manualized treatmentprotocolprovided replicableprocedures.Variables operationallydefined.However,IOA wasnotreported.Mixedresults indicated.

Results:Mixed.Improvedsocial outcomesonmostlyallmeasures frompreinterventiontopost interventiontofollowup,including increaseinsocialskillsandsocial responsivenessanddecreasein problembehaviors.Knowledgeof socialskillsweresignificantat followupwhencomparedtopre

Kaboskietal. (2014)

(samplesizesnot specified).

intervention,1to5yearfollow up).

Intervention:published manualized,parent-assisted, socialskillsprogramfor adolescentswithASD(90 minutes,12to14weeks).

intervention,yethadregressedwhen comparedtopostintervention.

Maintenance:Yes

Generalization:Yes

SocialValidity:NR

IOA:NR

TF:Yes(resultsNR)

Evidence:Suggestive.Study involvedcomparisonofpre-existing preinterventionandpost interventiondatatodatacollectedat followuptimepoint.Replicable proceduresprovided.Variables operationallydefined.However,IOA wasnotreported.Mixedresults indicated.

N=16/16(n=8ASD; n=8typically developingpeers);16 males;Mean age=14.05.MeanIQ notreported,however, participantcriteria statedenrollmentina generaleducation scienceclass;

Diagnoses:ASD, withoutany developmentalor psychiatricdisorder.

Varioussocial skillsincluding collaboration, social/vocational skills,shared interest,social anxiety reduction, listening, understanding others. Knowledgeof robotsand roboticswas alsotargeted.

Type:peer-assisted

Setting:summercampinan ASDresearchlabfacility

Procedures:two-consecutive week-long“robotics”summer campsadvertisedassciencebasedcampswithdailytasks forpairedstudents(1ASDto1 TD)toworktogetherona roboticsproject,which culminatedinapresentation. Thecampwas3hoursdailyfor 5days.BaselineandPosttest

Results:Mixed.Outcomesindicate reductioninsocialanxietyfrom baselinetopostintervention. However,therewasnosignificant increaseinsocialskillsfor participantswithASD.Improvement ofroboticsknowledgewasreported.

Maintenance:No

Generalization:No

SocialValidity:NR

IOA:NR

TF:NR

Evidence:Suggestive.Pilotstudy involvedtheuseofapre-andpost-

Scoresincluded6different measures.

Laugesonet al.(2009)

N=33;28males,5 females.Meanage= 14.6.MeanVerbalIQ treatment/delayed group=96.0/88.3.

Diagnoses:HFA (n=23),Asperger’s Disorder(n=9),PDDNOS(n=1)

Varioussocial skills,including makingand keeping friendships, socialetiquette, hostinggettogethers,social network, participatingin extracurricular activities

Type:parent-assisted

Setting:outpatientsocialskills program

Procedures: published manualized,parent-assisted, socialskillsprogramfor adolescentswithASD(90 minutes,12weeks).

testdesignacrossparticipants. Variablesoperationallydefined. Replicableproceduresprovidedand suggestedforlargerandmore diversesample.Mixedresults providedandIOAwasnotreported.

Results:Mixed.Outofthe12 measuresanalyzed,4measures indicatedimprovement.Therewere severallimitationstothestudy includingpossiblebiasfromparents andpoorparticipationfromteachers.

Maintenance:NR

Generalization:NR

SocialValidity:NR

IOA:NR

TF:Yes(resultsNR)

Evidence:Suggestive.Study involvedtheuseofarandomized control.Replicableprocedures providedthroughmanualized treatmentprotocol.Variables operationallydefined.However,IOA wasnotreported.Mixedresults indicated.

Note:N:totalnumberofparticipantsinstudy/numberofparticipantsincludedinsystematicreview;ASD:AutismSpectrumDisorder; PDD-NOS:PervasiveDevelopmentalDisorder-NotOtherwiseSpecified;HFA:HighFunctioningAutism;NR:NotReported;IOA: InterobserverAgreement;TF:TreatmentFidelity;RCT:RandomizedControlTrial

Discussion

Thepresentsystematicreviewexploredtheliteratureontheuseofsocialskillsinterventionsfor adolescentswithhighfunctioningASD.Specifically,thereviewsoughttoinvestigatethe literatureonpeer-assisted,parent-assisted,ortechnology-mediatedsocialskillsinterventions.As awholeoftheliteraturebaseonsocialskillsinterventionsfor youthwithASD,onlysixstudies metcriteriaandweresummarized.Analysisofthesestudiesrevealedthatparent-assistedsocial skillsinterventionswerethemostprevalent,particularlythoseinvestigatingthemanualized ProgramfortheEducationandEnrichmentofRelationalSkills(PEERS). Incontrast,therewere minimalstudiesconductedwithhighschooladolescentswithASDthatinvolvedpeer-assistedor technology-mediatedinterventionstargetingsocialskills.Whenconsideringtheliteraturethat wasscreened,oneofthesalientreasonsforwhichstudiesweredeterminednottomeetinclusion criteria,wasageandschoolplacement.Withpeer-mediatedinterventions,studiesmostly targetedparticipantsatthemiddleschoollevel, yetnotspecificallyhighschooladolescents wheresocialskillscanbeconsideredthemostdevelopmentallysalient.Asimilarpatternwas notedinthescarcityoftechnology-mediatedstudies.Itwasfurthernotedthatthemajorityofthe relevanttechnology-mediatedstudiesthatwerenotincludedinthepresentreviewwere conductedoutsideoftheUnitedStates.Tofurtherillustratethisgapintheliterature,onlyone studyintegratedtheuseoftechnologyalbeitinaprimarilypeer-assistedintervention.Thisstudy includedaninteractiverobotasanactivitythroughwhichtoencouragecollaboration;yetthe technologyitselfdidnotappeartobethefocalpointoftheinterventionforsocialskills.This madetheimpactoftechnologyonsocialskillsunclear.Furtherresearchisnecessarytoexplore theimpactofprimarilytechnology-basedsocialskillsinterventionsforadolescentswithhighfunctioningASD(e.g.,virtualrealities).Theliteraturefurtherindicatedthatthemajorityofthese socialskillsinterventionsforhigh functioninghighschooladolescentsweredeliveredwithina university-basedsetting.Despitepastresearchpointingtotheimportanceofschool-based interventions,therewerelimitedinterventionsdeliveredspecificallyinschool-basedsettingsat thesecondarylevel.

Theoutcomesofthestudiessummarizedfurtherrevealednoteworthyconclusions. Muchofthe outcomesreportedacrossthesestudiesindicatedmixed,suggestiveresults.Suchresultsincluded improvementonmeasuredsocialskillsoutcomesanddecreaseinsocialanxietyandsocial problems.Specifically,thepeer-assistedinterventionwastheonlystudyexploredthatdidnot yieldmixedresults,butratherprovidedpositive,conclusivesupport.Thepeer-assisted interventionwasdeliveredinthegeneraleducationschoolsettingwithpeersservingas conversationalpartners.Resultsforgeneralization,maintenance,socialvalidity,andtreatment fidelityforthispeer-assistedinterventionwerereported.Despitethepositiveoutcomes,these resultsarelimitedtotheoneparticipantthatmetinclusioncriteriaforthepurposeofthis systematicreview.Incontrast,thetechnology-mediatedinterventionwithpeercollaborationdid notrevealimprovementinsocialskillsalthoughparticipantsacquiredvocational-specificskills (e.g.,knowledgeofrobotics).Interventionsthatdidyieldimprovementsonsocialskills outcomesincludeddirectinstructionofthetargetsocialskills,modeling,androleplayingwith immediatefeedback.Suchfeatureswerenotevidentinthetechnology-mediatedintervention.

Theresultsandlimitationsofthissystematicreviewrevealgapsintheliteraturethatindicates avenuesinneedoffurtherresearch.Specifically,thelackofstudiesmeetingcriterialimitsthe conclusionsthatcanbedrawnregardingtheoveralleffectivenessofthedifferenttypesof interventionsexplored.Ofthese,onlyonestudyexploringpeer-assistedinterventionswas consideredasprovidingconclusiveevidence.Nevertheless,thisalsoprovidessupportsfor furtherscholarlyworkin thisdomain.ASDisadisabilitythatischaracterizedinpartbyan impairmentinsocialcommunicationandsocialinteraction.Insuch,theapplicationofsocial skillsinterventionshasbeenafocalpointoftheresearchbase,especiallyasitrelatestohigh functioningindividuals. Thestudyofsuchinterventionswithhighfunctioninghighschool adolescents,however,islimitedwhencomparedtointerventionstargetingearlychildhoodand school-agedindividuals.Thissystematicreviewsupportsthisgapintheliterature.Specifically, thissystematicreviewrevealedthatparent-assistedinterventionswerethemostprevalent, yetthe peer-assistedinterventiondespiteitslimitationsyieldedpositiveoutcomesthatweregeneralized andsociallyvalidatedwhencomparedtothemixedresultsoftheformer.Thepeer-assisted interventionwasalsotheonlyinterventionthatwasdeliveredwithintheschoolsetting.Given theimpactofASDonpeerrelationsandinterpersonalskillsneededforacademicandsocialemotionalwell-being,moreresearchiswarrantedwithinthesecondaryschoollevel,especially withinthegeneraleducationhighschoolsetting.

Moreover,thissystematicreviewrevealedtheeffectivenessofinterventionsthatintegrateddirect instruction,modeling,androleplayingwithimmediatefeedback.Suchinterventionsallowedfor scaffoldingofthesocialskillsinaprogressionfromdirect,specific,andconcreteinstructionto moreabstractroleplaying.Incontrast,thetechnology-mediatedinterventionlackedclearand concreteinstructionassocialskillswereintertwinedwithinthevocationalskillsratherthan explicitlytaughttoparticipantswithASD.Tofurthernote,thePEERSprogramwasaprevalent andwidelysupportedparent-assistedintervention, yetitwas alsotheonlyinterventioninvolving parentsofadolescenthighschoolstudentsonthehighfunctioningspectrum.Further investigationoftheseaforementionedinterventionfeaturesiswarrantedacrossparent,peer,and technology-assistedmediums.

Implications

Insummary,furtherresearchisneededacrosspeer-assisted,parent-assisted,andtechnologymediatedinterventionstargetingsocialskillswithinthehighschoolsettingforindividualswith highfunctioningASD.Beyondtheresearcharena,theconclusionsdrawnfromthisreview provideimplicationsforpracticewithinthegeneraleducationandspecialeducationsettings.The hallmarkcharacteristicsofASDarepervasiveacrosssettingsandmayaffectadolescents’ functioningatschool.Applyingsocialskillsinterventionswithintheschoolsettingmayprovide aplatformthroughwhichtoaddresstheeducationalneedsofadolescentswithASD.Withinthe classroom,directinstructioncanbeprovidedonsocialskillswithopportunitiesformodelingand roleplayingwithtypically-developingpeers.Thefindingsofthissystematicreviewalsocarry implicationsbeyondtheclassroomtoschool-basedmentalhealthprofessionalsandtheuseof suchpeer-assistedinterventionsforcounselingsessions.Theinvolvementofparentsas stakeholdersinsuchsocialskillsdevelopmentisalsointegral.Asindicatedbytheliterature,

parentinvolvementallowsforreinforcementofsuchskillsathomeandthegeneralizationof thesetootherinvivosituations.Withsuchsupport,studentswithASDmaypotentially experiencesocialgrowthanddecreasesinsocialproblems,whichinturnmaypositively influencetheirdevelopmentacrossacademic,social-emotional,andbehavioraldomains.

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About the Authors

AnnelaCosta,Ed.S.,isanationallycertifiedschoolpsychologistandpresentlyworkswith elementaryandsecondarystudentsconductingpsychoeducationalevaluationsandproviding school-basedmentalhealthservices.Sheispursuingadoctoraldegreeinspecialeducationat FloridaInternationalUniversity.Herresearchinterestsincludemulticulturalism,school-based mentalhealth,andpromotionofdiversityandinclusionineducationalpractices.

JosefinaBeyra,M.S.isworkingtowardsadoctoraldegreeinspecialeducationfromFlorida InternationalUniversity.Herinterestsincludedisabilityawareness,advocacy,andfamily collaboration.

Dr.RubaMonemhasbeenaneducatorfor15 years. Sheisamemberofthedepartmentof Teachingand LearningintheSchoolofEducationandHumanDevelopmentatFlorida InternationalUniversity.Dr.Monemprovidessupportandguidanceto graduatestudentsasan adjunctprofessor,academiccoach,andmentor. Herresearchinterestsincludemetacognitive function,educationaltechnology,andlearningdisabilities.

PBIS in Preschool: A Rationale for Using the Components of The Teaching Pyramid Model to Manage Behaviors in the Early Childhood Classroom

MarlaJ.Lohmann,PhD ColoradoChristianUniversity

Abstract

Challengingbehaviorsandaggressionareproblemsintoday’sclassroom. Aggressivebehaviors havebeenreportedforeventheyoungeststudents. Theliteraturehasidentifiedavarietyof preventionandinterventionstrategiesthatareeffectiveinreducingproblembehaviorsinearly childhood. Theseinterventionsinclude(a)collaborationwithfamilies,(b)teachingclassroom rulesandexpectations,(c)praisestatements,(d)environmentaladaptations,(e)precorrection statements,(f)redirection,(g)teachingalternativebehaviors,(h)teachingsocialandemotional strategies,and(i)functionalbehaviorassessments. Together,thesestrategiesformthethreetiered Teaching Pyramid PBISmodelforearlychildhood. Thisarticleprovidesanoverviewof thesespecificpreventionandinterventionstrategiesand The Teaching Pyramid model,aswellas arationaleforitsimplementationinearlychildhoodclassroomsandpracticalsuggestionsforits implementation.

Keywords: behavior,PBIS,preschool, The Teaching Pyramid model

PBIS in Preschool: A Rationale for Using the Components of The Teaching Pyramid Model to Manage Behaviors in the Early Childhood Classroom

Challengingbehaviorsandaggressionareproblemsintoday’sclassroom. Aggressivebehaviors havebeenreportedforeventheyoungeststudents,butprevalenceratesvary. Kindergarten teachersreportthatabout10%ofchildrenregularlyargueorfightwithpeers(NationalCenter forEducationStatistics,2000). Similarly,over17%ofchildrenundertheageoffiveexhibit challengingbehaviorsthatarenotconsideredtobewithinthenormalrangefortheirage(Holtz, Fox,&Meurer,2015). Inaddition,10%ofboys andalmost4%ofgirlsexhibitcomorbidityin threeareasduringtheearlychildhood years:(a)hyperactivity-impulsivity,(b)noncompliance, and(c)physicalaggression(Carbonneau,Boivin,Brendgen,Nagin,Tremblay,&Tremblay, 2016). Challengingbehaviorsaremorecommonamongpreschoolchildrenthanamongolder children(Harris,Fox,&Holtz,2016;Hill,Degan,Calkins,&Keane,2006),buttheliterature suggeststhatappropriateprosocialbehaviorscanbelearnedthroughobservation(Yudron& Jones,2016). Challengingbehaviorsthatbegininpreschooloftencontinuethroughout childhood(Carbonneauetal.,2016;Emond,Ormel,Veenstra,&Oldehinkel,2007;Stacks, 2005).

Theliteraturehasidentifiedavarietyofpreventionandinterventionstrategiesthatareeffective inreducingproblembehaviorsinearlychildhood;thesestrategiesarepartofasystemknownas The Teaching Pyramid,whichisanearlychildhood-specificPositiveBehaviorInterventionsand

Supports(PBIS)system. PBISisathree-tieredmodelforteachingbehavioralexpectations. The firsttierisuniversalsupportsthatareutilizedforallchildren. Thesecondandthirdtiersare supportsprovidedtostudentswhorequireextrainstructioninordertobesuccessful(OSEP, 2017).

Early Childhood Behavior Problems and Related Outcomes

Teachersreportseveralchallengingbehaviorsamong youngchildrenincluding(a)lackofselfcontrol,(b)difficultiescooperatingwithpeers,(c)lackofattentionandhyperactivity,(d) noncomplianceandopposition,(e)physicalaggression,(f)verbalaggression,and(g)other externalizingbehaviors. ThesebehaviorsareoutlinedwithsupportingresearchinTable1.

Table1

Challenging Behaviors in Early Childhood as Noted in the Literature Behavior LiteratureSupport

Lackofself-control

Difficultiescooperatingwithpeers

Lackofattentionandhyperactivity

Leschied,Chiodo,Nowicki,&Rodger,2008; Tobin&Sugai,2005

Tobin&Sugai,2005

Baillargeonetal.,2007;Carbonneauetal., 2016;Hartetal.,2016;Kierfeld,Ise,Hanisch, Gortz-Dorten,&Dopfner,2013;Nagin& Tremblay,1999;Tobin&Sugai,2005; Wood,Cowan,&Baker,2002

Noncomplianceandopposition

Baillargeonetal.,2007;Carbonneauetal., 2016;Hartetal.,2016;Nagin&Tremblay, 1999;Niles,Reynolds,&Roe-Sepowitz, 2008;Webster-Stratton&Hammond,1998; Woodetal.,2002

Physicalaggression

Baillargeonetal.,2007;Carbonneauetal., 2016;Leschiedetal.,2008;Monks,Ruiz,& Val,2002;Nagin&Tremblay,1999;Nileset al.,2008;Ostrov&Crick,2007;PeckhamHardin,2002;Tankersley,Kamps,Mancina, &Weidinger,1996;Webster-Stratton& Hammond,1998;Woodetal.,2002

Verbalaggression

Otherexternalizingbehaviors

Ostrov&Crick,2007;Tankersleyetal., 1996;Webster-Stratton&Hammond,1998

Baoetal.,2016;Kierfeldetal.,2013; Peckham-Hardin,2002;Tobin&Sugai,2005

Someofthesebehaviorsareconsideredaggressionandcanbecategorizedas:(a)physical aggression,(b)verbalaggression,or(c)relationalaggression(Monksetal.,2002). Aggression isdefinedasanactionthatismeanttocauseharmtoanotherindividual(Persson,2005). While allthreeformsofaggressionareproblematicinthepreschoolclassroom,thisarticlefocusesonly

onphysicallyaggressivebehaviors. Physicalaggressioninvolvesintentionalharmtopeople (Mesmanetal.,2008;Ostrov,Ries,Stauffacher,Godleski,&Mullins,2008)orproperty (Mesmanetal.,2008). Physicalaggressionmayinclude:(a)biting(Flandersetal.,2010; Paquette,Carbonneau,Dubeau,Bigral,&Tremblay,2003),(b)hitting(Flandersetal.,2010; Monksetal.,2002;Ostrovetal.,2008;Ostrov&Keating,2004;Paquetteetal.,2003),(c) kicking(Flandersetal.,2010;Monksetal.,2002;Ostrovetal.,2008;Ostrov&Keating,2004), and(d)pushing(Flandersetal.,2010;Monksetal.,2002;Ostrovetal.,2008). Physical aggressionpeaksatagetwoandusuallydecreasesasthechildgetsolder(Paquetteetal.,2003). Inthepast,physicallyaggressivebehaviorshavetypicallybeenaddressedthrough reactive interventionsthatarecreatedinresponsetoacurrentprobleminsteadofthrough effortsaimedat preventingundesirablebehaviors(Benedict,Horner,&Squires,2007;Kher,Lacina-Gifford,& Yandell,2000). Onesuchresponsehasbeentoexpelyoungchildrenfrom preschool(Gillam, 2005;Gillam&Shahar,2006). AccordingtoGillam(2005),over10%ofpreschoolteachersin state-sponsoredpreschoolprogramsnationwidereportexpellingatleastonestudentinthepast year,foratotalofalmost7%ofpreschoolersbeingexpelled. Thisisoverthreetimesthe expulsionrateforchildreninkindergartenthroughtwelfthgrade.

Theliteraturehasidentifiedseveraloutcomesrelatedtobehaviorproblemsinearlychildhood. First,thereisacorrelationbetweenexternalizingbehaviorproblemsand rejectionbypeersinthe earlychildhood years. Thepeerrejectionmaycontinuethroughtheelementaryyearsandinto middleschool.Therejectionleadstoanincreaseinschoolavoidanceandadecreasein classroomparticipationandschoolachievement. Problemsinschoolarecommonamongyoung childrenexhibitingbehaviorproblems. Additionally,theliteraturereportsthatyoungchildren exhibitingbehaviorproblemsaremorelikelythantheirpeerstobethetargetsofcoerciveor aggressivebehaviorbypeers.

Behaviorproblemsinthepreschool yearsmaybeanindicationoflife-longinappropriate behaviors. Whenbehaviorproblemsarenotaddressedintheearlychildhoodyears,they continue(Jansenetal.,2011)andmaygetworseasthechildgetsolder(Tobin&Sugai,2005). Thesemaladaptivebehaviorsoftenpersistintoadolescence(Jansenetal.,2011)andadulthood (Leschiedetal.,2008). Involvementincriminalactivityhasbeenlinkedtoearlychildhood behaviorproblems. Leschiedetal.(2008)foundthatchildrenwhoexhibitexternalizing behaviors,suchasalackofcontrol,hyperactivity,aggression,conductdisorder,andantisocial behaviorinearlychildhoodarelikelytoengageincriminalactivityasadults. Similarly,Nagin andTremblay(1999)foundthatyoungchildrenexhibitingphysicalaggressionoropposition haveahighlikelihoodofjuveniledelinquency. Finally,bullyingbehavioriscorrelatedwith substanceabuseasanadult. Inadditiontoacademicandcriminalbehaviors,involvementin bullyingasachildiscorrelatedwithmentalhealthissuesthroughoutchildhoodandadulthood. Theliteraturenotingthecorrelationbetweenboth short-termandlong-termnegativeoutcomesin notedinTable2.

