Single Case Research Design: Teacher Outcomes

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville4 enrolled

Overview

This study examines whether a professional development program helps teachers implement Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction (SISI) with higher fidelity. The training includes review of an intervention manual, live modeling of SISI components, and discussion of implementation expectations. Teacher fidelity is evaluated with the Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction Fidelity Tool, which rates the extent to which core components are used during a intervention session. The study also documents how often teachers receive additional support (e.g., coaching) to understand which procedures help strengthen implementation.

This project uses a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across four teachers who serve deaf children in a deaf education program. The goal is to examine changes in teachers' SISI implementation fidelity following training and coaching. At baseline, the PI observes each teacher's typical language arts instruction using the SISI Fidelity Tool. Three stable data points are collected for each teacher before intervention. Every SISI component is scored as 1 (fully implemented), 0.5 (partially implemented), or 0 (not implemented), and then summarized as a percentage of components implemented. After baseline, the PI provides a two-day training in SISI procedures. Teachers then begin implementing SISI in a staggered fashion: Teacher 1 starts immediately after training for three weeks; Teacher 2 begins in Week 4; Teachers 3 and 4 begin in Weeks 7 and 10. All instructional sessions are video-recorded and uploaded to a cloud platform, where the PI and a second rater review them for daily fidelity monitoring. Throughout the study, the PI offers coaching as needed to support implementation. The PI also tracks children's progress on their individually targeted sign language skills to confirm that intervention adjustments are appropriate and timely. If implementation challenges arise or if data collection procedures are insufficiently clear or consistent, refinements may be made. Any refinements are put in place immediately and monitored for their influence on teacher fidelity and the feasibility of study procedures.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Conditions

Teacher Practice

Interventions

Strategic and Interactive Signing InstructionBEHAVIORAL

Evidence-based instructional methods, grounded in cognitive, sociocultural, and linguistic theories, are applied to interventions that support sign language development in deaf children.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 99 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Teachers of the deaf working in a school for the deaf across kindergarten to 3rd grade levels Exclusion Criteria: * Not teachers of the deaf working in a school for the deaf across kindergarten to 3rd grade levels

Locations (1)

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

SISI Fidelity

The Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction (SISI) Fidelity Tool is a 45-item observational checklist assessing adherence to the model-guided-independent cycle, scaffolding quality, and use of targeted ASL skills. Each item is rated from 0 to 1 (0 = not implemented, 0.5 = partially implemented, 1 = fully implemented). Scores are summed and converted to a percentage (0-100%). Higher scores indicate stronger fidelity of implementation.

Time frame: Baseline began at the start of the school year for all participants. Because intervention start times were staggered in the multiple-baseline design, intervention duration ranged from approximately 12 to 40 weeks across participants.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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