Objective: Developing and corroborating the Collaborative Consultation for Participation of Students with Intellectual Disability (Co-PID) program, for enhancing classroom participation among students with moderate Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD). Method: study took place in two special education schools and included students with moderate IDD (n=60) and their teachers (n=11). The settings were randomly assigned to intervention or control group. In the intervention group, Co-PID program was employed; in the control group an In-Service (IS) was employed. Participation was evaluated at pre-test and post-test.
The study was conducted in three phases: (a) pre-test; (b) intervention; and (c) post-test Pre-test. Using the 'Structured Observation of Students' Participation in Class', each student in both groups was observed four times during different lessons (with a 1-week interval between observations) to establish a baseline for level of participation. All pre-test observations were conducted between the 2nd and 3rd months of the school year, by an occupational therapist with 8 years of experience working with children with developmental delays. The observer was trained in using the 'Structured Observation of Students' Participation in Class' and was not blinded to the schools' assignment (Co-PID or IS). During this period the teachers, who were blinded to the school assignment, were asked to teach in a regular manner without changing the content or design of their lessons. Next, the teachers filled out the School Function Assessment questionnaire for each student. Finally, based on the 'Structured Observation of Students' Participation in Class' scores and teachers' familiarity with the students' function, the occupational therapist and each of the participating teachers jointly filled-out the 'Goal Attainment Scaling' form. Each student had three goals, one for each of the participation skills: Communicating, Choosing and Initiating. Post-test. This phase was conducted during the 9th and 10th months of the school year, and was identical to the pre-testing phase in terms of both process and measures used
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
60
The program was carried out by the school occupational therapist and homeroom teachers. The Co-PID had two phases. The first phase was a 1.5 hour in-service meeting that focused on the concept of "Participation". In the second phase of the Co-PID intervention, a collaborative consultation model was used. It included eight 45-minute consultation meetings, which took place every other week over a 3-months period. The meetings took place between the occupational therapist and each teacher, with the purpose of brainstorming; thinking of activities that the teacher could implement during the lessons for enhancing participation among the students.
IS group included three meetings, a 1.5 hour in-service meeting focusing on the concept of participation, and two more workshop meetings aimed at sharing teachers' experience.
Structured Observation of Students' Participation in Class
A structured observation for examining participation of students with moderate IDD in the classroom. It includes 25 items that focus on three classroom participation skills: (a) Communicating (listening and expressing; 7 statements); (b) Choosing (8 statements), and (c) Initiating (10 statements). The observer rates the active participation of students during an entire lesson (about 45 minutes), with regards to each of the items, on a scale of 0 (Does not participate) to 4 (Fully participates). In addition, each statement includes a 'Not relevant' option - when the student was not given the opportunity to perform the task.
Time frame: within one month after intervention completion
School Function Assessment Questionnaire "through study completion"
a criterion-referenced, standardized assessment that measures students' performance in functional tasks that support their participation in the school program. The School Function Assessment includes three parts: (a) Participation, (b) Task supports and (c) Activity performance. It is completed by one or more school professionals who are highly familiar with the students being observed.
Time frame: within one month after intervention completion
Goal Attainment Scaling "through study completion"
a method for scoring the extent to which the client's goals are achieved in the course of intervention. Functional goals are determined through a collaborative process between clinician and client or caregiver, prior to intervention. Scoring is based on a scale, where the user breaks-down each goal's performance on a 5-point scale ranging from -2 to 2
Time frame: within one month after intervention completion
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