Table2

Literature Noting Outcomes of Behavior Challenges in Early Childhood Outcome LiteratureSupport

Peerrejectioninearlychildhood

Peerrejectionthroughelementaryandmiddle school

Gomes&Livesey,2008;Keown& Woodward,2006;Lindsey,2002;Monkset al.,2002;Snyderetal.,2008;Woodetal., 2002

Bierman,Kalvin,&Heinrichs,2015;Blairet al.,2016;Pedersen,Vitaro,Barker,&Borge, 2007;eWangetal.,2015

Schoolavoidance Buhs&Ladd,2001;Buhs,Ladd,&Harold, 2006

Academic challenges

Beingatargetofaggressiveorcoercive behaviors

Adultcriminalactivity

Adultsubstanceabuse

Mentalhealthissuesinchildhoodand adulthood

Biermanetal.,2015;NationalCenterfor EducationStatistics,2000

Biermanetal.,2015;Emondetal.,2007; Jansen,Veenstra,Ormel,Verhulst,& Reijneveld,2011;Snyderetal.,2008

Biermanetal.,2015; Lescheidetal.,2008; Nagin&Tremblay,1999;Hodgins,1994

Mathiasetal.,2015;Ttofi,Farrington,Losel, Crago,&Theodorakis,2016

Gloppen,McMorris,Gower,&Eisenberg, 2018;Hong,Tillman,&Luby,2015

Evidence-Based Prevention and Intervention

Multipleauthorshavenotedthatearlypreventionandinterventioneffortsarethekeyto addressingbehaviorproblems(Allen,2009;Conroy&Brown,2004;Griffin,Guerin,Sharry,& Drumm,2010;Qi&Kaiser,2003;Shonkoff,2010;Stormont,2002;Tobin&Sugai,2005).

Short-termresultsofearlyinterventionincludereductionsinproblembehaviors(Beard&Sugai, 2004;Flanneryetal.,2003;Griffinetal.,2010;Hartetal.,2016;Walker,Golly,McLane,& Kimmich,2005)andincreasesinsocialcompetence(Flanneryetal.,2003),aswellasreductions inparentalstresslevels(Griffinetal.,2010). Thelong-termimpactofearlyintervention includesacademicsuccess,agreaterlikelihoodofhighschoolgraduationandcollegeattendance, andadecreasedneedforspecialeducationservices(Bradshaw,Zmuda,Kellam,&Ialongo, 2009). Thus,itismosteffectivetoaddressproblembehaviorsinearlychildhoodratherthanin middlechildhoodoradolescence(MacKenzie,2007).

Asnotedearlier,thepreventionandinterventionstrategiesoutlinedin The Teaching Pyramid can beusedtoeffectivelymanagechallengingbehaviorsintheearlychildhoodclassroom. These interventionsinclude(a)collaborationwithfamilies,(b)teachingclassroomrulesand expectations,(c)praisestatements,(d)environmentaladaptations,(e)pre-correctionstatements, (f)redirection,(g)teachingalternativebehaviors,(h)teachingsocialandemotionalstrategies,

and(i)functionalbehaviorassessments. TheTeachingPyramidisaPBISmodelthathasbeen createdspecificallyforearlychildhoodsettingsandisadvocatedbytheTechnicalAssistance CenteronSocialEmotionalInterventionforYoungChildren(2008).Theteachingpyramid includesthreeprimarytiers:(a)universalsupports,(b)prevention,and(c)intervention(Foxet al.,2003;Shepley&Grisham-Brown,2019;TechnicalAssistanceCenteronSocialEmotional InterventionforYoungChildren,2011)andeachofthepreviouslymentionedstrategiesfallsinto oneormoreofthosetiers(seeFigure1). Underneaththispyramidisafoundationofsystems andpoliciesdesignedto ensurethatevidence-basedpracticesareused(TechnicalAssistance CenteronSocialEmotionalInterventionforYoungChildren,2011).

Intervention

•relationshipswithchildrenandfamilies

•teachingreplacementbehaviorsandnewskills

•teachingsocialandemotionalstrategies

•functionalassessment

Prevention

•relationshipswithchildrenand families

•makingadaptationstotheclassroom environment

•pre-correctionstatements

•redirection

•relationshipswith childrenandfamilies

•teachingroutinesand expectations

•rewardingpositive behaviorsandusing praisestatements

Figure1 Preschool PBIS Prevention and Intervention Strategies CollaborationwithFamilies

Thefirstevidence-basedstrategyforpreventingproblembehaviorsiscollaborationwiththe familiesofallstudentsintheclassroom. Thisincludesthebuildingofrelationshipswith childrenandfamilies(Fox,Dunlap,Hemmeter,Joseph,&Strain,2003;Fox&Lentini,2006; Stormont,2002),providingparenttrainingandsupportregardingbehaviormanagementto familiesandcaregivers(Booster,Mautone,Nissley-Tsiopinis,VanDyke,&Power,2016; Brotmanetal.,2005;Dishionetal.,2008;DuPauletal.,2013;Hancock,Kaiser,&Delaney, 2002;MacKenzie,2007;Neary&Eyberg,2002;Powell,Dunlap,&Fox,2006;Roberts, Mazzucchelli,Studman,&Sanders,2006;Smith,2009),andincludingfamiliesintheplanning andimplementationofanyindividualizedinterventions(Dunlapetal.,2006;Smith,2009). Asa partofthecollaborationprocess,educatorsneedtolearnthefamily’sgoalsandprioritiesforthe child’sprogressandensurethatthedesiredoutcomesforthechildarereflectedinthe interventionsselected(PositiveBeginnings,n.d.).Parentsandothercaregiversmayneedexplicit instructiononskillsforinteractingwiththeirchildrenonadailybasis(DuPauletal.,2013; Tobin,Sansoti,&McIntyre,2007)andforrespondingtothechallengingbehaviorsintheir homes(DuPauletal.,2013;PositiveBeginnings,n.d.).

Teachingclassroomrulesandexpectations

Thesecondstrategyistheuseofclassroomrulesandexpectationsthataresystematicallytaught toallstudents(Evertson,Emmer,&Worsham,2000;Foxetal.,2003;Hester,Hendrickson,& Gable,2009;Scott,Park,Swain-Bradway,&Landers,2007;Stormont, Lewis,Beckner,& Johnson,2008). AccordingtoStormontetal.(2008),schoolsoftenexpect thatstudentsarriveat schoolwithanunderstandingofsociallyacceptablebehaviors;however,forsomechildren,this isnottrue. Somechildrenmustbeexplicitlytaughthowtobehavethroughinstructionallessons onrulesandexpectation(Carter&Pool,2012;Hesteretal.,2009;Stormontetal.,2008). Pianta,Paro,Payne,Cox,andBradley(2002)foundthat63%ofkindergartenchildrenreceived noinstructiononsocialrulesfortheclassroom. Itislikelythatsomeofthesestudentsexhibited problembehaviorduetothelackofinstructionontherulesandexpectations. Therulesshould befewinnumber,simple,andeasilyunderstoodbychildrenandadults(Carter&Ellis,2016; Hesteretal.,2009;Stormontetal.,2008). Thestudentsmustbesystematicallytaughtthe behavioralexpectationsusingthesamemethodsthatareeffectiveforteachingacademicskills (Evertsonetal.,2000;Stormontetal.,2008). Thesemethodsincludemodelingofthedesired behavior(Carter&Ellis,2016;Carter&Pool,2012;Evertsonetal.,2000;Hesteretal.,2009; Stormont,2002),providingexamplesofexpectedbehaviors(Carter&Pool,2012),having childrenrehearsetheexpectedbehaviors(Carter&Ellis,2016;Carter&Pool,2012;Evertsonet al.,2000),anddailyreviewofthebehavioralexpectations(Hesteretal.,2009). Visual representationsoftheexpectedbehaviorscanalsobehelpfulfor youngchildren(Stormontetal., 2008). Oncetheyhavebeentaught,theclassroomexpectationsmustbeconsistentlyreinforced (Carter,2015;Hesteretal.,2009)andfrequentfeedbackshouldbeprovidedtostudents(Carter, 2015;Carter&Pool,2012;Evertsonetal.,2000).

Praisestatements

Third,praisingstudentsformeetingbehavioralexpectationscanalsobeaneffectivestrategyfor reducingproblembehaviors(Bellone,Dufrene,Tingstrom,Olmi,&Barry,2014;Foxetal., 2003;Fox&Little,2001;Fullerton,Conroy,&Correa,2009;Hesteretal.,2009;Lampi,Fenty, &Beaunae,2005;Stormont,Smith,&Lewis,2007;Stormontetal.,2008;Tankersleyetal., 1996;Tiano,Fortson,McNeil,&Humphreys,2005). Thepraisemustbeappropriatetothe particularchildandthesituationandmustbeadministeredimmediatelyfollowingthedesired behavior(Belloneetal.,2014;Floress,Berlinghof,Rader,&Riedesel;2017;Hesteretal.,2009; Landrum&Sweigart,2014). Inaddition,praisestatementsmustbeconsistentlygivenwhenthe childexhibitsthebehavior(Hesteretal.,2009). Praisestatementsthatcontainthelanguageused intherulescanhelpstudentsunderstandwhentheyaremeetingspecificexpectations(Stormont etal.,2008). Inadditiontoreducingproblembehaviors,theuseofpraisestatementscanalso increasepositiverelationshipsbetweenteachersandstudents(Lampietal.,2005).

Environmentaladaptations

Additionally,itisimportanttomakeadaptationstotheclassroomenvironmentinordertoreduce problembehaviors(Scottetal.,2007;Sharma,Singh,&Geromette,2008;Stormontetal.,2008; Yang&Lamb,2014). Thismayincluderemovingdistractionsfromtheclassroom(Sharma et al.,2008;Stormontetal.,2008),rearrangingstudentworkareas(Scottetal.,2007;Stormontet

al.,2008),movingteacherdesksandinstructionalareastoincreasestudentsupervision(Scottet al.,2007),creatingvisualcuesforstudents(PositiveBeginnings,n.d.;Sharmaetal.,2008), reducingthesizeofrequiredtasks(PositiveBeginnings,n.d.),makingstudentmaterialseasily accessible(Sharma etal.,2008),andprovidingstudentchoiceinfreeplayarea(Yang&Lamb, 2014). Inaddition,behaviorcanbereducedbyprovidingavarietyofcentersandworkareasin thepreschoolclassroomandensuringthatthecentershavewell-definedboundariesandthat studentshaveeasyaccesstothecenters(Heo,Cheatham,Hemmeter,&Noh,2014).

Pre-correctionstatements

Pre-correctionstatementscanalsopreventfuturebehaviorproblems(Blair,Umbreit,&Eck, 2000;Colvin,Sugai,Good,&Lee,1997;Fox&Little,2001;Haydon&Kroeger,2016;Lampi etal,2005;Stormontetal.,2007). Pre-correctionsareantecedentsthatremindstudentsabout thebehavioralexpectations(Colvinetal.,1997;Haydon&Kroeger,2016;Lampietal.,2005). Pre-correctionsareusedwhenateacherpredictsthatproblembehaviorsarelikelytooccur (Colvinetal.,1997;Lampietal.,2005). Examplesofpre-correctionsincludeverbalreminders (Colvinetal.,1997;Stormontetal.,2008),visualcues(Stormontetal.,2008),behavioral rehearsals(Colvinetal.,1997),anddemonstrationsofappropriatebehaviors(Colvinetal., 1997).

Redirection

Anadditionaleffectivestrategyisredirection(Evertsonetal.,2000;Fox&Little,2001;Meier, 1994). Redirectionoccurswhenateacherorotheradultintroducesamoresociallyappropriate behaviororactivitytoachildwhoisexhibitingundesirablebehaviors. Theteachershouldthen praisethechildforchoosingtoengageinthenewactivity(Meier,1994).

Teachingalternativebehaviors

Childrenmayneedinstructiononalternativebehaviorstoreplacetheproblembehaviors,aswell asnew,sociallyappropriateskills(Blairetal.,2000;Dunlapetal.,2006;Fox etal.,2003). Childrenengageinbehaviorsforareason;anyproblematicbehaviorisservingsomepurposefor thechildandismeetinganeedforhim/her(Fox&Lentini,2006). Analternativebehavioris anysociallyappropriatebehaviorthatachildmightusetomeetthesameneedthatthe challengingbehaviorcurrentlymeets(LeGray,Dufrene,Mercer,Olmi,&Sterling,2013).

Teachingsocialandemotionalstrategies

Instructiononeffectivesocialandemotionalstrategiesandskillsmayalsobenecessary(Foxet al.,2003;Heoetal.,2014;Malinauskaite,2010;Pahl&Barrett,2007;Smith,2009;Tankersley etal.,1996). Childrenwillneedtobetaughtbothinterpersonalandintrapersonalskillsinorder tobesuccessfulintheearlychildhoodclassroom. Vaughnetal.(2000)suggestthatchildren whohaveafriendtendto haveahigherlevelofsocialcompetence,soafocusonfriendship skillsmaycontributetoimprovedbehaviorsforsomepreschoolchildren. Whenteachingsocial skills,itmaybebeneficialtoincludetypicallydevelopingchildreningroupshavingofchildren withdevelopmentaldelayssothechildrenreceivingtheinterventionhavepeermodelsfor appropriatebehavior(Tankersleyetal.,1996). Specificsocialskillsthatmayneedtobetaught toyoungchildrenfallintotwocategories:interpersonalandfriendshipsskillsandintrapersonal

skills. Examplesofinterpersonalskillsinclude(a)appropriaterequesting,(b)persistence,(c) agreeingwithothers(Tankersleyetal.,1996),(d)engagingpeersinplay,(e)turntaking,(f) helpingothers,(g)givingcompliments(Fox &Lentini,2006),(h)expressingempathy(Fox& Lentini,2006;Pahl&Barrett,2007),and(i)sharing(Fox&Lentini,2006;Tankersleyetal., 1996). Intrapersonalskillsforinstructioninclude(a)followingrules(Heoetal.,2014),(b) followingdirections(Fox&Lentini,2006),(c)identifyingfeelingsinselfandothers(Biermanet al.,2008;Fox&Lentini,2006;Heoetal.,2014;Milleretal.,2006;Pahl&Barrett,2007),(d) problemsolving(Biermanetal.,2008;Fox &Lentini,2006;Pahl&Barrett,2007),(e) recognizingthatangerhasanegativeimpactonproblemsolving(Fox&Lentini,2006),(f)selfcalming(Fox&Lentini, 2006;Pahl&Barrett,2007),and(g)appropriateexpressionsofanger andfrustration(Biermanetal.,2008;Fox&Lentini,2006).

Forteachingprosocialskillstoyoungchildren,earlychildhoodteachersmustbesuretoexplain theskill,modelitforthestudents,givechildrentheopportunitytopractice,andprovide feedbackontheirperformance. Toensurethatthestudentlearnstheskillandisableto generalizeit,teachersshouldprovidemultipleopportunitiesforpractice(Fox&Lentini,2006). Socialandemotionalstrategiescanbetaughtthroughavarietyofstrategiesincluding(a) modeling,(b)usingpuppets,(c)usingpeerpartners,(d)singing,(e)fingerplays,(f)flannelboard activities,(g)prompts,(h)socialstories,(i)games,and(j)theuseofchildren’sliterature (Hemmeter,Ostrosky,&Fox,2006).

Functionalbehaviorassessments

For youngchildrenexhibitingthemostsignificantproblembehaviors,itisnecessarytousea functionalbehaviorassessment(FBA)toidentifytheproblembehavior,therelationshipbetween thebehaviorandtheenvironment,andthefunctionofthebehavior(Dunlapetal.,2006;Fox, Dunlap,&Powell,2002;Foxetal.,2003;Heoetal.,2014;Scottetal.,2007). TheFBAis conductedbyateamthatincludesthechild’sparents,theteacher,andanyotherprofessionals thatmayhaveknowledgeofthechildand/orbehavior(Duda,Dunlap,Fox,Lentini,&Clarke, 2004;Fox,Dunlap,&Cushing,2002;Gable,Park,&Scott,2014). TheFBAinvolvescollecting datafromavarietyofsourcesthroughinterviewswithteammembers,directobservations,rating scales,andreviewsofthechild’seducationalandmedicalfiles(Dudaetal.,2004;Fox,Dunlap, &Cushing,2002). Accordingtoteachers,thefirstthree(interviews,observations,andrating scales)arethemosteffective,butreviewingstudents’filesismorefeasible foraclassroom teachertocomplete(Peckham-Hardin,2002)andtheliteraturesuggeststhatteachersfocusmore onreviewingfilesthanoncollectingdirectdata(Gableetal.,2014). Theinformationfromthe FBAisusedtocreateanindividualizedinterventionplanthatspecificallyaddressesthechild’s individualneeds(Dudaetal.,2004;Horner,Sugai,Todd,&Lewis-Palmer,1999;Sharmaetal., 2008;Tobin&Sugai,2005).

TheTeachingPyramidModelasaSolution

Whileeachoftheninepreventionandinterventionpracticesareeffectiveformanagingbehavior, theyaremostsuccessfulwhenutilizedintandemasapartof The Teaching Pyramid model. The Teaching Pyramid isapositivebehaviorsupport(PBS)modelthathasbeencreatedspecifically forearlychildhoodsettingsandisadvocatedbytheTechnicalAssistanceCenteronSocial

EmotionalInterventionforYoungChildren(2008). The Teaching Pyramid includesthree primarytiers:(a)universalsupports,(b)prevention,and(c)intervention(Foxetal.,2003)and eachofthepreviouslymentionedstrategiesfallsintooneormoreofthosetiers(seeFigure1). Underneaththispyramidisafoundationofsystemsandpoliciesdesignedtoensurethat evidence-basedpracticesareused(PyramidModelConsortium,2016).

TheTeachingPyramidiseffectiveforaddressingchallengingbehaviorsin avarietyofearly childhoodsettings(Carter,Norman,&Tredwell,2011;Dudaetal.,2004;Hemmeter, Fox,Jack, &Broyles,2007;Voorhees,Walker,Snell,&Smith,2013). Carteretal.(2011)founddecreased challengingbehaviorsafterthefirst yearofimplementationinaninclusive,urbanearly childhoodcenter. Likewise,behavioralchallengeshavebeendocumentedinfourteenruralHead Startcentersaftertheimplementationofthecomponentsof The Teaching Pyramid (Hemmeteret al.,2007). Voorheesetal.(2013)examinedtheuseofTheTeachingPyramidintwopreschools locatedinpublicschoolbuildings. Theyfoundthat,withgoodTier1and2interventionsin place,Tier3interventionseffectivelyreducedthechallengingbehaviorsforthreestudents duringinterventionandfortwoofthosestudentsatleastfourweeksaftertheinterventionended. Similarly,Dudaetal.(2004)documenteddecreasesinthechallengingbehaviorsoftwogirlsina communitypreschoolsettingthroughtheuseoftargetedTier3interventions.

Practical Application of Tier 1 Preschool PBIS

WhenimplementingaPBISplanatanylevel,includingearlychildhood,itiscriticaltobegin withsolidTier1interventions. Thefirststepisdesigningclassroomrulesandexpectations. For youngchildren,teachersshouldchoosethreeoverarchingruleswithspecificexpectationsunder eachrule. Classroomexpectationsmusttellstudentswhattheyshoulddoinsimple,childfriendlyterms. Inaddition,teachersshoulddesignclassroompostersremindingthechildrenof therules;bothwordsandvisualcuesshouldbeincludedonthepostersin ordertosupport literacyinstructionandunderstanding(Kuby,Goodstadt-Killoran,Aldridge,&Kirkland,1999). Itcanbehelpfultocreateacompletelistofclassroomexpectationsforteacherandparent referenceandthenasetofpostersthatillustratethespecificexpectationsinavarietyofsettings. Thepostersshouldbeplacedontheclassroomandschoolwallsintheappropriateplaces. Figure 2providesasampleclassroomexpectationschart,whileFigure3isasampleposterfor expectationsinthehallway.

Mrs.Smith’sClassroomExpectations

BeRespectful

BeResponsible

BeHonest

Ikeepmyhandstomyself

Ilistenwhenothersaretalking

Iusemywhisper-voiceinthelibrary

Isay“please”and“thank you”

Isharetoys

Ithrowawaymytrashaftersnack

Ihangmycoatinmycubbyafteroutdoor playtime

Icleanupcentersafterplaytime

Iflushthetoiletinthebathroom

Iwashmyhandsbeforesnackandlunch

Iwalkinthehallway

Itellthetruth

Aftercreatingtheclassroomexpectations,itiscriticaltoexplicitlyteachtheserulesto young childrenthroughstructuredlessonplans. Circletimeprovidestheidealopportunityto implementtheinitiallessonswithpracticeandimmediatefeedbackimbeddedininstruction throughouttheday.

