School Characteristics and Their Relationship to Intervention Fidelity and Student Outcomes in Autism Support Classrooms

Abstract

Given the rising prevalence of children diagnosed with autism and the emergence of evidence-based autism interventions, schools are now faced with the challenge of delivering high quality instruction to this unique population. Comprehensive packaged curricula have been developed to address this growing need and to allow educators to transport research-based instruction into their classroom settings. However, there is a dearth of research examining the factors associated with intervention effectiveness with children with autism in public schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between school level factors, the fidelity of interventions, and student outcomes within autism support classrooms. Data were gathered from 171 students with autism spectrum disorders in kindergarten-through-second grade classrooms across 40 schools in the Philadelphia School District. Correlational analyses and linear regression with random effects analyses indicated that school level factors were not associated with and were not moderators of intervention fidelity and student outcomes. The findings suggest that autism support classrooms are like islands within the school building, such that the practices and outcomes within these classrooms were unrelated to the school context. This study indicates that when transporting an evidence-based practice into a public school classroom, it may be more necessary to focus on the classroom context rather than the school building. Future research is needed to fully delineate these relationships between school building level factors and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices for children with autism within a classroom setting.