The primary goal of this study is to identify efficacious and cost effective intervention strategies that can improve academic and psychological outcomes for children with ASD, and can be feasibly be implemented at fidelity by school personnel in under served elementary schools. Two simultaneous interventions will occur. In intervention 1, students with ASD in inclusion classrooms will be randomized to the Playground Intervention or a waitlist control group. In the Playground Intervention, UCLA/ROC/UPENN staff will work with school personals (teachers, paraprofessionals) to increase peer engagement on the yard. In intervention 2, students in special day classes will be randomized to the 'Schedule Tools Activities Transitions' Intervention (STAT) or wait-list control. In the STAT Intervention, UCLA/ROC/UPENN staff will work with teachers to implement behavioral strategies in the classrooms. In both interventions, the conditions are: 1) Immediate treatment, where the training will begin immediately after baseline measures are completed. 2) Wait-list treatment, where the training will begin the follow school year.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
250
Intervention is designed for children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) included in a regular education k through fifth grade classroom for at least 50% of the school day. Schools will be randomized to one of two conditions. The conditions are: 1) Immediate treatment, where the training will begin immediately after baseline measures are completed. 2) Waitlist treatment, where the training will begin the following school year. This study will take place at school. All intervention activities will be conducted during recess or lunch where children with autism may have the most difficulty interacting with peers. A total of 14-16 intervention sessions will be held with the child with autism, school personnel, and the child's classmates. The intervention will last approximately 3 months with a 3-month follow-up.
This study will track the behavioral progress of children whose teachers receive training in these instructional methods. This study also will examine the ability and willingness of teachers to use these methods as they were designed. The study will last approximately 18 weeks (6 weeks of intervention, and a 3 month follow up visit). This study will take place at school. Classrooms will be randomized to one of two conditions. The conditions are: 1) Immediate treatment, where the training will begin immediately after baseline measures are completed. 2) Waitlist treatment, where the training will begin the following school year. All intervention activities will be conducted with a teacher during the school day but not during instructional time. Study staff will visit the school on a weekly basis to train your child's teacher on evidence-based strategies for teaching children with autism.
UCLA Semel Institute
Los Angeles, California, United States
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, New York, United States
UPENN Map Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Playground Intervention: Playground Peer Engagement
Playground Intervention: Peer Observation of Playground Engagement (POPE) measure. Peer interactions on the playground will be coded using an interval-observation schedule of every 40 seconds (with 20 second coding intervals). Interactive levels or states will be noted along with the presence or absence of discrete interactive behaviors during each coding interval.
Time frame: Change from baseline to exit (12 weeks later) in the POPE
Playground Intervention: Playground Peer Engagement
Playground Intervention: Peer Observation of Playground Engagement (POPE) measure. Peer interactions on the playground will be coded using an interval-observation schedule of every 40 seconds (with 20 second coding intervals). Interactive levels or states will be noted along with the presence or absence of discrete interactive behaviors during each coding interval.
Time frame: Change from exit to follow up (3 months later) in the POPE
Playground Intervention: Social Network Salience
Playground Intervention: Social Network measure. Based on the Cairns' (1994) method, participants will be asked to list all the names of children in their class who hang out together; this free-recall method is used rather than asking respondents to place each peer's name in a group, because the relative strength of students' tendency to recall classmates is an important indicator of the peers' prominence in the social structure.
Time frame: Change from baseline to exit (12 weeks later) in Playground Intervention Social Network
Playground Intervention: Social Network Salience
Playground Intervention: Social Network Measure. Based on the Cairns' (1994) method, participants will be asked to list all the names of children in their class who hang out together; this free-recall method is used rather than asking respondents to place each peer's name in a group, because the relative strength of students' tendency to recall classmates is an important indicator of the peers' prominence in the social structure.
Time frame: Change from exit to follow up (3 months later) in Playground Intervention Social Network
STAT Intervention: Teacher Behaviors and Student's Engagement in the Classrooms
STAT Intervention: The Classroom Observational Measure is an adaptive observational measure designed to capture teacher behaviors and student behaviors in the classroom that includes teacher's praises, behavioral control and student's on/off task behaviors.
Time frame: Change from Baseline to Exit (6 weeks later) in STAT Intervention: Classroom Observational Measure
STAT Intervention: Teacher Behaviors and Student's Engagement in the Classrooms
STAT Intervention: The Classroom Observational Measure is an adaptive observational measure designed to capture teacher behaviors and student behaviors in the classroom that includes teacher's praises, behavioral control and student's on/off task behaviors.