BeRespectful

 Wekeepourhandsbyoursides

 Weuseourwhisper-voices

BeResponsible

 Weuseourwalkingfeet

 Welookaheadofuswhilewewalk

BeHonest

 Wetellthetruth

Practical Application of Tier 2 Preschool PBIS

OnceateacherhasimplementedaTier1system,he/shecanbegintodesignandimplement interventionsthatcanbeusedtomeettheneedsofstudentsexhibitingchallengingbehaviors. As notedearlier,about15%ofchildrenwillneedsupportbeyondTier1strategies.

Figure2: Sample Classroom Expectations

Mrs.Smith’sStudentsCan:

Figure3: Sample Hallway Expectations Poster

Practical Application of Tier 3 Preschool PBIS

WhileTiers1and2willmeettheneedsofmostyoungchildren(Lewis,Beckner,&Stormont, 2009),afewchildrenwillneedadditional,individualizedsupportsthroughTier3interventions. AsteacherspreparetodesignpreschoolPBISsystems,theyshouldutilizetheresearch-based resourcesavailabletothem. TheresourcesareoutlinedinFigure4.

Resource Specificinformationavailable

CenterontheSocialandEmotional FoundationsforEarlyLearning

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/

 OverviewofTheTeachingPyramid modelofpreschoolPBIS

 Scriptedsocialstories

 Social-emotionallessonsbasedon children’sbooks

 Social-emotionalprintableteaching tools

 Casestudies

 Researchbriefs

 Articlesforfamilies

PositiveBehaviorInterventionsandSupports

https://www.pbis.org/

TechnicalAssistanceCenteronSocial EmotionalInterventionforYoungChildren

http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu

 OverviewofthePBISmodelfor studentsinallgradelevels

 Casestudies

 Presentationsonimplementation

 Articlesonimplementation

 Trainingvideos

 Researchbriefs

 OverviewofTheTeachingPyramid modelofpreschoolPBIS

 Presentationsonimplementation

 Articlesonimplementation

Figure4: Online Social-Emotional Resources for Early Childhood Teachers

ThecurrentliteratureprovidesexamplesofeffectivePBISimplementationinpreschoolsettings. OneexamplesispresentedbySteedetal.(2013),whoimplementedTier1PBISinthreerural preschoolsinNew Hampshire. Afterreceivinginitialtraining,thepreschoolsbeganby implementinguniversalsupportsthatincluded(a)theteachingofbehavioralexpectations,(b) strategiesforencouragingappropriatebehaviorsanddiscouragingundesirablebehaviors,and(c) adatacollectionsystem. ThestudylastedforthreeyearsandincludedcoachingfromaPBIS consultantandpreschooladministrationsupport. Duringthestudy,teacherimplementationof effectivePBISstrategiesincreasedandteacherresponsestochallengingbehaviorsbecame evidence-based100%ofthetime.

Conclusion

Challengingbehaviorsexistintheearlychildhoodclassroomandtheliteraturehasidentifiedthe potentialoutcomesforchildrenexhibitingseverebehaviorsata youngage. Becauseofthis knowledge,earlychildhoodprofessionalsmustutilizeeffectiveinterventionsforaddressing behaviorchallengeswith youngchildren. Thecurrentresearchprovidessolidsupportfortheuse of The Teaching Pyramid inavarietyofearlychildhoodsettings. Throughtheuseofeffective Tier1interventions,including(a)buildingrelationships,(b)teachingroutinesandexpectations, and(c)rewardingpositivebehaviorsandusingpraisestatements,preschoolprogramscancreate asolidfoundationforencouragingdesiredbehaviorintheclassroom. Whenstudentsexhibit morechallengingbehaviors,Tier2interventionscanbeutilized. Theseinterventionsmight include(a)makingadaptationstotheclassroomenvironment,(b)theuseofpre-correction statements,and(c)redirectingstudentstoamoreappropriateactivity. Finally,forthestudents needingthemostintensivebehavioralsupports,Tier3interventions,suchas(a)teaching replacementbehaviorsandnewskills,(b)teachingsocialandemotionalstrategies,and(c) functionalbehaviorassessment,shouldbeimplemented. Whenusedtogetherasa comprehensivesystem,thesestrategieshavebeenshowntodecreasechallengingbehaviorsin theearlychildhoodclassroom. Withthisknowledgeinmind,itisimperativethatearly childhoodprogramsimplement The Teaching Pyramid intheirclassroomsandschools.

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About the Author

MarlaJ.Lohmann,PhD isanAssistantProfessorofSpecialEducationatColoradoChristian University,wheresheteachesstudentsinthefullyonlinealternativelicensureandmaster’s degreeinSPEDprograms. Dr.Lohmannscholarlyinterestsincludebehaviormanagementinthe preschoolclassroom,bestpracticesininclusiveearlychildhoodclassrooms,supportingteachers inusingevidence-basedclassroommanagementstrategies,andonlineteacherpreparationfor ruralteachercandidates.

Co-Teaching Practices Among Special Education Teachers in High Schools

MillicentL.Carmouche,Ph.D. UniversityofIndianapolis

LaTiegraCarter,B.A. AlabamaA&MUniversity

JelisaThompson,M.Ed. DecaturCitySchools

Abstract

Thisstudywasconductedtogainmorein-depthinformationrelatedtocurrentpracticesincotaughtclassrooms,specificallyinhighschoolsettings.Asurveyinstrumentwasusedtoanswer questionsabouthighschoolteachers’co-teachingpractices.Thesurveycontainedquestions aboutuseofthesix modelsofco-teaching,inquiringaboutparticipants’familiaritywiththe modelsandpreferencesinimplementation,aswellassolicitedinformationonDistrict/School supportsthatfacilitatesuccessfulco-teaching.Theauthorsfoundthatparticipantsreportusing andpreferringTeamTeachingandOneTeach/OneAssistmostwidelyinclassroomsandfind mostdistrictandschoolinitiativesusefulinimplementingco-teachingpractices. Implicationsfor practitioners,administratorsandresearchersareincluded.

Keywords:Co-teaching,highschool,teacherpractices

Co-Teaching Practices Among Special Education Teachers in High Schools

ThealignmentoftheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationImprovement Act(IDEA;2004) andtheNoChildLeftBehindAct(NCLB;2001)iscompellingeducatorstoconsiderwhere studentswithdisabilitiesarebeingeducated(Dieker&Murawski,2003).IDEAmandatesthat theLeastRestrictiveEnvironment(LRE)beconsideredbeforestudentswithdisabilitiesare placedinrestrictivesettings,thusofferingmoreopportunitiesforthesestudentstobeeducated withtheirpeerswithoutdisabilitiesingeneraleducationclassrooms.Forstudentsinhighincidencecategories,whichtypicallyincludesLearningDisabilities(LD),Emotional Disturbances(ED),MildIntellectualDisabilities(MID)andOtherHealthImpairments(OHI; oftentherelevanteligibilityforstudentswithAttention-Deficit/HyperactivityDisorderor ADHD),theleastrestrictiveenvironmentfrequentlyisthegeneraleducationclassroom. AccordingtothemostrecentannualreporttoCongressontheimplementationofIDEA(U.S. DepartmentofEducation,2008),95%ofstudents’ages6-12 yearseligibleforIDEAservices spendatleastaportionoftheirdayin generaleducationclassrooms;53.7%ofthosestudents spendatleast80%oftheirdayin generaleducationclassrooms.Howeverthenatureofhighincidencedisabilitiesnecessitatesthatinstructionismodifiedtoallowaccesstothegeneral educationcurriculum.Co-teachinghasbeenidentifiedasanappropriateservicedeliverymodel

tofacilitatethesuccessfuleducationalprogrammingforstudentswithhigh-incidencedisabilities ingeneraleducationclassrooms(Brownell,Smith,Crockett,&Griffin,2012).

Co-teachingisamethodofteachinginwhichtwoprofessionaleducatorsplanfor,deliver instructionto,andevaluatestheprogressofagroupofstudents,includingstudentswith disabilities,withinasharedclassroom(Cook&Friend;1995;Murawski&Dieker,2004; Vaughn,Schumm,&Arguelles,1997).Themost widelyusedformsofco-teachingasdescribed byFriendandCook(2012)are:oneteach/oneassist;oneteach/oneobserve,teamteaching, stationteaching,parallelteaching,andalternativeteaching.Professionaleducatorsworking togethershouldusenoparticularmodelofco-teachingexclusively;eachof thesixmodelshas strengthsandweaknessesrelativetothecurriculumanddesiredoutcomeofthelesson(Friend & Cook,2012).

Threeofthesixmodelsofco-teachingretaintheentiregeneraleducationclassroomasan instructionalunit. Intheone-teach/oneassistmodelofco-teaching,oneteacherteachesthe lesson,whiletheotherteachermovesaroundtheroomprovidingindividualandsmallgroup assistance.Theoneteach/oneobservemethodleavesonetoteachtheentirelesson,whilethe otherteacherobservesstudentsandcollectsdataonindividualandsmallgroupsofstudents.In teamteaching,bothteachersshareinstructionalresponsibilityandareequallyinvolvedin leadinginstructiontotheentiregroup.

Thethreemodelsthatseparatetheinstructionalunit,dividingitintosmallergroupsthereby reducingtheteacher:studentratioareparallelteaching,stationteaching,andalternative teaching.Withparallelteaching,eachteacherisresponsibleforteachingthesamecontenttotwo homogeneousgroupsinoneclassroomsetting.Instationteaching,studentsrotatethroughthree learningstations,withteachersprovidingsmallgroupinstructionsimultaneouslytotwogroups whilestudentsworkindependentlyinanothersmallgroup.Inalternativeteaching,oneteacher pullsasideasmallgroupofstudentsforremediation,enrichment,orreview,whiletheother teacherinstructstherestofthegroup.

Teachersgenerallyreportpositiveexperienceswithco-teaching.Teachersreportprofessional benefitstobeingapartofaco-teachingpartnershipsuchasanincreaseincontentarea knowledge,improvedclassroommanagement,and enhancedcurriculumadaptionskills(Austin, 2001).Educatorsalsoreportbenefitstostudentswithandwithoutdisabilities,withsocial benefitsforstudentswithoutdisabilitiesbeingthemostlywidelyreported(Rice&Zigmond, 2000;Scruggs,Mastropieri,&McDuffie,2007).Benefitstostudentswithdisabilitiesinclude increasedteacherinteraction,increasedpeersocialization,andaccesstovariedcurriculums (Walther-Thomas,1997).

Whileco-teachingprovidesbenefitstostudentsandteachers,educatorsalsoreportproblems withtheco-teachingprocess.Walther-Thomas(1997)reportedteachersrecountingissuessuch asanexcessiveamountofstudentswithdisabilitiesinasingleco-taughtclassroom,students withdisabilitieswithouttheproperskillsettobeabletonavigatethegeneraleducation curriculum,poorlyplannedlessons,andeducatorsill-preparedtosuccessfullyimplementthesix

modelsofco-teaching,allleadingtostudentandteacherfrustration.Teachershave reportedthat co-planningisanessentialaspecttosuccessfulco-teachingandco-teachingrelationshipswould improvewiththeinclusionofcommonco-planningtimescheduledbyadministrators(Scruggset al.,2007).Researchershavefoundthatwhenteacherstaketimetoco-plan,co-teachingbecomes amoresuccessfulendeavor(Davis,Dieker,Pearl,&Kirkpatrick,2012;Dieker2001;Dieker& Murawski,2003).Teachersandadministratorsagreethatpre-serviceandon-goingtrainingplus sufficientopportunitiestoplanforsuccessfulco-teachingatthedistrict,building,andclassroom levelwouldimprovestudentoutcomesinco-taughtclassrooms(Austin2001;Fennick&Liddy, 2001;Rice&Zigmond,2000).

Althoughresearchhasbeenconductedonhowteachersperceiveco-teaching(Austin2001;Hang &Rabren,2009;Pancsofar&Petroff,2013),verylittleinformationisavailableabouthow specialeducationteachersimplementco-teachingmodels.Intheirmeta-synthesisofqualitative co-teachingresearch,Scruggsetal.(2007)foundthatoneteach/oneassistwastheprevalent modelimplementedinclassroomsin22ofthe32studiesincludedintheirstudy.Themost commonroleofthespecialeducationteacherintheseinstancesistomonitortheseatworkand independentpracticeofstudents.Specialeducationteachersreportthattheyareseldom permittedtotaketheleadininstructionandweremostlyresponsibleforstudentassistance (Noonan,McCormick&Heck,2003;Rice&Zigmond,2000;Zigmond&Matta,2004)

Althoughverylittleexperimentalresearchhasbeenconductedonco-teaching,itisbeingusedas aservicedeliveryoptioninamajorityofgeneraleducationclassroomsservingstudentswith specialneeds(Cook,McDuffie-Landrum,Oshita,&Cook,2011;Friend,Cook;HurleyChamberlain&Shamberger,2010).Researchismostscarceinhighschoolclassrooms (Mastropieri&Scruggs,2001).Studiesdoneinelementaryandmiddleschoolsindicatethatitis necessarythatco-teachingbeimplementeddifferentlyatvariouseducationallevels(Keefe& Moore,2004;Rice&Zigmond,2000;Walther-Thomas,1997),duetothedifferencesincontent andskillsinspecificgrades.

Sinceinstructioninelementaryschoolclassroomsfocusesmoreonthelearningofbasicliteracy andmathematicsskills,bothco-teacherstendtofeelcomfortableenoughwiththecontentto shareequallyininstructionalresponsibility.Inelementaryclassrooms,teachersalsotendtotie socialinstructionintocontentareas.Asstudentsmatureandmovetowardmorecontent-specific classrooms,co-teachinghastochangetoadapttoteacherandstudentneeds(Scruggsetal., 2007).Inmiddleschoolclassrooms,co-teachingpracticesmustbealteredtoaccountforcontent matterexpertiseorapossiblelackofcontent expertiseamongspecialeducationteachers.

Co-teachingissueshavebeensubjectedtolimitedresearchinsecondaryclassrooms(Mastropieri &Scruggs,2001;Scruggsetal.,2007).Insecondarysettings,teachersneedtoadaptco-teaching practicestoaccountforolderstudentsthatneedvariedinstructionaltechniques,stricter curriculumcontent,andvariationsinresources,aswellasadaptingtotheconstraintsof inflexibleschoolscheduling(Rice&Zigmond,2000;Walther-Thomas,1997).

Researchinsecondaryco-taughtclassroomsneedstobeconductedtoidentifyhowco-teaching modelsshouldbeimplementedinvariededucationalsettings.Qualityresearchthatfocuseson theimplementationofco-teachingmodelsisneeded(Cooketal.,2011;Dieker&Murawski, 2003;Murawski,2006;Murawski&Swanson,2001).

PurposeofStudy

Thisstudywasconductedtogainmorein-depthinformationrelatedtocurrentpracticesincotaughtclassrooms,specificallyinhighschoolsettings.Asurveywasusedtoanswerthe followingquestions:

1) Whatmodelsofco-teachingaremostwidelyusedinhigh-schoolco-taughtclassrooms?

2) Whatmodelsofco-teachingdohighschoolspecialeducationteachersprefer?

3) Howdospecialeducationteachersreceivetrainingtoimplementco-teachingmodels?

4) Whatschool-anddistrict-basedsupportsfacilitateco-teaching?

5) Whatareteacherperceptionsaboutco-teachingeffectiveness?

Method

ParticipantsandSetting

Atotalof19highschoolsinametropolitansoutheasternU.S.publicschoolsystemwere recruitedforthisstudy.Theschooldistricthasbeeninvolvedinaprofessionaldevelopment initiativetoimproveco-teachingpractices.UponreceivingIRBapprovalfromtheuniversityand permissionfromtheschooldistricttoproceedwiththestudy,thefirstauthorcontactedthe principalsofthe19traditionalhighschoolsinthedistrict(excludedweremagnet,alternative, andearly-collegehighschools).Ofthe19highschoolsrecruited,12principalsagreedto participateinthestudy, yieldinga63%participationrate.Principalsattheothersevenschools didnotrespondtorepeatedattemptstocontactthemviae-mails,phonecalls,anddrop-in requestsforanaudience.

Participantsforthisstudyincludedspecialeducationhighschoolteachersassignedto co-taught classrooms.Ofthe100teachersrecruited,93teachersparticipatedinthestudy, yieldinga93% returnrate.Themajorityofstudypossessedamaster’sdegree.Almost80%reportedhaving renewablecertificationinspecialeducation.ParticipantdemographicsarepresentedinTable1.

Thedatasourceforthisstudywasasinglesurveyinstrument,the Co-teaching Model Preference Survey (CMPS)adaptedfromthe Perceptions of Co-Teaching Survey (PCTS;Austin2001)with permissionoftheauthor.The PCTS wasmodifiedbyincorporatingexistingco-teaching literature(Cook&Friend,1995;Dieker,2001;Dieker &Murawski,2003;Fennick&Liddy, 2001;Friend&Cook,2012;Murawski&Swanson,2001;Rice&Zigmond,2000; WaltherThomas,Bryant,&Land,1996).Modificationstothe PCTS aredetailedbelow.

Thesurveywasdividedintothreemajorparts,eachwithquestionscontainingforcedchoices.

Thefirstpartofthesurveyconsistedof15demographicquestions,suchasyearsteaching, earneddegreesandcertification,anddescriptionofcurrentteachingassignment.Thissectionof thesurveywasmodifiedfromthe PCTS torequestinformationabouthighschoolteaching experienceandcontentareasinwhichtheteacherwasconsidered“highlyqualified”accordingto stateguidelines.Thesecondpartofthesurveycontained11questionsaboutuseofthesix modelsofco-teaching(listingthesixmodelsandallowingrespondentstochooseasmanyas applied),inquiringaboutparticipants’familiaritywiththemodels(choicesbeing“veryfamiliar,” “somewhatfamiliar,”“notveryfamiliar,”and“notfamiliaratall”)andpreferencesin implementation(listingthesixmodelsandallowingrespondentstochoose asmanyasapplied). Thissectionwasdesignedspecificallyforthissurveytodetailwhatmodelsteachersprefertouse intheclassroomandwhattheyareactuallyusing.Inthissectionteachersalsowereaskedwhich modelstheyprefertouseforeachcontentareaclass(i.e.,math,languagearts,science,andsocial science).Participantsalsowereaskedwhichmodel(s)theybelievedincreasedstudenton-task behaviorandassignmentcompletion.Foreachoftheabovequestions,participantswereaskedto chooseallmodelsthatapplied.Thethirdpartofthesurveyincluded14questionsandsolicited informationonDistrict/Schoolsupportsthatfacilitatesuccessfulco-teaching.Thissectionwas modifiedfromthe PCTS toaccountforschooldistrictspecificlanguage.Forexample,the specialeducationcoordinatorisreferredtointhedistrictastheLeadTeacherforSpecial Education(LTSE).

Asapilot,the CMPS surveywasgiventofourexperiencedspecialeducationco-teachersand twospecialeducationcoordinators.Pilotstudyparticipantswereemployeesoftheparticipating districtandthreeofthepilotstudyteachersalsotookthesurveyforthestudy.Specialeducation supervisorsdidnotparticipateintheactualstudy.Participantsinthepilotstudyofferedwritten andverbalfeedbacktoimprovesurveylayoutandeaseofuse.Participantsspecificallyoffered feedbackaboutplacementofdirectionsandspacingforeaseofreading.Theyreportedthatthe questionswereeasytounderstand,anddidnotofferanysuggestionsforwordingchanges.

Procedures

Surveymethodologywasusedtoallowforthecollectionoflargeamountofinformationina shortamountoftime.Thesurveyresponsesprovideddataformakinginferenceswithregardto teacherperceptionsandimplementationofthesixmodelsofco-teaching(Fowler,2008).The firstauthorpersonallydistributedthesurveyandinformedconsenttoparticipantsduring regularlyscheduledfacultyordepartmentmeetingsattheirschools.Thefirstauthoroffered assortedcandytoparticipatingteachersandprincipalsasatokenofappreciationfortime investedincompletingthesurvey.Participantscompletedthesurveyitemsbefore,during,or afterscheduledmeetings.Mostparticipantswereabletocompletethesurveyin15-20minutes;a fewaskedquestionsaboutdirections,numberofresponsestheycouldchoseforasingleitem, andtheco-teachingmodels.Self-addressedstampenvelopeswereincludedforparticipants absentfrommeetingsandforthosewhowantedmoretimetocompletethesurvey.Threesurveys (3.22%)werereturnedviaUnitedStatesPostalService;therestweregiventothefirstauthor duringtheface-to-facemeetings.

DataAnalysis

ThefirstauthorenteredthesurveydataintoSPSS19forWindows.Thesecondauthorverified 100%ofdataentry,andnotedtheneedforonlythreecorrections.Giventhattherewere93 participants,andeachhad90cells,3outof8,370cellsresultedinagreementthatroundedto 100%.SPSSanalyseswereconductedforfrequenciesandpercentagesforteacherreportsoftheir conditionsof,trainingin,andfamiliarityorcomfortlevelswithco-teaching.

Results

Thepurposeofthisinvestigationwastoexaminehighschoolspecialeducationteachercoteachingpractices,andtogaininsightsrelatedtotheopportunitiesandchallengestosuccessful co-teaching.Thedataforthestudywerecollectedusinga3-partsurveyinstrumentthatsolicited teacherdemographicinformation;perceptionsofcurrentexperience;generallyusedand preferredco-teachingpractices;informationregardingteacherpreparationforco-teaching;and identificationofschool-basedsupportsthatfacilitatedcollaborativeteaching.Responsesare summarizedinTable2.

