This Science Short, written up by Alyssa Hernandez, summarizes the findings of: Locke, J., Hernandez, A. M., Joshi, M., Hugh, M. L., Bravo, A., Osuna, A., & Pullmann, M. D. (2022). Supporting the inclusion and retention of autistic students: Exploring teachers’ and paraeducators’ use of evidence-based practices in public elementary schools. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 961219. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.961219.
Educators in public schools are required to serve students in their least restrictive environment (LRE). As part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, LRE requires that children with disabilities are educated with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent possible, typically in general education classrooms and often with aids and support services. Evidence-based practices (EBPs) are practices that research studies, such as randomized clinical trials, have demonstrated to be efficacious in supporting autistic children and there are strong efforts to increase the use of EBPs in schools. While there are many EBPs for autistic youth, educators’ knowledge of and use of EBPs are unclear. Eighty-six educators completed a survey about EBP familiarity, training, and use for included autistic children. Across roles, educators reported familiarity (98.8%), use (97.7%), and training (83.7%) in reinforcement. They reported the least familiarity with behavioral momentum, defined as the organization of behavior expectations in a sequence designed to increase persistence and the occurrence of low probability behaviors (29.1%); training in both video modeling, defined as video-recorded demonstration of a targeted behavior that assists in the learning of a desired behavior or skill, and peer-mediated intervention, in which peers directly promote autistic children’s social interactions and/or other individual learning goals (18.6%); and use of video modeling (14.0%). Follow-up interviews with 80 educators highlighted mixed understanding of EBP definitions and use. The results suggest that more complex EBPs, or multicomponent EBPs, are least families and least used by educators, especially among general educators in relation to their special education and paraeducator colleagues. To increase familiarity and use of autism-specific EBPs in general education classroom, educators can incorporate training within pre-service teacher preparation programs. Academic-community partnerships can be leveraged for educator training efforts and also provide an avenue to increase mutual EBP knowledge across education and research contexts.
These findings are informative for educators and education-type policy makers and reformers. One of my big takeaways was learning that EBPs, such as peer mediated intervention, thought to be supportive and aimed at treating core challenges for autistic students (e.g., social challenges), are some of the least known and used. This exploratory study can be the grounds for conversations on how to increase EBP knowledge and use.
Alyssa Hernandez is a first-year clinical psychology doctoral student in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences working with Dr. David Mandell at the Center for Mental Health in the Perelman School of Medicine. Alyssa was formerly working with Dr. Jill Locke at the University of Washington’s School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center. The SMART Center’s mission is to promote high-quality, culturally-responsive programs, practices, and policies to meet the full range of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs of students in both general and special education contexts. This research was conducted as part of Dr. Locke’s research program at the SMART Center.