Time frame: Change from Exit to Follow Up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention: Classroom Observational Measure
Playground Intervention: Teachers Ratings of Intervention Implementation
Playground Intervention Teacher Implementation Climate Measure. Climate for Implementation Measure is a 17-item questionnaire to measure the climate of each classroom. The survey asks teachers and aides to rate their perception of program quality and ease of use, and global perceptions of staff climate.
Time frame: Exit (12 weeks from Baseline)
Playground Intervention: Teacher's Perceptions of Intervention
The teacher perception of social skill (TPSS) is a 26-item questionnaire that uses a 3-point Likert scale to rate 12 items regarding teachers' perceptions of participants' social skills (1 = never, 2 = sometimes and 3 = very often). The social skills domain describes the child's strengths, such as adaptability to the school classroom and environment, quality of interactions with peers, and popularity or likeability among peers (Sorongon, Kim, \& Zill, 2000).
Time frame: Change from baseline to exit (12 weeks later) in Playground Intervention Teacher Perception of Intervention
STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target Behaviors
Teacher report of student's behavioral problems in the classroom.
Time frame: Change from baseline to exit (6 weeks later) in STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target Behaviors
STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target Behaviors
STAT Intervention: Classroom Observational Measure is an adaptive observational measure designed to capture teacher behaviors and student behaviors in the classroom.
Time frame: Change from Exit to Follow Up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention Classroom Observational Measure
Playground Intervention Teacher's Perceptions of Intervention
The teacher perception of social skill (TPSS) is a 26-item questionnaire that uses a 3-point Likert scale to rate 12 items regarding teachers' perceptions of participants' social skills (1 = never, 2 = sometimes and 3 = very often). The social skills domain describes the child's strengths, such as adaptability to the school classroom and environment, quality of interactions with peers, and popularity or likeability among peers (Sorongon, Kim, \& Zill, 2000).
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Time frame: Change from exit to follow up (3 months later) in Playground Intervention Teacher Perception of Intervention
STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target Behaviors
Teacher report of student's behavioral problems in the classroom.
Time frame: Change from exit to follow up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target Behaviors
Playground Intervention: Coach Ratings of Aide Implementation
Playground Intervention-Coach Rated Aide Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from Baseline to Exit (12 weeks later) in Playground Intervention Coach Rated Aide Fidelity
Playground Intervention: Coach Ratings of Aide Implementation
Playground Intervention: Coach Rated Aide Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from Exit to Follow Up (3 months follow up) in Playground Intervention Coach Rated Aide Fidelity
Playground Intervention: Observer Ratings of Aide Implementation
Playground Intervention: Observer Rated Aide Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from baseline to exit (12 weeks later)
Playground Intervention: Observer Ratings of Aides Implementation
Playground Intervention: Observer Rated Aide fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from exit to follow up (3 months later)
STAT Intervention: Coach Rated Teacher Implementation
STAT Intervention: Coach Rated Teacher Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from baseline to exit (6 weeks)
STAT Intervention: Coach Rated Teacher Implementation
STAT Intervention: Coach Rated Teacher Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from exit to follow up (3 months)
STAT Intervention: Teacher Ratings of Implementation
Climate for Implementation Measure is a 17-item questionnaire to measure the climate of each classroom. The survey asks teachers and aides to rate their perception of program quality and ease of use, and global perceptions of staff climate.
Time frame: Exit (12 weeks from Baseline)
Playground Intervention: Aides Ratings of Effectiveness of Intervention
Playground Intervention Aide Rate Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from Baseline to Exit (12 weeks later) in Playground Intervention Aide Rated Fidelity
STAT Intervention: Teachers Ratings of Effectiveness of Intervention
STAT Intervention Teacher Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from Baseline to Exit (12 weeks later) in STAT Intervention in Teacher Fidelity
Playground Intervention: Aides Ratings of Effectiveness of Intervention
Playground Intervention Aide Rated Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from Exit to Follow Up (3 months later) in Playground Intervention Aide Rated Fidelity
STAT Intervention: Teachers Ratings of Effectiveness of Intervention
STAT Intervention Teacher's Fidelity. Fidelity forms will measure implementation mastery of interventionists and school personnel. This is to ensure that interventionists are teaching and conveying strategies at a high standard and school personnel are delivery strategies at a high level.
Time frame: Change from Exit to Follow up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention in Teacher Fidelity