Table 2

Responses to Co-Teaching Questions

Whichmodeltoyou generallypreferina languageartsclassroom?

Whichmodeltoyou generallypreferinascience classroom?

Whichmodeltoyou generallypreferinasocial scienceclassroom?

Whichmodelstoyou generallyprefertoincrease ontaskbehavior?

Whichmodelstoyou generallyprefertoincrease assignmentcompletion?

Fromwheredidyoureceive yourtrainingonthe6coteachingmodels?

SpecialeducationteachersreportedthatTeamTeaching,andOneTeach/OneAssistwerethe mostwidelyusedmodelsofco-teachingintheirhighschools.Whenteacherswereaskedabout co-teachingmodelpreference,theclearfront-runner(43%)wasTeamTeaching,withaquarter indicatingtheypreferredParallelTeaching.Participantswereaskedmorespecificallywhich modelswerepreferredindifferentsubjectsandtheanswersvaried.OneTeach/OneAssisthada slightedgeinmathandscienceclasses,withStationTeachingbeingselectedalmostasoften. TeamTeachingwastheclearlypreferredmodelin LanguageArtsandSocialScienceclasses. Whenaskedwhichco-teachingmodelstheyusedtoincreasedesiredstudentbehaviors,teachers reportedthattheypreferredTeamTeachingtoincreaseon-taskbehavior;StationTeaching, ParallelTeaching,TeamTeaching,andOneTeach/OneAssistwereidentifiedwithsimilar frequencyforincreasingworkcompletion.

Allteacherssurveyedreportedbeingtrainedinatleastoneofthesix modelsofco-teaching. Seventy-ninepercentofparticipantsreportedreceivingtrainingonthemodelsofco-teaching fromdistrictpersonnel.Whenaskedaboutdistrict-andschool-basedservices,teachersreported thatscheduledcommonplanningtimeopportunitieswouldbesomewhattoveryusefulin improvingco-teachingpracticesintheirschools(seeTable3).Participantsalsoreportedthat modifyingclassroom configurations,on-goingschool-basedtraining,andmentoringby experiencedteacherswouldbesomewhatusefulineffectiveimplementationofco-teaching. Listedasoflittleusetosomewhatusefulweredistrictleveltrainingsonco-teacherrelationships andfacilitatingthesixmodelsofco-teaching.Whenaskedwhetherornottheyfoundcoteachingtobeaneffectivetooltoeducatestudentswithhigh-incidencedisabilities,overhalf (64.4%)ofsurveyedteachersreportedthattheyperceiveco-teachingtobeaneffectivetool(see Table4).

Table3

Responses Related to Improving Co-Teaching

Note:1=Don’tknow;2=NotUseful;3=Oflittleuse;4=Somewhatuseful;5=Veryuseful

Responses Related to Effectiveness of Co-Teaching

Thisstudywasdesignedtoexaminethepracticesofhighspecialeducationteachersinco-taught classrooms.Weintendedtoexaminetheco-teachingpracticesusedbyspecialeducationhigh schoolteachers,especiallyconcentratingonpreferreduseofspecificco-teachingmodels. PreviousresearchershavediscussedtheprevalenceoftheOneTeach/OneAssistmodelincotaughtclassrooms(Austin,2001;Magiera,Smith,Zigmond,&Gebauer,2005;Rice&Zigmond, 2000;Walther-Thomas,1997;Zigmond&Matta,2004).Teacherparticipantsinthecurrentstudy reportedthattheygenerallyuseTeamTeachingandthatisalsothemethodthattheygenerally preferinco-teachingsituations.PerhapstheincreasedprevalenceforusingTeamTeaching, whichisprefacedonequivalentlevelsofexpertiseincontentareas,isanaturalresultofthe legislativerequirementthatallcertifiedpersonnelbe“highlyqualified”incontentareas(NCLB, 2001).Whereaspreviously,thegeneraleducationteacherwouldhavebeenthecontentexpert (OneTeach) andthespecialeducationteacherwouldhaveknownhowtomodifycurriculum (OneAssist;Noonanetal.,2003;Rice&Zigmond,2000;Zigmond&Matta,2004),today’s

teachersareequallyproficientinprovidinginstructioninthecontentareas.Perhapsalso,general educationteachershaveabetterunderstandingofadaptingcurriculumsothatitisaccessiblefor studentswithdisabilities.Theveracityofthesespeculationsneedstobeexploredinfuture research.

Ofinterestisthatspecialeducationteachershaddefinitepreferencesfortheco-teachingmodel usedbasedoncontentarea,afindingthatshould notbesurprisingsinceFriendandCook(2012) indicatethatmodelapplicabilitywouldbeaffectedbycurriculumanddesiredoutcomes.Special educationteachersreportedspecificallypreferringTeamTeachinginlanguageartsandsocial scienceclassroomsandtoincreaseon-taskbehaviors.Thissamelevelofspecificpreferencewas notseenintheothercontentareas.OneTeach/OneAssistandStationTeachingwereidentified withalmostthesamefrequencyaspreferredinmathclasses,withOneTeach/OneAssist,Team Teaching,andStationTeachingbeingpreferredin scienceclassrooms.Fouroftheco-teaching modelswereidentifiedaspreferredtoincreaseassignmentcompletion(StationTeaching, ParallelTeaching,TeamTeaching,andOneTeach/OneAssist),withOneTeach/OneObserve andAlternativeTeachingnotbeingpreferredforthisobjective.

Thefirstauthorhadinformalfollow-updiscussionswithassistantprincipals,specialeducation leadteachers,anddepartmentchairpersonsfrom participatingschoolstoobtainusefulanecdotal information.Theseschooladministratorsreportedthatinclassroomobservationsthey consistentlyareseeingmoreinstancesofOneTeach/OneAssist,ratherthantheparticipants’ reporteduseofTeamTeaching,whichisconsistentwiththefindingsofpreviousresearchers (Austin,2001;Magiera,Smith,Zigmond,&Gebauer,2005;Rice&Zigmond,2000;WaltherThomas,1997;Zigmond&Matta,2004).Theadministratorsqueriedreportedthattheyhad instructedteacherstouselessofthepassiveOneTeach/OneAssistmodelofco-teachingandto bemorehandsoninclassrooms.Theseadministratorsnotedthatbasedonobservationsteachers mayhaveover-reportedtheuseofvariousco-teachingmodels.

Thespecialeducationteachersidentifiedseveralschoolanddistrictsupportsthatwouldbe usefulinimprovingco-teachingpractices.Commonplanningtimewasreportedbyteacherstobe themostpotentiallybeneficial.Thisfindingsupportspreviousresearchthatco-teachingteams benefitfromregularlyscheduledco-planningtime(Davisetal.,2012;Dieker2001;Dieker& Murawski,2003;Scruggsetal.,2007).Participantsalsonotedmodelingofeffectiveco-teaching andmentoringbyexperiencedco-teachersasausefultooltoimproveco-teachingoutcomes. Mentoringhasdemonstratedeffectivenessifmentorsareextensivelytrainedtosupportteachers intheirco-teachingpractices,provideopportunitiestoviewmodeledlessons,offer regularly scheduledcommunication,andgivesupportiveratherthatevaluativefeedback(Billingsley, 2005;Wasburn-Moses,&Davis,2012).Thespecialeducationteacherssurveyedreportedthatcoteachingisaneffectivepracticeandthatadditionalsupportfromdistrictandschoolbased administratorswouldbeusefultoitsfacilitation.

Limitations

Thefindingsofthisstudyarelimitedbyseveralfactorsandcautionshouldbeusedin interpretingthedata.Thefirstlimitationincludesthefactthatthesurveyrequiredself-reporting,

whichissuspecttofactorsthatmayaffecttruthfulness(Fowler,2008).Thespecialeducation teachersreportedpracticesintheirclassrooms;theresearchersmustassumethattheparticipants respondedfranklytoeachquestion.Withoutthebenefitofresearcherobservation,thereisno waytoverifytheaccuracyofthereporteddata,althoughthefirstauthordidfollow-upinformally withschooladministratorswhohavehadopportunitiestoobserveclassroomactivities.

Asecondlimitationthatmayhaveanimpactoninterpretationofthefindingsisthenatureofa concentratedsubsetofteachers.Specialeducationteacherswererecruitedfromhighschoolsin onesuburbanschooldistrictinalargemetropolitanareaintheU.S.andtheparticipants representonlyaportionofthespecialeducationteachersinthisdistrict.Theschooldistrictwas uniqueinthatspecialand generaleducationteachershadparticipatedinapreviousinitiativeto increaseproficiencyinco-teaching,emphasizingTeamTeachingovertheothermodels. RespondentsmayhaveindicatedpreferencesforTeamTeachingifthat’swhattheybelievedwas thedesirableanswer.

Athirdlimitationisthefactthatgeneraleducationco-teacherswerenotincludedinthisstudy.It wouldbeinterestingtodetermineiftheresponsesofgeneraleducationcertifiedpersonnelwould besimilarordissimilartothoseofthespecialeducationteacherparticipants.However,the authors’intentionforthisstudywastoidentifypreferencesofteachersprimarilyservingstudents withidentifieddisabilities.

Implications

Implicationsforfuturepracticeincludeconcentratedandon-goingprofessionaldevelopmenton effectiveco-teachingpracticesandthesixmodelsofco-teaching.Thesupportofdistrictand buildingadministrationiscriticalinensuringthesuccessofco-teachingoutcomesforstudents withspecialneeds(Scruggsetal.,2007).Districtandschooladministratorsshouldworkto ensurecommonplanningtimeforteachers(Austin,2001;Davisetal.,2012)aswelldevelop vitalmentoringprograms,givingeducatorstheopportunitytoviewmodeledlessonsofeffective co-teachingpartners.On-goingtrainingatthebuildinglevelwillassistinthecontinuedgrowth ofsuccessfulco-teachingpartnerships.

Futureworkinthisareashouldinvolvealargermorevariedteacherpopulation.Theresultsof thisstudyarenoteasilygeneralizablebecauseoftheveryconcentratedsubsetofteachers. Teacherpreferencesshouldbeinvestigatedandexpandedtomorediverseandgeographically diffusepopulations.Thepreferenceofspecialeducatorshasadirectimpactonstudentoutcomes andunderstandingwhyspecialeducationteachersmaketheinstructionalchoicestheymake coulddrivefuturepre-serviceeducationandprofessionaldevelopmentforteachers.

Arecommendationforfutureresearchinteachersurveysresearchisincorporatingclassroom observationstoensuretheyvalidatethatparticipantsarereportingclassroomactivitiescandidly. Classroomobservationsbeforeconductingsurveysmayaddtotherobustnessofinformation received.

Futureresearchshouldincludeexaminationoftheeffectivenessofco-teachinginfacilitating

academicoutcomesofstudentswithdisabilities.Teacherparticipantsinthisstudyreport coteachingisperceivedtobeaneffectiveservicedeliveryoption;however,scarceempirical researchhasbeenpresentedtoprovethisassertion.Continuedresearchontheeffectivenessof co-teachingwillneedtoisolatetheco-teachingmodelsrelativetocontentareasanddetermine theeffectsofacademicoutcomesforstudentswithdisabilities.

References

Austin,V.L.(2001).Teachers’beliefsaboutco-teaching. Remedial and Special Education, 22, 245-255.

Billingsley,B.S.(2005).Cultivatingandkeepingcommittedspecialeducationteachers:What principalsanddistrictleaderscando.ThousandOaks,CA:CorwinPress.

Brownell,M.T.,Smith,S.,Crockett,J.B.,&Griffin,C.C.(2012). Inclusive instruction: evidence-based practices for teaching students with disabilities.NewYork,NY: Guilford.

Cook,L. &Friend,M.(1995).Co-teaching:Guidelinesforcreatingeffectivepractices. Focus on Exceptional Children, 28(3),1-16.

Cook,B.,McDuffie-Landrum,K.,Oshita,L.,&Cook,S.(2011).Co-teachingandstudentswith disabilities:Acriticalanalysisoftheempiricalliterature.InD.Hallahan,&J.Kauffman (Eds.). The Handbook of Special Education (pp.147-159).NewYork,NY:Routledge.

Davis,K.E.B.,Dieker,L.,Pearl,C.,&Kirkpatrick,R.M.(2012).Planninginthemiddle:Coplanningbetweengeneralandspecialeducation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 22,208-226

Dieker,L.A.(2001).Whatarethecharacteristicsofeffectivemiddleandhighschoolco-taught teamsforstudentswithdisabilities? Preventing School Failure, 46(1),14-23.

Dieker,L.A.,&Murawski,W.W.(2003).Co-teachingatthesecondarylevel:Uniqueissues, currenttrends,andsuggestionsforsuccess. The High School Journal, 86(4),1-13.

Fennick,E.,&Liddy,D.(2001).Responsibilitiesandpreparationfor collaborativeteaching:Coteachers'perspectives. Teacher Education and Special Education, 24,229-40.

Fowler,F.J.(2008). Survey research methods (4th ed.).ThousandOaks,CA:Sage.

Friend,M.,&Cook,L.(2012). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (7th ed.).UpperSaddleRiver,NJ:Pearson.

Friend,M.,Cook,L.,Hurley-Chamberlain,D.,&Shamberger,C.(2010).Co-teaching:An illustrationofthecomplexityofcollaborationinspecialeducation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 20,9-27.

Hang,Q.,&Rabren,K.(2009).Anexaminationofco-teachingperspectivesandefficacy indicators. Remedial and Special Education, 30,259-268.

IndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationImprovementActof2004,20U.S.C.§1400 et seq. (2004)(reauthorizationoftheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducationActof1990)

Keefe,E.B.,&Moore, V.(2004).Thechallengeofco-teachingininclusiveclassroomsatthe highschoollevel:Whattheteacherstoldus. American Secondary Education, 32(3),7788.

Magiera,K.,Smith,C.,Zigmond,N.,&Gebauer,K.(2005).Benefitsofco-teachingin secondarymathematicsclasses. Teaching exceptional children, 37(3),20-24.

Mastropieri,M.A.,&Scruggs,T.E.(2001).Promotinginclusioninsecondaryclassrooms. Learning Disability Quarterly, 24,265-274.

Murawski,W.(2006).Studentoutcomesinco-taughtsecondaryEnglishclasses:Howcanwe improve? Reading and Writing Quarterly, 22,227-247

Murawski,W.W.&Dieker,L.A.(2004).Tipsandstrategiesforco-teachingatthesecondary level. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(5),52–58.

Murawski,W.&Swanson,H.(2001).Ameta-analysisofco-teachingresearch:Wherearethe data? Remedial and Special Education, 22,258-267.

NoChild Left BehindActof2001,20U.S.C.70§6301 et seq. (2002)

Noonan,M.,McCormick,L.,&Heck,R.H.(2003).Theco-teacherrelationshipscale: Applicationsforprofessionaldevelopment. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 38,113-120.

Pancsofar,N.,&Petroff,J.G.(2013).Professionaldevelopmentexperiencesinco-teaching: Associationswithteacherconfidence,interests,andattitudes. Teacher Education and Special Education, 36,83-96.

Rice,D.&Zigmond,N.(2000).Co-teachinginsecondaryschools:Teacherreportsof developmentsinAustralianandAmericanclassrooms. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 15,190-197.

Scruggs,T.E.,Mastropieri,M.A.,&McDuffie,K.A.(2007).Co-teachingininclusive classrooms:Ametasynthesisofqualitativeresearch. Exceptional Children, 73,392-416.

U.S.DepartmentofEducation,OfficeofSpecialEducationPrograms(2008). OSEP's Annual Reports to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Retrievedfromhttp://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/index.html

Vaughn,S.,Schumm,J.S.,&Arguelles,M.E.(1997).TheABCDE’sofco-teaching. Teaching Exceptional Children, 30(2),4-10.

Walther-Thomas,C.S.(1997).Co-Teachingexperiencesthebenefitsandproblemsthatteachers andprincipalsreportovertime. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30,395-407.

Walther-Thomas,C.,Bryant,M.,&Land,S.(1996).Planningforeffectiveco-teaching:Thekey tosuccessfulinclusion. Remedial and Special Education, 17,255-264.

Wasburn,M.H.,Wasburn-Moses,L.,&Davis,D.R.(2012).MentoringSpecialEducators,The RolesofNationalBoardCertifiedTeachers.RemedialandSpecialEducation,33,59-66.

Zigmond,N.,&Matta,D.W.(2004).Valueaddedofthespecialeducationteacherinsecondary schoolco-taughtclasses. Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, 17,55-75.

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About the Authors

Dr. Millicent Carmouche received her PhD from Georgia State University, in Atlanta, GA. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Indianapolis, in Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Carmouche’s research interest include students with emotional and behavior disabilities (E/BD), positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), classroom collaboration and co-teaching, special education teacher development, teacher coaching, and adolescent students with highincidence disabilities. Dr. Carmouche is currently working on continuing her line of research using technology to coach co-teaching teams of general and special education teachers.

LaTiegra Carter received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama in Communicative Sciences and Disorders in 2012. LaTiegra is currently working on her Master of Education degree in Special Education Collaborative Teaching K-6. She is a former McNair Scholar recipient. LaTiegra’s research interest includes co-teaching, collaboration, inclusion, classroom management, multidisciplinary teams and professional development.

Jelisa Thompson received her MEd in elementary education from the Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, AL. She worked closely with Dr. Carmouche in the collection and analysis of data for this article. Jelisa has worked with NASA to bring science challenging instruction into local classroom. Jelisa is now a classroom teacher in Decatur City Schools in Decatur, AL and was recently named 2017-2018 New Teacher of the Year. Her research interest include small group learning in elementary classrooms, math and science instruction in elementary classrooms, professional development of teachers, and professional collaboration.

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Does Self-Regulated Strategy Development Work for All Students with and at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders? A Meta-review

JustinD.Garwood,Ph.D. UniversityofVermont

NelsonC.Brunsting,Ph.D. WakeForestUniversity

Abstract

WritingisanessentialskillforsuccessinK-12schoolingandthe21stcenturyworkforce. Unfortunately,studentsidentifiedwithemotionalandbehavioraldisorders(EBD)oftenstruggle todevelopproficientwritingskills. Theself-regulatedstrategydevelopment(SRSD)modelis theonlyevidence-basedpracticeforteachingwritingtostudentswithEBD. Thepurposeofthe currentreviewwastoanswertwoquestions. First,howdothedemographicsofstudentswith andatriskforEBDincludedintheextantsingle-casedesignresearchfocusedonSRSDfor writingcomparetonationalstatisticsonstudentswithEBD? Second,whencontrollingfor fidelityofimplementation,doanyvariablesmoderatetheeffectivenessofSRSD. Results suggesteddemographic gapsintheextantsingle-casedesignresearch,aswellasdifferential effectsbasedonstudent characteristics.

Does Self-Regulated Strategy Development Work for All Students with and at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders? A Meta-review

Introduction

Evenpriortothe1975enactmentofPublicLaw94-142(EducationforAllHandicapped ChildrenAct),whichisnowreferredtoastheIndividualswithDisabilitiesEducation ImprovementAct(IDEA,2004),researchershaveattemptedtoidentifyeffectivepracticesin teachingreading,writing,andarithmetictostudentswithdisabilities(e.g.,Bijou,Birnbrauer, Kidder,&Tague,1966). Thefocusonliteracyandmathematicsachievementforthesestudents continuestoday(Avitiaetal.,2017;Powell,Cirino,&Malone,2017). Althoughliteracyis assumedtomeanbothreadingandwritingability, skillsinreading(Gersten,Fuchs,Williams,& Baker,2001),alongwithmathematics(Templeton,Neel,&Blood,2008),havemoreoftenbeen thetargetofinterventionforstudentswithdisabilities. Writinghasreceivedfarlessattention. However,afocusonwritingisimportantbecauseitistheprimarymeansthroughwhichstudents areexpectedtoconveytheirunderstandingofcontentknowledgeinschool(Harris,Graham,& Mason,2006). Teachers,whohistoricallyhavenotbeenpreparedtoteachwriting(Harris& Graham,2016),needevidence-basedpracticestheycanuseintheirclassroomstoimprovethe writingskillsofstudentswithdisabilities. Onegroupofstudentsinparticular–thoseidentified withemotionalandbehavioraldisorders(EBD; emotional disturbance infederallegislation)–displaysignificantstrugglesinwritingthatoftenrequireintervention(Gage,Wilson,& MacSuga-Gage,2014). Althoughsomeevidence-basedpracticesforstudentswithEBDhave beenestablished,themultifariousnatureofthosestudentsreferredtoas with and at risk for EBD

requiresresearcherstoexamineinterventionstodiscoverexactlyforwhomandunderwhat conditionstheyactuallywork(Carrero,Collins,&Lusk,2017). Thepurposeofthecurrent meta-reviewistoextendthislineofinquiryregardingwritinginterventionforstudentswithand atriskforED.

WhoareStudentswithEBD?

StudentswithEBDtypicallypresentwithexternalizingbehaviors(e.g.,non-compliance,verbal orphysicaloutbursts)and/orinternalizingbehaviors(e.g.,anxiety,depression)intheclassroom, whichteacherssometimesstruggletoovercomein theirattemptstodeliveracademicinstruction (Kauffman&Landrum,2017). Regardingliteracyandmathematics,studentswithEBDscorein the25th percentileorlowerandthesestrugglestendtogetworseastheyprogressthroughschool (Lane,Barton-Arwood,Nelson,&Wehby,2008). Thevastmajorityofsecondarystudentswith EBDperformbelowgradelevelinacademics(97%;Bradley,Doolitte,&Bartolotta,2008). Thesepatternsofacademicunderachievementcanhavedireconsequences,astheyhavebeen correlatedwiththenegativesecondaryandpost-secondaryoutcomescommonamongstudents withED(e.g.,dropout,adjudication;Ryan,Pierce,&Mooney,2008). Infact,studentswith EBDhavethehighestdropoutrateandsecond-highestrateofcriminalarrestamongallstudents withdisabilities(U.S.DepartmentofEducation,2011).

Oneofthechallengesfacingresearchersisunder-identificationofEBD. Althoughlessthan1% ofallschool-agedyouthreceivespecialeducationservicesforEBD,actualprevalenceratesfor EBDarecloserto12%ofstudents(Forness,Kim,&Walker,2012). Studentreferralforspecial educationservicesforEBDcanfluctuatebasedonstudentbehavior,withadult-targeted aggressionmosthighlyassociatedwithreferral(Becker,Paternite,&Evans,2014). Because therearemanymoreinternalizing,externalizing,orcomorbidbehaviorsindicativeofEBDthan adult-targetedaggression,researchershavelongencouragedtheuseofbehavioralscreenersin conjunctionwithmulti-tieredsystemsofsupporttoidentifyandhelpstudentswithoratriskfor EBDratherthanwaitingforstudentbehaviortoescalatetothelevelneededforreferralfor specialeducation(Lane,Menzies,Oakes,&Kalberg,2012;Walker,Nishioka,Zeller,Severson, &Feil,2000).GiventhatnotallstudentswhoarewithoratriskforEBDreceivespecial educationservices,thecurrentstudyisdesignedtoincludebothstudentswhoreceivespecial educationservicesandthosewhoareatriskforEBD.

Evidence-BasedPracticesforStudentswithDisabilities

Accordingtothenotionof positive freedoms,whichsuggeststhatthegovernmentmustoffer assistancetoindividualstocompletetaskstheycouldotherwisenotaccomplishontheirown,all studentswithdisabilitiesintheUnitedStateshavearighttoafreeandappropriatepublic education(FAPE;Brigham,McKenna,Lavin,Brigham,&Zurwaski,2018). Inhisremarks duringtheSupremeCourtcaseofEndrewF.v.DouglasCountySchoolDistrict,whichwasa unanimousdecisiontorejectalowercourt’sruling,ChiefJusticeJohnRobertsexplainedthat schoolsarenotmeetingtheirfederalobligationtoprovideFAPEbysettingthebarforeducation progressonlyata“non-trivialbenefit”(Howe,2017). Thefederalguidelinesin IDEA(2004) makeitclearthatteachersaretouseinstructionalpracticesthathaveundergonerigorous evaluationinempiricalresearchandhavebeenshowntoproducemoderatetolargeeffectsfor

studentswithdisabilities(Farley,Torres,Wailehua,&Cook,2012). Severalresearchershave underscoredtheimportanceofteachersusingevidence-basedpracticestoamelioratenegative educationalandlifeoutcomesforstudentswithoratriskofEBD(Bettini,Cumming,Merrill, Brunsting,&Liauspin,2017;Cook&Schirmer,2003;Gable,Tonelson,Sheth,Wilson,&Park, 2012;Garwood,2018;Vannest,Harrison,Temple-Harvey,Ramsey,&Parker,2011).

Inordertobeclassifiedasevidence-based,aneducationalpracticemustmeetseveralstandards regardingstudydesignandelements,aswellasvariationinresearchteamsconductingthe inquiry. Inspecialeducationresearch,thesestandardstypicallycomefrom national organizationssuchasthe WhatWorksClearinghouse(e.g.,Kratochwilletal.,2010)orthe CouncilforExceptionalChildren(2014). Theonlyknownevidence-basedpracticeinwritingfor studentswithoratriskforEBD,whichhasbeenestablishedinthreeseparatereviewsofthe literature(Ennis &Jolivette,2014a;Losinski,Cuenca-Carlino,Zablocki,&Teagarden,2014; Sreckovic,Common,Knowles,&Lane,2014),is self-regulatedstrategydevelopment(SRSD; Harris&Graham,2016). TheSRSDmodelinvolvessixstagesforteachingstudentsagenrespecificwritingstrategyandinvolvestheuseofmeta-cognitivestrategiessuchasself-regulation, goalsetting,andself-monitoring(Harris,Graham, Brindle,&Sandmel,2009).

Oneconcernwithevidence-basedpracticesisthatdespitemeetingthresholdsforquantityand qualityofsupportingresearch,theysometimesdonotresultinpositiveeffectsforstudentswith disabilities(Lane,Jolivette,Conroy,Nelson,&Benner,2011). Althoughtherearemanyreasons whyaninterventionmaynotresultinthedesiredoutcomes(e.g.,lowfidelityof implementation),tworelatedissuesrequireattention. First,ifapracticeis deemedevidencebasedforapopulationofstudents(e.g.,thosewithEBD),butmuchoftheresearchhasbeen conductedwithstudents fromotherpopulations,theefficacyofthepracticemaybeinquestion (Farleyetal.,2012). Secondandsimilarly,ifthedemographicsforthesampleofstudentson whichapracticehasbeenresearchedisnotequivalenttothatofthelargerpopulation,theremay alsobereasontobelievetheinterventionwillnotbeeffectiveforallstudentsfromthatgroup. TheseissueswereinitiallyaddressedbyCarreroetal.(2017)whentheysuggestedresearchers mustalsoinvestigateifpracticesthathavemettheevidence-basedthresholdareequallyeffective forallstudents. Intheirreviewofsixevidence-basedacademicinterventions–class-widepeer tutoring,directinstruction,pre-correction,increasedopportunitiestorespond,peer-assisted learningstrategies,andself-monitoring– forstudentswithEBD,whichincluded128 participantswithandatriskforEBD,Carreroandcolleaguesfounddemographic gapsinthe research. WhencomparedtonationalstatisticsonstudentswithEBD,Asianand Hispanic/Latinostudentswereunder-represented,andtherewasacompleteabsenceofstudents fromthefollowingbackgrounds:AmericanIndian/AlaskanNative,NativeHawaiian/Other PacificIslander,andtwoormoreraces.

Intheirreviewoftheliterature,Losinskietal.(2014)exploredmoderatorsofSRSD effectivenessforstudentswithEBDandfoundtwosignificantinteractioneffects. Studiesusing single-casedesignmethods(versusgroupdesign)andstudieswithagreaterpercentageof AfricanAmericanstudentsresultedinlargereffectsizes. Nosignificanteffectswerefoundfor studentgender,age,gradelevel,orinterventionagent.

PurposeandResearchQuestions

Thepurposeofthecurrentmeta-reviewistoextendtheworkofCarrero etal.(2017),aswellas thatofLosinksietal.(2014),regardingevidence-basedpracticesforstudentswithEBD. The followingresearchquestionsguidedthestudy:

1. HowdothedemographicsofstudentswithandatriskforEBDincludedin theextant single-casedesignresearchfocusedonSRSDforwritingcomparetonational demographicstatisticsonstudentswithEBD?

2. Whencontrollingforfidelityofimplementation,doanyofthefollowingvariables moderatetheeffectivenessofSRSDforwritingforstudentswithandatriskforEBD: sex,race,specialeducationidentification,gradelevel,andinterventionagent?

Method

Athree-stagesearchprocesswasundertakentoidentifyeligiblestudiesforthecurrentmetareviewoftheSRSDliterature. First,anelectronicsearchviathefirstauthor’shomeinstitution librarywasdoneusingAcademicSearchComplete,ERIC,andPsycINFO. Thesearchwas conductedinJanuaryof2018,withnorestrictiononthetimeperiod. Searchterms,includingall derivatives,includedthefollowing:(Field1) self-regulated strategy development or SRSD; (Field2) emotion or behavior;(Field3) writing;(Field4) disability, disorder,or disturbed. Excludingduplicates,theinitialsearchreturned63articlesforpossibleinclusioninthemetareview. Followinginclusioncriteria(outlinedbelow),eacharticlewasscreenedforeligibility. Thesecondstepwasahandsearchinseveraljournalsthat,accordingtotheauthors’own publishingexperienceandcorroboratedbyotherrecentresearch(Carreroetal.,2017),are knownforpublishingresearchrelatedtostudentswithandatriskforEBD: Behavioral Disorders, Behavior Modification, Education and Treatment of Children, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, Intervention in School and Clinic, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Behavioral Education, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, and Preventing School Failure. Onepotentialarticlewasdiscoveredinhandsearches. Thethird step,whichwascompletedafterallpotentialarticleswerescreenedforeligibility,wasan ancestralreviewofallarticlesmeetinginclusioncriteriaandofthethreerecentlypublished meta-analysesfocusedonSRSDforstudentswithEBD(Ennis&Jolivette,2014a;Losinksiet al.,2014;Sreckovicetal.,2014). Noadditionalarticleswereidentifiedforpossibleinclusion. A master’sstudentinspecialeducationduplicatedthesearcheffortsandagreementforarticle inclusionwas100%.

InclusionCriteria

Atotalof64articleswerescreenedforinclusioninthemeta-review. Articleswereincludedif theymetthefollowingcriteria:(a)independentvariablewasSRSDforwriting;(b)atleastone participantwasidentifiedwithalabelofEBDorparticipantswereclassifiedasatriskforEBD bythestudyauthorsusinganemotional/behavioralscreeninginstrument;(c)thestudyused single-casedesignmethodsandresultsforstudents’writingoutcomeswere displayedinagraph; and(d)thestudywaspublishedinapeer-reviewedjournal. Onlysingle-casedesignstudieswere

includedinordertoalloweffectsizecalculationsforindividualstudents. Althoughgroup-design randomizedcontrolledtrialsareconsideredthegoldstandardininterventionresearch,singlecasedesignsareoftenpreferredwhenresearchersareinterestedinexploringeffectsforeach participantincludedinthestudy(Vannest etal.,2011). Graphsforstudentoutcomeswere requiredtoallowtheauthorsofthecurrentmeta-reviewtocalculateeffectsizes. Dissertations were excludedbecausepeerreviewwasconsideredanimportantmarkerofresearchquality. Figure1containsadescriptionofthearticleselectionprocess. Ofthe64articlesscreenedfor inclusion,36wereexcludedbecausetheywerenotrelevanttothepurposesofthecurrentreview. Anadditionalninestudieswereexcludedbecausetheyusedgroupdesignsandonearticlewas excludedbecausenographwasincludedthatwouldallowforcalculationofeffectsizes. The remaining18articlesmetallinclusioncriteria.

Articlesidentifiedthroughdatabase searchexcludingduplicates

(n =63)

Articlesidentifiedthroughhand andancestralsearches (n =1)

Articlesscreened (n =64)

Full-textarticlescodedfor inclusion (n =28)

Articlesexcludedbecauseclearly notrelevanttostudy (n =36)

Articlesincludedinmeta-review (n =18)

Articlesexcludedbecauseagroup designwasused(n =9)orbecause agraphwasnotincludedthat allowedforindividualeffectsize calculation (n =1)

Figure 1. Flowdiagramforarticleselectionprocess

AnalysisPlanandProcedures

All18articleswerereadindetailandpertinentstudyinformationwasinputtedintoanExcel spreadsheet. Thefirstcolumnofthespreadsheetcontainedtheauthorsofeachstudywiththe respectiveparticipantsenteredbelow. Forexample,theAdkinsandGavin(2012)studywas listedinonerow. Inthenextthreerowswereparticipants’names(i.e.,Rose,Dennis,andJohn) fromthestudy. Relevantstudyinformationfor eachparticipantwasthenenteredincolumns nexttotheirnames,includingthefollowing:sex,race,specialeducationlabel,gradelevel (elementaryvs.secondaryschool),interventionagent(researchteammembervs.classroom teacher),treatmentfidelity,andeffectsize(calculatedbytheauthorsofthecurrentstudy). All studyinformationwascodedbythefirstandsecondauthorofthecurrentstudy. Acrossall categories,reliabilityrangedfrom95%-100%,withanoverallreliabilityscoreof98.89%. Differenceswerediscusseduntilconsensuswasreached.

Treatmentfidelitywasscoredasreportedineachstudy. Ifauthorsincludedfidelityforeach student,thiswasrecorded. Ifanoverallmeanoftreatmentfidelityacrossthestudywasreported, thisvaluewasassignedtoeachstudent. Thewritingoutcomeofchoicefocusedoninthisstudy wasthequantityofwritingstudents’produced. Totalparts/elementswritten(i.e.,quantity)isthe mostcommondependentvariableintheSRSDforwritingresearch(Losinksietal.,2014)and14 studiesfocusedonthisoutcome. Fouradditionalstudiesincludeelementssuchastotalmain ideas(Mason,Snyder,Sukhram,&Kedem,2006),paragraphcontent(Konrad&Test,2007), totalnumberofwritingrevisions(McKeown,Kimball,&Ledford,2015),andquality,which wasinpartameasureoftheamountstudentswrote(Saddler,Asaro-Saddler,Moeyaert,&EllisRobinson,2017). Outcomesfromthesefourstudieswereincludedasquantityofwriting becauseofthewaysinwhichtheywerescoredintherespectivestudies.

Effectsizesforeachstudentwerecalculatedusingtheimprovementratedifference(IRD;Parker, Vannest, &Brown,2009),whichiscorrelatedwithoneofthemostpopulareffectsizemeasures insingle-caseresearch–percentageofnon-overlappingdata (PND;Scruggs&Mastropieri, 2013)–butdoesnotsufferfromthesameissuesasPND(e.g.,nosamplingdistribution,ceiling andflooreffects). TheIRDisdefinedasthedifferencebetweentheimprovementrateinthe treatmentphase(IRT)andtheimprovementrateinthebaselinephase(IRB). Thetotalnumber ofpost-interventiondatapointsthatexceedalldatapointsinbaselineisdefinedastheIRT. The totalnumberofbaselinedatapointsthatmeetorexceedanydatapointinthepost-intervention phaseistheIRB. TheIRD(Parkeretal.,2009)canrangefrom-1.0to1.0,withvaluesof questionable(<.50),moderate(.50-.70),large(.70-.75),orverylarge(>.75). Post-intervention didnotincludegeneralizationormaintenancephasesineffectsizecalculationsbecausenot everystudyincludedthesephases. Table1includesdetailedinformationabouteachincluded study.

Note.N referstonumberofstudentsidentifiedaswithoratriskforEDinthestudy;IRD=improvementratedifference;F=female; M=male;C=Caucasian;AA=AfricanAmerican;H/L=Hispanic/Latino;ED=EmotionalDisturbance;OHI-ADHD–Other HealthImpairment–Attention-Deficit/HyperactivityDisorder;ES=ElementarySchool; SS=SecondarySchool; ASD=Autism SpectrumDisorder;A=Asian; LD=LearningDisability; SLI= Speech/LanguageImpairment

Toaddressthefirstresearchquestion,demographicdatawascompiledandexaminedfromeach ofthe18includedstudies. ThesedatawerecomparedtonationaldataonstudentswithEBD fromtheInstituteofEducationalSciences (2015)andtheU.S.DepartmentofEducation(2014), thesamedatasourcesusedbyCarreroetal.(2017). GivenhighratesofEBDunderidentification(Fornessetal.,2012)andthereluctancetoidentifyyoungchildrenforEBD (Kauffman&Landrum,2017),allparticipants’demographicdatafromthe18studieswas includedincomparison,regardlessofspecialeducationidentificationstatus. Toaddressthe secondresearchquestionandexploremoderationeffects,whichrequiredcalculatinganoverall effectsizeacrossallstudies(i.e.,acrossallindividualIRDs),Hedges g (Hedges,Pustejovsky,& Shadish,2012)wasusedbecauseitallowsresearcherstocombineeffectsacrossmultiplesinglecasedesignstudiesandsimilarprocedureswerealsousedbyLosinskietal.(2014)intheireffort tocalculateastandardizemeandifferenceacrossstudies. Losinksiandcolleaguesusedmetaregressiontoexploretheirmoderatorvariablesatthestudylevel(Borenstein,Hedges,Higgins, &Rothstein,2009). Inthecurrentstudy,analysisofcovariance(ANCOVA)wasusedtoexplore moderationeffectsattheindividuallevel,whilecontrollingfortreatmentfidelity.

Results

Thefirstresearchquestionexploredpossibledemographicdifferencesinthesampleofstudents includedinsingle-casedesignSRSDforstudents withEBDresearchwiththenational populationofstudentsidentifiedwithEBD. Table2includesrelevantdemographicinformation. Regardingparticipantsex,nomajordifferenceswerenoted. Nationally,74.7%ofstudentswith EBDaremale(InstituteofEducationSciences,2015)andthecurrentsampleofparticipants were73.8%male. Therewere,however,someracial/ethnicitydifferencesbetweenthetwo groupsbasedonnationaldata(U.S.DepartmentofEducation,2014). Caucasianstudentsinthe currentsamplewereoverrepresented(70.7%)comparedtotheoverallpopulationofstudents withEBD(54.3%). Hispanic/Latinostudentswereunderrepresentedinthecurrentsample(2.2% vs.13.7%). NumbersregardingAfricanAmerican(23.9%vs.27.2%),Asian(1.1%vs.0.1%), andstudentsoftwoormoreraces(2.2%vs.3.6%)wererelativelysimilar. Finally,although studentsidentifiedasAmericanIndian/AlaskanNativeorHawaiian/OtherPacificIslander constituteapproximately2%ofthepopulationofstudentswithEBD,studentsfromthesegroups were absentfromthesingle-casedesignSRSDinterventionliterature.

Table2

Demographic and Descriptive Data for Sample of Included Students

Note. M =Mean; SD =StandardDeviation;ED=EmotionalDisturbance;OHI-ADHD–Other HealthImpairment–Attention-Deficit/HyperactivityDisorder;ASD=AutismSpectrum Disorder; LD= LearningDisability;SLI=Speech/LanguageImpairment. For19students, race/ethnicitydatawasnotprovided(Masonetal.,2013;Mong,Cramer,&Mason,2014). A separatestudyreportedoverallrace/ethnicitydataforthesample,butthedatawasnot individualizedfor8outof9students(Cuenca-Carlino&Mustian,2014).

Thesecondresearchquestionexploredpossiblegroupdifferencesininterventioneffectiveness basedonstudentcharacteristicsorresearchprocedures. Table3containsresultsfromANCOVA analyses. Participantsexwasnotfoundtobeasignificantpredictor, F(2,100)=1.48, p =.233, suggestingthatbothmaleandfemalestudentswithoratriskforEBDbenefitequallyfrom SRSDinstruction. Racewasalsonotasignificantpredictor,withneitherAfricanAmerican status(F[2,81]=0.90, p =.409)norCaucasianstatus(F[2,81]=1.22, p =.300)significantly predictinginterventioneffectsize. Specialeducationstatuswasfoundtobeasignificant predictorofinterventioneffectiveness, F(2,100)=3.11, p =.048,withresultssuggestingthat studentsnotreceivingspecialeducationservicesexperiencedsignificantlygreatereffectsasa resultofSRSDintervention. Gradelevelwas alsofoundtobeasignificantpredictorof interventioneffectsize, F(2,100)=3.62, p =.039,withresultssuggestingstudentsinelementary gradesmadesignificantlygreatergrowthcomparedtostudentsinmiddleandhighschool. Finally,interventionagentwasnotasignificantpredictor, F(2,100)=1.58, p =.210,suggesting thateffectsweresimilarwheninterventionwasdeliveredbyresearchersorbyteachers.

EffectSizesbyGroupsofStudents

Note. *p <.05; M =Mean; SD =StandardDeviation; g =Hedge’s g;Missingdataonraceresultedinlowersamplesize(n =83).

Discussion

Thecurrentmeta-reviewinvestigatedtheextantsingle-casedesigninterventionliteratureof SRSDforstudentswithoratriskforEBDtoboth comparedemographicsoftheaggregated studysamplewiththenationaldemographicdataandtodeterminewhatdemographicor interventionfactorsmoderatedtheeffectivenessoftheSRSDintervention. Resultsindicatedthat therewereinfactdiscrepanciesbetweennationaldemographicsonstudentswithEBDandthose ofstudentsincludedinthesingle-casedesignSRSDforwritingresearch. ThatCaucasian studentswereover-representedandstudentsfrom otherracial/ethnicbackgroundswereeither underrepresented(e.g.,Hispanic/Latino)orexcludedentirely(e.g.,AmericanIndian/Alaskan Native,Hawaiian/OtherPacificIslander)isunfortunate. Forexample,ithasbeenreportedthat American Indian/AlaskanNativestudentsreceivedisproportionatelyhighratesofdisciplinary exclusioninschools(Zhang,Katsiyannis,&Herbst,2004). Ifthisgroupisbeingremovedfrom schoolforbehaviorproblemsatahighrate andbeingtargetedforinterventionatalowrate,their chancesofsuccessinschoolaresignificantlydiminishedtothepointwhere thesepracticesmay bedescribedasinequitableandinviolationofthespiritofFAPE. Itisnotbeingsuggestedthat researchersareintentionallyexcludingthesestudentsfrominterventionresearch; rather,the implicationisthatresearchersmayneedtobeintentionalintheireffortsto locateand conduct researchwiththesestudents. HereweechothecallofCarreroetal.(2017)forfurther interventionresearchwithdiverseparticipantsinordertoeliminatetheneedofourfield“to speculateastowhethertheinterventions yieldsimilarresultsforallstudentswith(EBD)”(p. 259).

InslightcontrasttothefindingsofLosinskietal.(2014),therewerenosignificantdifferenceson IRDofquantityofwritingforAfrican-Americanstudents.Althoughthecurrentstudydoesnot provideadirectcomparisonduetoLosinskietal.’sinclusionofgroupdesignstudies,thenonsignificantdifferencehighlightstheneed forfurtherstudieswithethnicallydiverseparticipants. ResultsdidhoweversuggestthatothergroupsofstudentswithintheEBDpopulationbenefit significantlymorethanothersfromreceivingSRSDintervention. Youngerstudentsandthose notreceivingspecialeducationservicesappearedtobenefitmorefromSRSDintervention. Studentsnotidentifiedforspecialeducationservicesmaybefacingfewerbehavioralobstaclesin theirattemptstolearnandbenefitfrominstruction. Behaviorproblemshavebeenidentifiedasa primaryinfluenceonstudents’strugglestorespondtoliteracyinterventions(Nelson,Benner,& Gonzalez,2003). Asstudentsgetolder,theirbehaviorproblemsbecomelessamenableto interventionandthenegativeeffectsonacademicdevelopmentarelikelytoincrease (Yakimowski,Faggella-Luby,Kim,&Wei,2016). Consideringthemostcommontimefor studentstoreceivealabelofEBDisinmiddleschool(Kauffman&Landrum,2017),itbecomes apparentwhystudentsreceivingspecialeducationservicesrespondedlesswelltotheSRSD interventionthantheircounterparts.

ImplicationsforResearchersandPractitioners

TheSRSDmodelforwritinginterventionisoneendorsedbytheresearchcommunityandshould beadoptedbyclassroomteachers. However,thereareseveralgapsintheliteratureworth addressing. First,everyinterventionstudyneedstoreportdetailedinformationaboutparticipant race,sex,specialeducationlabel,andanyotherpertinentinformationthatmayimpact interventioneffectiveness. Detailedinformationabouteachparticipant’sraceandsexis

especiallyimportantforresearchersattemptingtounpackdifferencesbasedondemographics becauseamongthesampleofstudentswithEBD,thetypeanddegreeofbehaviorproblemsoften varybasedonsex(Rice,Taymans,Brown, &Srsic,2012). Second,insingle-casedesign researchitwouldmakethemostsensetoreportfidelityattheindividualstudentlevelandnotas anaverageacrossthesample. Futurestudieswithmorediversesamplesarealsoneeded. Mixed-methodsresearchmaybethebestapproach(Carreroetal.,2017),asqualitativemethods (e.g.,focusgroups,interviews)wouldprovideinterestinginsightsintotheappropriatenessofthe SRSDinterventionforgroupsofstudentswhohavepreviouslynotbeenincludedintheresearch.

PractitionersshouldcontinuetoimplementSRSDforwritingwiththeirstudentsexhibiting behaviorproblems. Perhapsoneofthemostencouragingfindingsfromthecurrentstudywasthe non-significantdifferenceineffectsizebasedoninterventionist. Similartotheresearchby Losinskietal.(2014),thecurrentstudyfoundthatteacherswereequallyaseffectiveas researchersinimplementingtheinterventionwithstudents. Forschoolsimplementingmultitieredsystemsofsupport,SRSDforwritingappearstobeaviableoptionasatier-two intervention(Johnson,Hancock,Carter,&Pool,2013;Sreckovicetal.,2014). Several practitionerarticleshavebeenwrittenforteachersworkingwithbothchildrenandadolescents withandatriskforEBDtoguidetheirwritinginstruction(e.g.,Bak&Asaro-Saddler,2013; Shora&Hott,2016).

LimitationsandConclusion

Thecurrentmeta-reviewexaminedwhetherracial/ethnicitystatisticsforincludedstudieswere comparabletonationalstatisticsandwhethercertainparticipantvariablesmoderatedthe effectivenessofanSRSDinterventionin18single-casedesignstudieswithstudentswithorat riskofEBD. Threelimitationstothecurrentmeta-reviewmustbenoted. First,severalstudies reportedinterventionatthestudylevelandthereforeattemptstocontrolfortreatmentfidelityat thestudentlevelinanalysisweresomewhathampered. Second,otherstudiesusingSRSDwith studentswithandatriskforEBDexistandtheirdemographicsamplesmayhaveinformedthe currentstudy. However,becausethesestudiesdidnotreporteffectsattheindividualstudent level,theydidnotallowforanuancedinterpretationoftheeffectivenessofSRSDresearchon distinctgroupsofstudents. Inotherwords,theremaybestudieswithmoreHispanic/Latino students,butwhengroupedtogetherwiththerestofthesampletheeffectivenessofthe interventionforthisgroupisnotpossibletodetermine. FuturestudiesusingSRSDasan interventionforstudentswithandatriskforEBDneedtoprovidedetailedinformationoneach participantiftheyaregoingtoincludegroupsofstudentswhohavehistoricallybeenneglected inthisresearch. Finally,noteverystudymeasuredwritingoutcomesinthesamemanner. Therefore,analysisrequiredgroupingtogetherdifferentoutcomevariablestodetermineeffect sizesinaddressingresearchquestiontwo. However,eachstudydidincludeadependentvariable thatcapturedthequantityofwritingstudentscompletedandthiswasthedependentvariable focusedoninthecurrent meta-review. TheIRD focusedonimprovementinwritingratherthan atotalwritingscoreforeachstudent,therebymakingcomparisonsacrossstudentsaccurate.

Asawhole,theSRSDinterventionyieldslargeimprovementsinwritingoutputforstudentswith oratriskofEBD. BecauseSRSDistheonlyknownevidence-basedmodelofwriting instructionforstudentswithEBD(Garwood,2018),thecurrentmeta-reviewwasneededinorder todetermineexactlyforwhomandunderwhatcircumstancestheinterventionismosteffective.

Demographic gapsinstudysampleswereidentifiedandmoderationanalysissuggestedsome groupsofstudentsundertheumbrellaof with and at risk for EBD benefitmorethanotherswhen receivingtheintervention. Accordingtotheresultsfromthismeta-review,themostpressing needforfutureresearchismixed-methodsSRSDstudiestargetingAmericanIndian/Alaskan NativeandHawaiian/OtherPacific Islanderstudents,ideallywithteachersasinterventionists.

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About the Authors

JustinD.Garwood,Ph.D:Dr.GarwoodisanAssistantProfessorofSpecialEducationinthe DepartmentofEducationattheUniversityofVermont. Hisresearchandteachingfocusesonthe academicachievementofstudentswithEBDandthepreparationoffuturespecialeducatorsin usingrelationship-basedapproachestoclassroommanagement.

NelsonC.Brunsting,Ph.D:Dr.BrunstingistheDirectorofGlobalResearchandAssessmentin theCenterforGlobalProgramsandStudiesatWakeForestUniversity.Hisresearchcenterson understandingandalleviatingspecialeducationteacherburnout.

My Possibilities University: A University and Community Collaborative

BertinaH.Combes,Ph.D. UniversityofNorthTexas

EndiaJ.Lindo,Ph.D. TexasChristianUniversity

AnitaKliewer,M.Ed. DentonIndependentSchoolDistrict

CharmaineSolomon,M.A. MyPossibilities

Abstract

Thisarticledescribesauniqueandmutuallybeneficialcollaborationbetweenacommunity transitionprogram,MyPossibilities(MP),andalocaluniversityteacherpreparationprogram. MPispostsecondarycommunityorganization,foundedbyparents,foryoungadultswith developmentaldisabilitieswhosemajorgoalistofacilitatethestrengtheningofparticipants’ independenceskills.Thepartneruniversityprogramdesiredopportunitiesforitsteacher candidatestogainanappreciationoftheneedforeffectivetransitionplanningandtohave practical experiencescoordinatingandprovidingtransitionservicestopostsecondaryindividuals withdisabilities,anopportunityrarelyaffordedinateacherpreparationprogram.This collaborative,referredto asMyPossibilitiesUniversity(MPU),wasformedtomeetboth agencies’objectives.MPclientswere exposedtouniversitystudentsandsimulated postsecondaryexperiences,whileteachereducationcandidateswere abletoplananddeliver instructiontoyoungadultswithdisabilities.Adescriptionoftheproceduresusedandproject outcomesarediscussed.

Keywords:communitypartnerships,developmentaldisabilities,transition,preserviceteachers, practicumexperiences

My Possibilities University: A University and Community Collaborative

Collaborationcanbeconsideredanessentialcomponenttothefoundationofsuccessfulspecial educationprogramming.Collaborationrequiresthatinterestedindividualsandgroups (stakeholders) cometogethertoshareknowledgeandexpertisewiththecommongoalof improvedservicesforstudentswithdisabilities.Areviewoftheliteratureoncollaborationin specialeducationrevealsittobeamultifacetedconstruct.Forexample,Friend(2007)proposes collaborativestrategiesforeffectivelyincludingstudentswithdisabilitiesingeneraleducation settingswhileMurawskiandHughes(2009)suggestcollaborationasameansforensuring successfulimplementationofResponsetoIntervention.Collaborationandinclusionoffamilies indesigningprogramsandservicesforstudentswithdisabilitiesisalsoaconceptunderthe specialeducationcollaborationumbrella.Literaturefocusingonfamiliesascollaborators

emphasizesthemajorrolethefamilyplaysinthedailylifeofchildrenandthebenefitsof includingtheminprogramming(Branson&Bingham,2009).

Background

Interagencycollaborationrepresents yetanotherdimensionofcollaborationinspecialeducation. Theconceptofinteragencycollaborationhasbecomeparticularlycriticalinplanningservicesfor transitioningolderstudentswithdisabilities(Carter,Prater,Jackson,&Marchant,2009; Hartman,2009;Kohler&Fields,2003;Noonan, Morningstar,&Erikson,2008;Test,Fowler, White,Richter,&Walker,2009).Discussionsaboutinteragencycollaborationusuallycenteron thealliancessoughtbetweenschooldistrictsandcommunityagenciesthatsupporttransitioning studentsastheyseekemployment,communitylivingandeducation/trainingopportunities. Interagencycollaborationisidentifiedasoneoffivetransitionpracticeareasessentialfor postsecondarysuccess(Flowersetal.,2018;Kohler&Fields,2003)andissaidtoincreasethe likelihoodofschoolcompletionamongyouthwithdisabilities(Testetal.,2009).

Amongthemanyagenciesthatmightbeconsideredininteragencycollaborationsfor transitioningstudentswithdisabilitiesarecollegesanduniversities.Thisisespeciallysofor individualswithmilddisabilitiesforwhomcollegeasapostsecondarytransitionisalikely option.However,increasinglyparents,researchers,andpractitionersareadvocatingthatolder studentswithmoresignificantdisabilitiesreceivetransitionservicesoncollegeanduniversity campuseswithsame-agepeerswithout disabilities (Grigal,Neubert,&Moon,2005).Rose, Heine,andGray(2005)describeaninteragency collaboration transition programforyoung adultswithdevelopmental disabilities wherestudentsliveoncampus.Throughaninnovative servicedeliverymodelutilizingcommunityagencies,theprogramprovidesreal-lifetransitional livingexperiencesin combinationwithclassroomlearningaboutoccupationalengagementand otherimportantconceptssuchasself-care,values,andchoices.Similarly,Grigaletal,(2005) providedetailsondevelopingprogramsfor youngadultswithsignificantdisabilitiesoncollege campuses.SuchcollaborativeventureswererecommendedbyJohnsonandcolleaguesafter reviewingtheresearchonsecondaryeducationtransitionservices(Johnson,Stodden,Emanuel, Luecking,&Mack,2002).Johnsonetal.,likeNoonan,Morningstar,andErikson(2008),suggest thatthoughcriticaltotransitionplanning,interagencycommunitycollaborationrepresentsa challengeforeducators.Numerousfactorscontributetothechallengingnatureofinteragency collaborations;amongthemarealackofexitingpartnershipsatstateandcommunitylevels, unclearornonexistentmechanismsforcoordinatingandcommunicatingservicesacross agencies,andtheneedforidentificationanddevelopmentofservices(Hart,Zimbrich,& Whelley,2002).

My Possibilities University

ThecurrentarticledescribesauniquecollaborationbetweenMyPossibilities(MP),acommunity transitionprogram,andtheundergraduatespecialeducationprogramatauniversityinthe southwestUnitedStatesfromwhichbothcollaboratorsbenefitted.

MyPossibilities

MPisanonprofitpostsecondarycommunityorganizationforyoungadultswhohaveexitedor soonwillexitschool-basedprograms.Theorganizationwasfoundedbyparentswho

experienceddifficultyfindingengagingandappropriateexperiencesfortheiradultchildrenafter theygraduatedoraged-outofpublicschool.Foundationaltothehistoryofspecialeducationis thecreationofservicesandorganizationsbyparentsandfamilieswhencommunitieslacked themorarenotinclinedtoincludeindividualswithdisabilities.However,muchhaschanged overthedecadesregardingtheprovisionofinclusiveservicesfor youngadultswithdisabilities. Forexample,www.thinkcollege.netlistsover200programsforindividuals withintellectual disabilitieslocatedonuniversitycampuses.Despitethisgrowthinprograms,manycommunities stilllackappropriatepostsecondaryoptionsforyoungadultswithdisabilities.MPwascreatedto fillacriticalcommunityvoid.

MPprovidesayear-rounddayprogram for youngadultswithdisabilitiesdesignedtoaddress independenceandpre-vocationalskillsofits“HIPsters”(HugelyImportant Person).The programservesover300HIPsterswithvaryingdisabilities(e.g.,autismspectrumdisorder, intellectualdisabilities,andtraumaticbraininjuries).OneofthecriticalgoalsoftheMPprogram isbuildingcommunitynetworkingopportunities.Forexample,HIPsterslearnfromlocalfitness facilitiesabouttheimportanceofexercisingandgoodhealth.Theyhaveaccesstoandareableto usethosefacilitiestobringabouttheircommunityindependence.Otherlocalbusinesses,suchas nurseries,provideplants,flowersandappropriatetraininginhorticultureto allHIPsterswiththe goalofprovidingemploymentforsomeandanenjoymentofgardeningasaleisureactivityfor others.Bynetworkingwithcommunityorganizations,MPhascreatedopportunitiestohave servicesandgoodsdonated,andopportunitiesforHIPsterstoexplorevocationalinterests.

UniversityTeacherEducationPrograms

Universityteacherpreparationprogramsneedopportunitiesforcandidatestohavepractical experienceswithtransitioningindividualswithdisabilities,includingplanninganddelivering instructionandgaininganappreciationfortheneedforeffectivetransitionplanning.Thevalue ofpracticalhands-on experienceshasbeendocumentedacrossawidevarietyofdisciplines (Oktay,Jacobson,&Fisher,2013)andisespeciallycriticalineducation(Zeichner,2010). Practicumexperiencesallowteachereducationcandidatestotransformcontentgainedin universityclassroomsintolearningexperiencesforstudents.Alsocandidatescanexploretheir ownideasforcreatingpositivelearningenvironments.Thoughthevalueofpracticalexperience hasbeenestablished,findingappropriatepracticumsettingsisachallengemanyuniversitiesand collegesface.Further,specialeducationteachercandidatesarerarelyavoidedfieldexperiences beyondtheK-12settingsduringtheircoursework.Oneresponsetofindingappropriateandmore diverseplacementsisofferedbyZeichner(2010)whosuggestscrossingboundaries(university andK-12schools)andthecreationof“thirdspaces”inteachereducation.Forexample,field experiencesinteacherpreparationprogramscanbeexpandedtovariousplacesinthe community.

Specific Aims

Aspartofitspreparationprogramforpreservicespecialeducationcandidates,alargepublic universityinthesouthwestUnitedStatesoffersaseriesofcourses,onefocusedontransitioning studentswithdisabilitiesacrossthelifespan,withemphasisonthepostsecondaryyears.The upperlevel(junior/senior)courseisofferedoverashortsummersemesterandexaminestheory, models,andtransitionplanningpractices.Inanefforttolinkcontentknowledgeabouttransition withskillsinplanninganddeliveringtransitioninstruction,programfacultyinitiateddiscussion

withMPforpracticumopportunities.Duringseveralplanningmeetings,thefollowinggoals beneficialtotheHIPstersatMPandtheteachereducationcandidatesweredeveloped.

1. TointroduceHIPstersto postsecondaryeducationalconcepts.

2. TohighlightcommoninterestsbetweenHIPstersandsimilarly-agedteachereducation candidates.

3. Toprovideteachereducationcandidateswithanopportunitytoplananddeliverlessons topostsecondaryindividualswithdisabilities.

Method

ProgramDesign

ProgramgoalswereachievedthroughtheformationofMyPossibilitiesUniversity(MPU),a simulateduniversityexperiencedeliveredattheMPfacilityto23HIPstersbythe32teacher educationcandidates.Twocoursesweretaughtsimultaneouslyonceaweek(1½hourssession) overafour-weekperiodduringtheregularlyscheduledschoolday.Topicswerechosento addressthegoalofhighlightingcommonareasofinterestbetweentheHIPstersandsimilarlyagedpeers.Thecoursetopicswereselectedaftersearchingtheinternetusing“hottopicsamong youngpeople,”“interests ofyoungadults,”and“trendsamongyoungadults.”Additionally,20 randomcollegestudents wereaskedtosharetheir interests.Topicsidentifiedincludedclothes, music,celebritynews,currentevents,andholidayandrecreationplans.Whenpresentedwitha listofpossibletopics,theMP staffselectedthosetheythoughtwouldbeofinteresttothe HIPsters.Thetopicswereorganizedintotwo“universitycourses,”oneonAmericanPopCulture andtheotheronAmericanHistory.

Priortothebeginningofthesemester,theinstructorandgraduateassistantselectedtwo“MPU courseleaders”fromamongthe32preserviceteachercandidatesenrolledinthetransition course.AplanningmeetingwasheldforthepurposeofdevelopingtheMPUcoursedescriptions, goalsandobjectives(seeTable1).

Table1

MPU Course Descriptions and Objectives

AmericanHistory

Course Description: Americaisagreatcountry.Learnaboutourcountry’shistoryandimportant factsaboutAmerica’sbeginning.

1. HIPsterswillrecognizeimagesofimportanthistoricalfiguresintheUnitedStates.

(Forexample:GeorgeWashington,AbrahamLincoln,BenjaminFranklin)

2. HIPsterswillrecognizeimagesofimportanthistoricalmonumentsintheUnitedStates.

(Forexample:LincolnMemorial,WashingtonMonument,WhiteHouse,U.S.Capitol)

3. HIPsterswillidentifypatrioticsongs.

(Forexample:GodBlessAmerica,AmericatheBeautiful)

4. HIPsterswillrecognizepatrioticicons.

(Forexample:BaldEagle,AmericanandTexasFlags,UncleSam)

AmericanPopCulture

Course Description: Whoaretoday’sstars? Whatdotheydo? Whatdotheywear? Comelearn allaboutwhat’shappeninginAmericatoday.

1. HIPsterswillidentifypopularTVshowsandkeyfiguresonTVandmovies.

(Forexample:AmericanIdol,Glee,BigBangTheory)

2. HIPsterswillidentifyage-appropriatefashionandclothingwornbypeers.

(Forexample:Layering,Vintage,Accessorizing)

3. HIPsterswillidentifymusicgenresandartists.

(Forexample:CountryWestern,Pop,Other[PersonalChoice])

4. HIPsterswillidentifymediafromwhichtoaccessinformation.

Forexample:TV(Entertainment Tonight),NewsMagazines(People), Internet,Radio

InattendancewasarepresentativefromMP,thetwoMPUcourseleaders,thetransitioncourse instructorandagraduateassistant.WiththefoundationforMPUcourseslaid,courseleaders were readyonthefirstdayoftheiruniversitytransitioncoursetobegindetailplanningwiththeir fellowteachereducationcandidates.Candidateswererandomlyassignedtooneofthe MPU courses,arrangementsweremadetotourtheMP facility,andtocompleterequiredvolunteer trainingandcriminalbackgroundchecks.Inadditiontoacourseleader,eachMPUcoursehad fourlessonleaderswhoworkedtofurtherdeveloptheirspecificlessonfortheassignedMPU course.FordetailsregardingresponsibilitiesofcourseandlessonleadersseeTable2.

Table2

University Teacher Candidates’ Responsibilities

CourseLeaders’Responsibilities

o Lead,motivateandparticipateindeliveringcreativeandappropriatelessonsforMPU

o Delegate(orsolicitvolunteers)fortheresponsibilitiesbelow

o Overseelessonplanningforcoursedeliverywithattentiontodifferentiatedinstruction

o Encourageparticipationbyallmembersindevelopinglessons

o Ensurelessonsaredevelopedandsubmittedtoinstructorpriortobeingtaught

o Ensuregrouphasplannedforandsecuredappropriatematerialstoteachlessons

o Developcurriculumbasedmeasurementassessmentsforeachlevel

o Ensureeachweek’slessonhasatechnologyandmusiccomponentembedded

o Workwithothercourseleaderstodevelop“diploma”tomarkcompletionofactivity

LessonLeaders’Responsibilities

o Encourageclassattendanceandparticipation

o Point-of-contactforabsentmembers

o Facilitatelessonplanfortwoactivitiesthatwillaccommodatestudentsatvaryingfunctioning levels

o Arriveearlytoensurethatroomsarereadyforlessonpresentation

o Overseelessondelivery

TeamMembers’Responsibilities

o Participateactivelyinlessonplanning

o Developlessonplanspriortoteaching

o Assistinsecuringappropriatematerialsforlesson

o Assistwithclassset-up

o Actasco-teachersand/orassistwithtutoring

MPUProgramDelivery

Contentforeachclasswasdividedintofourlessonsdeliveredacrossfour weeks.Thelessons weredevelopedusingalessonplanformatrequiringconsiderationforvaryingabilitylevels amongHIPsters.TeachingteamsalsowererequiredtoincluderubricsforassessingHIPsters’ engagementinthelesson.(SeeFigure1forsamplelessonplan.)Theuniversitystudentsserved asteachingassistantsinalessonpriortoteachingthelessontheyplanned.Thishelpedthe HIPstersanduniversitystudentstobecomefamiliarwithoneanother.Theuniversitystudents were alsoabletobecomefamiliarwiththeabilitylevelsandpreferencesoftheHIPstersandthe MPlearningenvironment.

LESSONPLANforTVSHOWSANDMOVIE

Goals(s)

1.HIPsterswillidentifyTVshowsandmoviesfromtoday’spopculture.

2.HIPsterswillusepriorknowledge,internetandhelpfromuniversitystudentstoresearchTVshowsormovies.

3.Asagroup,HIPsterswillparticipateinadiscussionaboutaselectedTVshowormovie.

4.HIPsterswillworktogethertoplanandperformaskitaboutaselectedTVshowormovie.

Materials

Computerlab,paper,pencils,picturesofstarsforselectedTVshowsandmovies,CDplayer,burnedCDs, nametags,numberedpaddles,vampireteeth,microphones,otherappropriateprops.

Procedures

 Introductions(universitystudentsmeetHIPsters)

 Introducelessonandexplaintheactivitiesfortheclassperiod

o Schedule—Introduction(10minutes),GroupResearch(30minutes),DevelopandPracticeSkit(30 minutes),SkitSharing(30minutes)

o StarterQuestions—(WhatisyourfavoriteTVshow?Doyoulikegoingtothemovie?Whoisthis (showpicturesofstars)?

 Dividetheclassintosmallworkinggroups: American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and Twilight

o UsingthecomputerlabHIPsterswillworkwithuniversitystudentstoresearch(i.e.,identifythe judges,threecurrentstars,thekindofdances)selectedTVshowormovie.

o HIPsterswilltelltheirgroupswhattheylearnedorsawontheinternetabouttheTVshowormovie anditsactors.

o HIPsterswillidentifythepropsassociatedwiththeselectedTVshowormovie(paddlesandtrophyfor Dancing with the Stars).

o Universitystudentswillmodeltheconceptofa“skit”oftheselectedshowandexplainthateach HIPsterwillbepartoftheskittobesharedwiththeclass.

o Skitwillbedevelopedandpracticedusingpropsandmusicasappropriate

 Largegroupwillgatheragaintoshareskits.

Modifications

-HIPsterswhohavecomputerskillswillbeassistedinidentifyingappropriatewebsites.OtherHIPsterscanbe shownthewebsitesthatarepre-identifiedbytheuniversitystudents.

-HIPsterswhoareablecanwriteinformationabouttheirTVshowormovieonanotetakingworksheet.

-Magazinesandbooksthatfeaturethestarscanbeusedinsteadofthecomputer.

-Ensuretherearespeakingandnonspeakingpartsoftheskit.

-ConsiderhowHIPsterswhousewheelchairswillbeinvolved(space,needforassistance)

Page |188

Figure 1.LessonPlanFormat

Priortolessondelivery,lessonplanswerereviewedbythecourseleader,graduateassistantand courseinstructor.Lessonswereobservedbythegraduateassistantandcourseinstructoraswell asthestaffatMP.Afterteachingalesson,eachteachingteammettodiscussitslesson’s strengthsandchallenges.Awrittensummarywassubmittedthatincludedrecommendationsfor theteachingteamtousethefollowingweek.Suggestionsincludedhavingindividualassistance forsomeHIPsters,morevarianceinactivities,shortertimeforactivities,beingmindfulofthe HIPsters’regularschedulesandroutines(breaks,snacks,roompreferences).Lessonswere videotapedandusedaspartoftheuniversityteachingexperience.Theculminatingactivityfor the"semester"wasaceremonywherestudentsreceivedcertificatesofcoursecompletion. The eventwasattendedbyfamilymembersandotherMPUsupporters.

Findings

ProjectOutcomes

MPUprovidedbenefitstothecommunityorganizationandtheuniversity.Toassessthe effectivenessofthecollaborativeproject,theplanningteamreturnedtotheprojectgoals.

Goal1

IntroduceHIPsterstopostsecondaryeducationalconcepts. Severalpostsecondary conceptswerewoventhroughtheproject.Thefirstwasanunderstandingoftheuniversityasa postsecondaryinstitutionandwhatkindsofactivitiesoccurredatthe"school."Second,an understandingthatcollegecoursesprovideinformationonsubjectsofinterest.Bothcourses, AmericanHistoryandAmericanPopCulture,areofferedattheuniversity(MUET3020Popular Musicin American Culture, HIST2610–AmericanHistoryto1865). Aswithuniversity students,mostHIPstersparticipatingintheprojectweregivenachoiceinthespecialinterest classtheytook(AmericanPopCultureorAmericanHistory).Finally,HIPsterswereexposedto universitystudentsandintroducedtotheconceptthattheuniversityispartoftheircommunity.

Goal2--HighlightcommoninterestsbetweenHIPstersandsimilarly-agedteacher educationcandidates.Thereweremanyuniqueandindividualizedopportunitiestoshare commoninterestsacrossthetwocourses.IntheAmericanHistorycourse,HIPsterswereableto sharesomeoftheirtravelstositessuchasthemonumentsinWashington,DC.Uniquefacts abouthistoricalfigures(e.g.,AbrahamLincoln)orsymbols(e.g.,theAmericanflag)werethe subjectofconsiderablediscussionbetweentheHIPstersandtheteachercandidates.Similarly, popcultureprovidedtopicsofsimilarinterestfordiscussion.Clothingstyles,televisionshows, moviesandthelatestnewsaboutactorswereplannedintothecoursecontent.

Goal3--Provideteachereducationcandidateswithanopportunitytoplananddeliver lessonstopostsecondaryindividualswithdisabilities. Anecdotalandcourseevaluations providedbyteachereducationcandidatessuggestedthatMPUwasapositiveexperienceforthe teachercandidates.Theopportunitytoplaningroups,deliverinstruction,andreceiveimmediate feedbackfromthecourseinstructor,graduateassistantandMPstaffwereviewedassuccessful componentsoftheprogram.Whenaskedtocommentonvaluableaspectsoftheexperience, candidatesnotedfactorssuchastheimportanceofplanning,needforindividualizationandthe valuesofco-teaching;“asspecialeducatorsweneedtorealizethatourplanisusedtoguideusin ourlessonpresentationandthatchangeswilloccurduringtheactuallesson.Weneedtobeopen

tochanges….Thekeyistobeflexibleenoughtochangeforourstudents.”

-“co-teachingallowedustohelpeachotherwhenwewereinatightsituationorneeded alittlehelp.”

-“whenpreparingthelesson,Idiscoveredthatitisalotofhardwork. Ididn’trealizehow muchresearchandotherpreparationgoesintomakingalessonplan.”

-“thehands-onexperience.MPwasoneofthemostusefulcollege experiencesIhave had.”

Studentsalsowereaskedtosharetheirconcernsabouttheexperience.Concernsaboutteaching andworkingwiththeHIPstersatMP,andabouttheclassstructureweresolicited.Forexample, relatedtoMPUthecandidateswereasked“If Icouldchangeonethingitwouldhavebeento ______.”

-“havemorevarietyinthewaywedeliveredthematerial.Maybefindmorehands-on activities,lessofustalking.”

-“changenothing,it[theexperience]taughtmewaystoplanforindividualizedneeds.”

-“havemoreclassesandfewerHIPstersinaclass.”

-“doabetterjobindividualizingforthelessonsfortheHIPsters.”

Discussion

MPUisanexampleofhowcommunitymembers cancollaborateformutualbenefits.Forthe university,thiswastheabilitytointroducetheconceptoftransitioninarealsetting.Muchhas beenwrittenabouttheimportanceofpracticalexperienceinpersonnelpreparation(Macy, Squires,&Barton,2009; Lengyel&Vernon-Dotson,2010).MPUprovidedteachercandidates anopportunitytoworkwithyoungadultswithdisabilities.Theywereable tobroadlyconsider futureoutcomesforindividualswithdisabilitiesandtheneedfortransitionplanningduringthe elementaryandmiddleschoolgrades.Additionally, thepreserviceteachersgainedan understandingoftheimportanceofteachingself-advocacyandself-helpskillsatvariousstages ofdevelopment.

TwoimportantconclusionsweredrawnfromtheMPUprojectsthathaveinitiatedprogrammatic changesinthetransitioncourseattheuniversity.First,thecoursewaschangedtoincludea formalpracticum.AsnotedbyWyss,Siebert,andDowling(2012),practicumexperiencesarean importantcomponenttoteachereducationprograms.Astructuredpracticumexperienceallows candidatestogainfirsthandknowledgeaboutindividualswithdisabilitieswhoareintransition. Second,thecoursewaschangedtoasemesterformat(15week).Thoughtheinstructionaltime remainsthesame,thecontentofthecourse,includingthepracticum,canbemoreefficiently deliveredinanextendedformat.

AnecdotalreportsofthesuccessofMPUcamefromthestaffanddirectoroftheprogramthatthe HIPstersandtheirfamilieswerepleasedwiththeprogram.Retrospectively,measuresof effectivenessandparticipantsatisfactionshouldhavebeendeveloped.However,thereweretwo

unexpectedoutcomesresultingfromMPUforMP.First,somestaffenrolledingraduate programsattheuniversity.Secondly,MPdevelopedtheirownMPU.Thenewlyestablished programreflectschangessuggestedintheassessmentofthepilotproject. Theprogramis designedforHIPsterswhoaremorehighlyskilledandincludescoursesinPersonal Management, Career Management, Work Ethic, Kitchen and Restaurant Training, Animal & Pet Service Training and Environmental Services Training.

Opportunitiestocreatepracticumlearningcommunities(university/adultdisability organizations)areavailableinmanylocalareas.Asuniversitystudentvolunteerismand community-basedlearningbecomeincreasinglyprevalent,researchersareexploringthenature oftheserelationships(Flowersetal.,2018).Successfulcommunitiesarethosethat collaborativelyplanandmanagetoensurethatstudentsandtheorganizationreceivethe outcomesexpected(Littlepage,Gazley&Bennett,2012).Insteadofsimplyaccumulating volunteer/practicumhours,afocusedapproachallowsformeaningfuloutcomesforboththe universitystudentsandtheorganization'sconsumers.

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About the Authors

BertinaH.Combes,Ph.D.

Dr.CombesisaProfessorandAssociateDeanforAcademicAffairsandResearchatUniversity ofNorthTexas.Herresearchfocusesonthepreparationofpersonneltoworkeffectivelywith individualswhohavedisabilities. Shehasparticularinterestsinstudentswithlearning disabilities,culturaldiversityandstudentstransitioningintopostsecondarysettings.

EndiaJ.Lindo,Ph.D.

Dr.LindoisanAssistantProfessorofSpecialEducationintheCollegeof EducationatTexas ChristianUniversityandcorefacultyintheAliceNeeleySpecialEducationResearchand Service(ANSERS)Institute.Herresearchfocusesonimprovingthereadingoutcomesof studentswithdisabilities.Ofparticularinterestareapproachestopreparingpreserviceteachers, readinginstructionandintervention,improvingtheimplementationandsustainabilityof research-basedinterventions,andunderstandingtheinfluenceofsocialandfamilialfactorson student'seducationaloutcomes.

AnitaKliewer,M.Ed.

Ms.KliewerisaBoardCertifiedBehaviorAnalyst,LicensedBehaviorAnalyst,andAutism SpecialistwithaNorthTexasschooldistrict. Herworkfocusesontrainingparents,educators, andothercaregiverstosuccessfullychangechallengingbehaviorsinyouth andadolescents. As theparentofanadultchildidentifiedwithautism,Anitaenjoyshelpingcaregiverscreatechild centeredpersonalizedprogramsthatleadtoindependence.

CharmaineSolomon,M.A.

Ms.SolomonisaLicensedProfessionalCounselorandaRegisteredPlayTherapist.Sheisalso foundingmemberofMyPossibilitiesandalsoservesasChairmanoftheBoardofDirectors.As aparentofanadultsonwithdisabilitiessheengagesineffortstoensurecommunityintegration ofindividualswithdisabilities,mostrecentlyintocommunitiesoffaith.

3D

Printing as Assistive Technology for Persons with Visual Impairments or Blindness: A Review

JuliaVanderMolen,Ph.D AliciaGonzalez,B.S. Grand

ValleyStateUniversity

Abstract

Theaimofthissystematicreviewistoexaminetheuseandeffectivenessof3Dprintingasan assistivetechnology(AT)forpersonswithvisualimpairment(VI)orblindnessindividualsinan educationalsetting. AcomprehensivesearchwasundertakenusingelectronicPubMed, CINAHLandERICdatabasesfrom2011-2018,applyingthefollowingkeywords:3Dprinting ANDblindORvisuallyimpaired.Eleven studiesmettheinclusioncriteria. Themainbenefitsof 3DprintingaretheabilitytoprovideATtopositivelyimpacttheeducationofapersonwith visualimpairmentorblindness.Thestudiesshowedthat3DprintingasanATprovidesbenefits forindividualswithVI.Additionally,3Dprintingprovidesresourcesinareasthatbraillecannot fullyrepresent,suchasscienceandhealthcare.Limitationspresentincludedthesmallnumberof articlespresent.

Keywords: 3Dprinting;personswithvisualimpairmentorblindness;contentaccessibility; braille;specialeducation

3D Printing as Assistive Technology for Persons with Visual Impairments or Blindness: A Review

AccordingtothemostrecentsurveybytheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO),thereare253 millionpersonswithvisualimpairmentorblindness(VI)peopleintheworldwithof approximately36millionwhoareblind(WHO,2017).Consequently,organizationsthatprovide servicesforapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesshavestartedlookingintothe possibilitiesof3Dprintingasanassistivetechnology. Apersonwithavisualimpairmentor blindnessrequiresatactilematerial,suchasmodels,maps,andbraillelabels(Sandberg,2016). Recently,theuseof3Dprintinghasemergedinschoolsettings.3Dprintingtechnologyhasthe potentialforhelpingteachersandstudentsduetoitscustomizedandversatilecommunication method(Jo,Hee,Harianto,So,Lee,Lee,&Moon,2016).

3Dprintinghasprovidedanothermeansoflearningforindividualswhopresentatactilelearning style.Childrenwithvisualimpairmentsareunabletohaveavisuallearningstyleduetotheir decreasedorlossofvision(AmericanFoundationfortheBlind,2018).Theuseof3Dprintingas anassistivetechnologyprovidesanalternativeto avisualrepresentationofanobjectforaperson withvisualimpairmentorblindness.Thearchinggoalistohavestudentswithvisual impairmentstobeabletounderstandtopicsandconceptsthroughthetactile representationand impressionsofa3D-printedobject.

Furthermore,specialeducationteachersandteachersofapersonwithvisualimpairmentor

blindnesswillbeabletocreatecurricularmaterialsandassistivetechnology(AT)through3D printing. Theaimofthissystematicreviewistoexaminetheuseandeffectivenessof3D printingasanassistivetechnologyforpersonswithvisualimpairmentorblindnessindividualsin aneducationalsetting.

Methods

InJanuary2018,tworesearchersconsultedandsystematicallyconductedareviewofresearch literaturetosynthesizeandquantifyarticlespertainingtothesupportoftheuseof3Dprintingas aformofassistivetechnologyforthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessinan educationalsetting.Theoverallapproachwasguidedbystandardmethodsofconducting systematicreviews.Additionally,eachstepofthereviewwasoutlinedaccordingtothePRISMA 2009checklistasprovidedinFigure1(Moher,Liberati,Tetzlaff,&Altman,2009).

Figure 1. PRISMA(Moheretal2009)flowdiagramofsearch.

Thetworesearchersconsultedthefollowingdatabases:PubMed,CINAHL,andERIC.A keywordsearchwascompletedusingtwocombinationsofwords.Thesearchtermsusedinthe reviewwere“3Dprinting”AND“blind”OR“visuallyimpaired.”Theresultsfromthesearch yielded5,746peer-reviewedtitles.

Thetworesearchersalsoconductedahandsearch. Thisisamanualmethodofscanningselect journalsfromcovertocover,pagebypageforrelevantarticlesthatmayhavebeenoverlooked duringindexing.Thefollowingrelevantjournalsweresearched:the Journal of Visual Impairments & Blindness andthe Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research. Fromthose journals,fourwerereviewedbasedontitleandabstract.

Criteriaforinclusion

Theinclusioncriteria forthestudyconsistedofpublicationsfrom2011-2018.Englishlanguage andpeer-reviewedfulltextwereapplied.Articleswerethenreviewedbasedontitleandabstract, elevenofwhichwerereviewedbasedontheirabilitytoaddresstheaimofthesystematicreview.

Results

Theresultsofthissystematicreviewaddressedtheuseandeffectivenessof3Dprintingasan assistivetechnologyforpersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessindividuals,andresultedin 11articlesfromPubMed,CINAHL,andERICtobeconsultedinorderto addresstheaimofthe review. Thearticlesprovidedbackgroundinformationandpriorfindingsregardingthe connectionbetween3Dprintingandpersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessanduseinan educationalsetting.

Benefitsof3Dprintingforthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness

Kostakis,Niaros,andGiotitsas,(2014)conductedastudytodeterminehowtheuseof3D printingcanserveasalearningdevicefortheblind.Thestudyconsistedof33seeinghighschool studentsfromGreece.Highschoolstudentswereevaluatedinthisresearchinhopesof broadeningtheirabilitytothinkcreatively,criticallyandcollaboratively.Thestudentswere askedtodesignandprinttheirownfunctionalartifactsthrough3Dprintingtobesenttoblind students. Eachstudentdesignisuniqueandtellsastory.Thestudents’teachersremarkedupon theenthusiasmandworkethictheirstudentsdisplayedwhilecompletingthe3Dprintingproject. Overall,thisprojectdemonstratedtheeffectivenessof3Dprintingandhowitcanenhancethe creativityofhighschoolstudents.Inducingtechnologyintotheclassroomcanhelpengage studentsandtheirinterestinthecurriculum. Inthefuture,theresearcherswillbedetermining howtotake3Dprintingtothepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessaswellasspreading thisinformationglobally.Theresearchersalsonotethatmoreresearchneedstobedonein differentframeworksandcontextsthanthisstudy.

Sandberg(2016)conductedanotherstudywiththetargetpopulationbeingpersonswithvisual impairmentorblindness.Originally,3Dprintingwasdesignedtobeusedintheindustrialfield; however,itismakingitswayintoeverydaylife.Theuseof3Dprintingtechnologyhassparked aninterestintheVIcommunity.Personswithvisualimpairmentorblindnessheavilyrelyon

tactilemodels,objects,andbraille.Duetothecost-effectivenessof3Dprinting,studentsina classroomwillhavemultiplemodelstouseasanexample,insteadoftheclassroomonlybeing

abletoaffordoneexpensivetactilemodel.Therearealreadyafewways3Dprintingisbeing implementedintothelivesofapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.AcollegeforVI studentsinGermanyis3Dprintingmodelsofshapes.Blindenstudienanstalt,acollegefor personswithvisualimpairmentorblindness,createdawayforpersonswithvisualimpairment orblindnesstoappreciateart.Additionally,astronomersarecreatingpersonwithvisual impairmentorblindnessaccessibleimagesoftheHubbletelescope.Educatorsandresearchers arebeginningtouse3Dprintingtoprovidebettermaterialsandlearningtoapersonwithvisual impairmentorblindness,andthisworkwillonlycontinuetogrow.

Kolitsky(2014)exploredhow3Dprintingcanbeusedintheconstructionofimage-basedtactile objects.TheMakerBotReplicator2wasusedtocreated3Dprintedimagesintheareasof anatomy,histology,cell biology,astronomyandgeology.Thefirstthingthisstudyaimedto presentwasthat3Dprintscouldbeformedfrom2Dimages.These2Dimageswerecollected fromtheAnatomyandPhysiologyOnlinee-text,NASAHubbleTelescopeSolarSystem, NationalLibraryofMedicineVirtualHumanProjectandtheauthor’s2Dimagecollection.The formationofthese3Dprintsduringthisexperimenthasshowntheeaseofcreating3Dprintsfor VIindividuals.Ineducationalsettingsforthecoursesthat3Dimageswereusedfor, representationalimagesarealargefactorinthelearningprocess.Thisresearchhasshownthe possibilityofprovidingthese3DprintedimagestoVIindividualsasaneducationalresourceto betterenhancetheirlearningandengagementintheclassroom.

3Dprintingforapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessinaneducationalsetting

Buehler,Kane,andHurst(2014)conductedastudytodeterminetheeffectivenessand accessibilityof3Dprintingforstudentswithcognitive,motorandvisualimpairments.The researchexaminedtheuseof3Dprintersasanassistivetechnologytodevelopeducationalaids. Thestudysampleconsistedofstudentsfromtwomiddleandhighschoolswithcognitiveand visualimpairments.Throughobservationsandinterviews,theresearcherswereabletoobtainan understandingofhowthetargetVIpopulationwasabletocreate3Dprintedmodelsandthe effectivenessofthesemodelstoincreasetheabilitytolearn. Furthermore,itwasdeterminedthat a3Dprintershouldbeconsideredalearningtoolas3Dprintedmodelsprovidecustomized assistivetechnologyforstudentswithvisualimpairmentsandincreasethenumberofeducational resourcestheyareprovided.

KimandYeh(2015)aimedatcreatingmovableobjectsthrough3Dprintingtoprovidea learningexperienceforapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.Thegoaloftheresearchis toincreasetheemergentliteracyofapersonwith visualimpairmentorblindnesschildrenby providingmovabletactilebooks.Additionally,thestudyhypothesizedthatthecreationof3D movabletactilebookswillhelpincreasethedesireandavailabilityofreadingmaterialstothe personwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesschildren.The3Dprintedbookswerepresentedtoa blindadult,fourteachersofpreschool-agedblindchildren,twopublishersoftheBrailleBook Club,atactilegraphicartist,ateacherataschool forthedeafandalibrarian.Allofthe participantsagreedthatthroughtheuseofmovableobjects,ittakesapersonwithvisual impairmentorblindnessfromtheroleofapassivereadertothatofanactivereaderbyproviding

mobilityandspatialconcepts.Furthermore,itwas alsorecommendedbytheexpertsthatputting braillenexttothetactilepictureswouldhelpachildtocreateaconnectionbetweentheimage andtheworditrepresents.Children’sbookscommonlyhavemovableobjectsthatcanbe

flipped,turnedorspun.However,forapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesstheyareable tomovetheobjects,buttheydonotreceivethefullbenefitofseeingtheeffectinthebookform themovement.Currently,mosttactilebooksbeingcreatedforthepersonwithvisualimpairment orblindnessrepresentstationaryobjects.Inthefuture,theresearchersplantofocuseffortsonthe effectivenessofthe3Dtactilebooksaseducationalmaterials.

Rutkin(2014)examinedtheworkofTomYeh,whohasbeguntoprintbraillepicturebooksfora personwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.Thesebooksreplicatetheoriginalpicturebook,but withraisedimagesaccompaniedwithbrailletext.Whilethe3dprintedbooksdoprovide accessibilitytoVIreaders,theyarefragile andenhancingthedurabilityofthematerialsisan area,whichneedstobestrengthened.Ultimately, TomYeh’sgoalisforthe3Dprintedbooksto beprintedfortheVIindividualsondemand.Thisalsoallowstheindividualtoactivelychoose whattoreadandthereforewhatbookistobeprinted. This“readerchoice”givesthereader moreautonomyoverwhatheorsheisinterestedinlearning,ratherthanbeingprescribedabook. Stangel,Kim,andYeh(2014)examinedtheirinitialstepswithinthecreationofadigitallibrary 3Dprintedtactilebook.Thesebooksarecreatedtoincreaseaccesstotactilegraphicsavailableto VIindividuals.Thisresearchbeganwiththeideathat3DprintingwillsupportchildrenwithVI. Therewerefourdesignopportunitiesidentified:contentfora3Ddigitallibrary,a communicationdevicetosharelearningmilestones,softwarethatprovidescustomizablebooks andtouchreceptivesensorstodetectengagement.Thefirstitemtobetackledwastocreate relevantandreliable3Dprintedbookstobesubmittedtothedigitallibrary.Thefirstbook createdwas Goodnight Moon byMargaretWiseBrownwithsubsequentrequestspostedonthe websiteforpersonalbooks.Theserequestswerefromparents,scholars,teachersofpersonswith visualimpairmentorblindness(TVI’s),brailletranscriptionistsanddesignersandotherVIand generalcommunitymembers.

Ramachandran(2014)andstudentsattheUniversityofColorado-Bouldercollaboratedwiththe corporationoftheTactileBooksProject;togethertheyare creating3Dprintedbooksforyoung readers.Theirfirstbookofcreationwasa3Dadaptationof Goodnight Moon byMargaretWise Brown.Allofthebook’simagesareraisedin3Dsothatapersonwithvisualimpairmentor blindnesscanappreciate thisclassicpieceofchildren’sliterature.Theresearchershavebegunto createthesebookstoallowapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesstoexplorebooks throughtouch. Itisquestionedifthepersonwith visualimpairmentorblindnessarelearningand graspingtheconceptswithinthebooks.Inthefuture,theresearchersareconsideringadding sensorstodetectwhereandhowlongthechildistouchingeachpictureonthepage.TheTactile BooksProjectalsohopestoallowparentstobeabletosubmita2Dbookandreceivea3D printedcopyofthatexactbook.These3Dtactilebooksareprovidinganewmeansoflearning andentertainmentforpersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.

Joetal.(2016)addressedtheuseof3Dprintedtechnologyforthecreationanddevelopmentof instructionalmaterialinhistoryclassforpersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesschildren. Withincontemporarytextbooksitiscommontoprovideanimage,writtentextandauditory

informationtoastudentasheorshelearns.Thisinclusionofpicturesintextbooks,while beneficialtovisuallearners,causesanotherbarriertopersonwithvisualimpairmentor blindness.Creating3Dprintedmodelsoftheimageshelpedtodecreasethelearningbarrierfor VIstudentsandsetouttoprovidethesameeducationalopportunitiesforastudentwithvisual

impairmentsthatisgiventoallstudents.Positively,theuse ofthe3Dobjectsincreasedthe students’memorizationandunderstandingofthecontent.Finally,thestudyaddresseshow3D printinghasthepotentialtoincreasethelearningabilityofapersonwithvisualimpairmentor blindnessinclassroomsofotherdisciplines.The3Dprintingtechnologycanhelpbridgethegap betweeneducatorandapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesswhenitcomestothe communicationofthecontentandtheimplementationofthecurriculum.

Reynaga-Peña(2015)studiedpersonswithvisualimpairmentorblindnessenrolledinabiology course.Theresearchwasaimedatprovidingsimilartactilemodelsforteachingbiology particularlymicroscopicstructuresin3D.The3Dmodelswerecreatedwithuniversaldesignfor learning(UDL)principlesinmindandwereevaluatedbyscientists,plasticandvisualarts specialistsandeducatorsofthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.Themodelswere composedofavarietyofmaterials--fabric,paper,latexandsilicon—toprovideavarietyof texturestoaidinidentifyingdifferentelements.Acurriculumforexploringfungalbiology throughtheuseof3Dmodelshasbeenimplementedtothestudentsandisusedthroughout Mexico.Theresearchprovidesapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesswiththe opportunitytolearnbiologytopicsandexploresciencethroughtheuseof3Dobjects.

Grice,Christian,NotaandGreenfield(2015)conductedastudytotranslateastronomicaldata intotactileforms.Theresearchersutilized3DprintingtocreatetheNGC602,whichisagroup ofyoungstarsthatareformingfromacloudofgas.Whencreatingatactilerepresentationofan image,theoverallpictureandanyeasilydistinguishableaspectsmustbeincluded.Fourgroups weretestedandeachtimetheproductwasrefined.FifteenblindorVIadultswereapartofthe firsttestgroup. Thegroupwasabletoidentifythestarsymbolsbutnotitemsofothertextures suchasfilaments,gas,anddust.Thesecondgroupwasasetofblindmiddleschoolstudentsand blindadults.Thethirdtestgroupwasindividualswhowerebornblindandpeoplewhohadlost theirsightthroughoutlife.ThefinaltestgroupwascomprisedofboardmembersofTheNational FederationoftheBlind(NFB)whospecializeintactilegraphics.Theresearchdidfindit possibletocreate3Drepresentationsofastronomicalobjects.Theobjectswerecost-effective andconveyedthedatafromthepicturethatwasnecessaryfortheVIindividuallearn.Scienceis alaggingareaofstudyforthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessasitismorecomplex thanbraillecanpresent.Thisresearchcanhelpincreaseaninterestinastronomicalinformation forthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.Inthefuture,theresearchershopetobeable toapplytheirprocessto createrepresentationsofavarietyofastronomicalimages.

Hariantoetal.(2016)created3Dimagesasliteracyaidsforapersonwithvisualimpairmentor blindnessagesthreetofiveatSeoulNationalSchoolfortheBlind.Thecurrentliteracytoolfora personwithvisualimpairmentorblindnessisbraille,whichiseitherembossedbumpsor debossedindentationsonthepage.Theuseofbraillehaspresentedlimitationsthatthe researchershopedtoovercomewiththeir3Dimages.Thegoalofthisstudywastoprovidethe sameinformationonHangul,theKoreanalphabet, throughtouchasisprovidedthroughvision.

Twenty-fourliteracyaidswerecreatedinthisstudy,oneforeachletterofHangul.Three studentsusedtheaidsandfoundthemtobeeffectivewithapositiveexperience.Thethickness ofthematerialsprovidedtheabilitytowritetheletterswithoutthedesignmovingaround.The

3Dliteracyaidscanbereusedwhichprovidestobecost-effective.Futureworkwillaimto customizetheaidstothesightlevelofthespecificstudentstobestmeettheirindividualneeds.

Table1

Evidencetableofstudyaddressingthebenefitsof3Dprintingforthevisuallyimpaired.

Wonjin,J.,etal. (2016)

CohortStudy

N=4fifthgrade studentswithvisual impairments

Intervention fourfifth gradestudents

Control N/A

3Dprinted objectswere usedfor1 semesterin Historyclass. Filledout satisfaction surveysto measure:quality ofmaterials, suitabilityof objects,learning effect, convenienceof teaching,anda generalreview

Students acknowledged theimportance andusefulnessof 3Dprintingin theclassroom. Thereisaneed forimprovement withlengthof timeandcostof production

Minatani,K. (2017)

STS(special thematicsession)

N=24blindhigh schoolstudents

41.6%females, 58.3%males

Interventiongroup, n=12

Giraud,S.,etal. (2017).

Controlgroup, n=12

Mage=16.9 yrs.

Intervention

Workedusing interactive smallscale models(SSM)

Control

Workedusing

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Thephysical creationofa3D printedmodel usingthesteps thatwere devisedinthe methods

Aftermap explorationthere wasafreerecall portion.Two questionnaires were givento assesshistorical andgeographical knowledge.

Thereareno majorobstacles keepingthe visuallyimpaired fromcreating theirownmodels

Therewasa statistically significant increasein memorizationof theintervention group

Therewasno statistical

(2014)

N=46blind,low vision,andsighted participants

Interventiongroup, n=23

Mage=41.74 years ControlGroup, n=23

Mage=41.04 years

raisedline maps(RLM)

Subjective satisfactionwas alsoassessed usingSystem UsabilityScale (SUS)

difference betweengroups fortheSUS scores

Theinteractive SSMusedinthe Intervention groupprovides anoverall benefitforthe visuallyimpaired

Intervention MapA producedwith polychrome 3Dprinting Control MapB,same versionas mapA,but with polychrome thermoformin g

Individualsin bothgroups locatedspecific symbolsonthe mapand recordedbased ontimeelapsed andaccuracy

Thecreationof themodelinone ofthreeways:as animage,asa SMILESstring, containedina GAUSSIAN resultfile

Theintervention groupperformed withlesserror andwitha shortertime elapsedthanthe controlgroup. However,this increased performancewas notstatistically significant 3Dprintingof mapsopensup theabilityof designersto personalizeand detailthemaps

Complex3D modelscanbe prepared automaticallyvia AsteriX-BVI websiteby visuallyimpaired scientists

Augusto,I,etal. (2016)

Wistarmalerats weighing150-180g Controlgroup,n=2

Therewere3 reconstruction techniques: vectorizationof modelsfromthin sections, classicalserial sectioningEM, andserial electron

Themodelsall create informationona largerscale Vectorization and3Dprinting ofthinsections ofbloodcells hasthepotential tobeusedto

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Gual,J., Puyuelo,M., Lloveras,J. (2014).

Lounnasetal.

Hayhurst,C. (2014)

Bücking,T.M., Hill,E.R., Robertson,J.L., Maneas,E., Plumb,A.A.,& Nikitichev,D.I. (2017).

Intervention groups

tomography.The accuracyand enlargementof theimageswas examined

teachcell biologyto visuallyimpaired students

Grice,N., Christian,C., Nota,A.,& Greenfield,P. (2015).

Interventiongroups

1.15Blindadultsat NFBannual convention

2.Blindmiddle schoolstudentsand adultsatNFB

STEM-X

3.Individualsborn blindorlostsight laterinlifeat ConnecticutNFB StateConvention

4.Individuals attendingthe MarylandNFB StateConvention

1.Participants couldidentify thestarson theswell touchpage and3D texturemap butstruggled withother objects

2.All participants couldlocated textured elements when introduced onebyone

3.Almost everyone

3Dprintedlungs, liverandribs. Usedan utlimakerFDM printertocreate themodels

The3Dprinted models accurately representedthe reallifemedical images. However,they weremorerough andrigidonthe outside.Itis notedthatthe choiceofthe correctimage segmentation algorithmisthe mostimportant decisioninthis process

Theabilityofthe individualsinthe intervention groupstofind theitemsonthe 3Dtextureand 3Delevation maps

Itispossibleto usealow-end printertocreate 3D representations ofHubble Telescope images.They were ableto conveykey informationfrom thetelescope imagesona texturemapand anelevationn map

Jang,H.I., Harianto,R., Chen,E.,Lim, Y.,Jo,W.,Lee, H.andMoon,M. (2016).

Intervationgroup

N=3studentsfrom SeoulNational Schoolforthe Blind

couldfind itemson3D texturemap, mostcould finditemson 3Delevation map

4. Experienced usersfound the3Dtexture map interestingbut necessaryas an introduction toNGC602

Students wrotewiththe 3Dliteracy aidsthatwere printed

Shortanswer questionswere administeredto thestudentsto evaluatethe effectivenessof theaids

Thestudents foundthatthe aidswere effectivein helpingtheir readingand writingskills Thesetoolscan alsobereused comparedto papertools

Kostakis,V., Niaros,V.,& Giotitsas,C. (2014).

CaseStudy

1.N=15students of16yrs.

2.N=18studentsof 15yrs.

Students learnedabout 3Dprinting andthe software. Studentswere alsoobserved howthe studentsused theobjects. Thestudents chosewhether theywould sendanobject totheblind13 of16objects designedwere fortheblind

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Howthestudents designedthe objects,what theychoseto designandthe finaldesigned objectswereall usedtomeasure theresultsofthis study.Alsoifthe studentsused thisopportunity tocreate adesign foravisually impaired individual

3Dprintingand otheropen source technologiescan heavea meaningful impactin classrooms Thisisa subjective measure

Discussion

Thepurposeofthissystematicreviewwastosummarizethepeer-reviewed literatureonuseand effectivenessof3Dprintingasanassistivetechnologyforapersonwithvisualimpairmentor blindness.Aprioritygoalforthatpurposewastoexaminetheadvantagesofimplementing3D printedobjectivesintoeducationalopportunitiesforVIindividuals.Researchersinthepresent reviewhaveconcludedthattheutilizationof3DprintingtoprovideanATtothepersonwith visualimpairmentorblindnesswillpositivelyimpacttheireducationandlearning.3Dprinting providesVIpeopletolearnabouttopicssuchasscienceandhealthcare,whichbraillecannot fullyrepresent.

ThoughthestudysoughttoadheretotherecommendationofthePRISMAguidelines,thestudy isnotwithoutlimitations.Whileavarietyofstudieswerereviewed,eachcamewithlimitations toconsider. Movingforwarditisrecommendedthatthereviewisupdatedtoreflectthemost currentadvancesintheuseof3Dprintingtoassistapersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness. Additionally,theliteraturesearchresultedin asmallnumberofscientificpublicationsthat reportedonstudiespertainingtotactileobjectsotherthan3Dprintedobjects.Theliterature searchprocessalsorevealedthatfarmoreworkonthesubjectisneededthanisrepresentedby articlesaccessiblethroughadatabasesearch,particularlywithrespecttotherichknowledgeand experienceswiththeuseof3Dprinting.

3DprintingineducationalsettingsforVIindividualsisanewareaoftechnologyAstrengthof thestudyisthat3Dprintingisanewtechnology,removingthepossibilityofexcludingolder articles.Therewerefewarticlesinthenon-Englishlanguage;therefore,thisdidnotlimitthe study. However,thenewnessofthetechnologyhasprovidedlimitationsinthestudyinthatfew articleswereavailable.Anotherlimitationofthereviewwasthesmallsamplesizethatwas presentinthepapersthatwerereviewed.Manyofthearticleswerenotpeer-reviewed,whichisa requirementinthesearchandmayhavecausedlimitationsinthestudyaswell.

3Dprintinghasincreasedtheabilityofhealthcare professionalstolearnandexpandtheir knowledgeinatactilesense.Thishasslowlybegunthespreadtheuseof3Dprintingintoother areasofthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindnesscommunitysuchasineducationsettings. Itisnotedintheresearchthat3Dprintingforthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness doeshaveobstacles.Theseobstaclesincludereliability,timeandtheabilitytocreatethemodels (Buehler,Kane,&Hurst, 2014).Theseobstaclesrequireimprovementtorepresentimagesin theirentiretyandincreasetheapplication(Joetal.,2016.)Ithasbeenfoundthatfurtherstudies “indifferentframeworksandcontextsthan[these]studies”mustbeconducted(Kostakis,Niaros, &Giotitsas,2014).Whilefurtherresearchisneeded,thesearticleshaveprovidedabasisforthe useof3Dprintingasanassistivetechnologyforthepersonwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.

Conclusions

Thelackofrandomizedcontrolclinicaltrialsandobservationalstudiesinthereviewedarticles reducedthepossibilitiesoflargesamplesizestudieswithdetailedinformation. Fewarticlesmet thesearchcriteria.Manyofthearticleswereconveniencesamplesandthislimitedthestudy designs,whichwerereviewedinthesystematicreview,makingthisresearchapreliminary

literaturesearch.Theresultswerealsolimitedduetostudydesigns,definitionsofpersonwith visualimpairmentorblindness,thedifferentresearchpurposesandfinallytheagerangesofthe participants.Finally,itisimportanttomentionthatmoreresearchisneedasthereisalackof robustarticlesonthesubject,whichpromptedthisreview.

ImplicationsforPractitioners

Tounderstandtheimplicationsof3Dprintingtechnologyoneducationalinstitutionsand organizationsthatprovideservicestoindividualswithvisualimpairments,moreresearchis needed.Additionalrandomizedcontrolclinicaltrialsandobservationalstudiesofhighquality arealsoneeded.Furthermore,moreresearchshouldbuildonexistingexplorationsofintegrating universaldesignanduniversaldesignforlearning,theconstructionofhandcrafted3Dbooksand assistivetechnology.Largersamplesizesinclassroomsalsoneedtobeexplored.Thiswill furtherexaminethemultipleuses3Dprintingcan provideasanassistivetechnologyforthe personwithvisualimpairmentorblindness.

Theinformationfoundfromthissystematic reviewcanbevaluableforhealthcareprofessionals, educatorsandVIindividuals.Educatorscanusethisinformationtoprovidefurtherassistive technologytotheirVIstudents.Thiscanincreasetheirabilitytofurtherunderstandobjectsinan educationalsetting.Healthcareprofessionals, educatorsandVIindividualscanusethis informationtofurtherprovideassistivetechnologytopersonwithvisualimpairmentor blindness.3Dprintingasanassistivetechnologycanfurtherincreasetheopportunitiesavailable toVIindividuals.

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Rutkin,A.(2014).3Dprintedbooksgetpersonalforblindchildren. New Scientist, 223(2984), 22.

Sandberg,R.(2016,January7).3Dprintingforblindpeople:Thefuturepotentialofacutting edgetechnology.RetrievedJuly11th2017,from http://www.incobs.de/articles/items/3d.html

Stangl,A.,Kim,J.,&Yeh,T.(2014).3Dprintedtactilepicturebooksforchildrenwithvisual impairments:Adesignprobe.Paperpresentedatthe321-324.10.1145/2593968.2610482 WorldHealthOrganization.(2007).Globalinitiativefortheeliminationof avoidableblindness: Actionplan2006–2011.Retrieved

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43754/1/9789241595889_eng.pdf

About the Authors

Dr.JuliaVanderMolen isanAssistantProfessorofPublicHealthwithGrandValleyState UniversityinMichigan.Thecontributionofherresearchistoexaminethebenefitsofassistive technology,UDandUDL.Additionally,Dr.VanderMolen’srecentworkhasincludedthe benefitsof3Dprintingforthevisuallyimpaired,theconceptofuniversaldesignandlearning andtheuseofmobiletechnologytoassistindividualswithdisabilities.

AliciaGonzaleziscurrentlypursuingaDoctorateofAudiologyatTheOhioStateUniversity.In April2018,Ms.GonzalezreceivedherBachelor’sofScienceinAlliedHealthSciencesfrom GrandValleyStateUniversity.Hercurrent researchinterestsinclude:cochlearimplants, acquiredhearinglossduetotraumaticbraininjuriesorillnesses,andassistivetechnologyfor auralrehabilitation.

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