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Autism Intervention Research Network for Behavioral Health (AIR-B II): Deployment Into Elementary Schools

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Autism
Interventions
Behavioral: Playground Intervention
Behavioral: STAT Intervention
Registration Number
NCT01724047
Lead Sponsor
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Brief Summary

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.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
250
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Child: Child has to meet the following criteria: 1) Child's primary classroom teacher has consented to participate, 2) Child meets ADOS research criteria for autism spectrum disorder, 3) Child is between 5-11 years old, 4) Child's parents consented to have child participate, and 5) Child is placed in inclusion classroom or self-contained special education classroom for a minimum of 50% of the school day.
  2. Adult: School teachers and paraprofessionals working with children with ASD.
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Child: Participants will be excluded from the study if child has co-morbid disorders such as cerebral palsy, Fragile X, Down syndrome. Child has profound vision or hearing lose.
  2. Adult: Participants will be excluded from the study if the adult is not a teacher, administrator, teaching assistant, yard attendant, related services provider, or a paraprofessional.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
FACTORIAL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Playground InterventionPlayground InterventionSchools 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. The initial delivery will occur for 30 minutes three times for a period of two to three weeks, then 30 minutes two times for a period of two weeks, then 30 minutes once a week for up to 16 sessions, within a period of 3 months, then a 30 minute follow up will occur 3 months later. A systematic fading of intervention using performance feedback, coaching, and consultation. Outcome measures will be administered at entry, end of treatment, and 3-month follow-up. Entry diagnostic, exit and follow up assessments will last 1.5- 2 hours and participants will be assessed after school or in their homes.
STAT InterventionSTAT InterventionClassrooms 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. The intervention will be over a period of 6 weeks, with baseline, treatment, and a follow up visit totaling 18 weeks at the school site. Each visit is approximately 30 minutes. A systematic fading of intervention using performance feedback, coaching, and consultation. Outcome measures will be administered at entry, end of treatment. Entry diagnostic, exit and follow up assessments will last 1.5- 2 hours and participants will be assessed after school or in their homes.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Playground Intervention: Social Network SalienceChange from exit to follow up (3 months later) in Playground Intervention Social Network

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.

STAT Intervention: Teacher Behaviors and Student's Engagement in the ClassroomsChange from Exit to Follow Up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention: Classroom Observational Measure

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.

Playground Intervention: Playground Peer EngagementChange from exit to follow up (3 months later) in the POPE

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.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Playground Intervention: Teachers Ratings of Intervention ImplementationExit (12 weeks from Baseline)

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.

STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target BehaviorsChange from exit to follow up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention: Teacher Nominated Target Behaviors

Teacher report of student's behavioral problems in the classroom.

STAT Intervention: Coach Rated Teacher ImplementationChange from exit to follow up (3 months)

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.

Playground Intervention Teacher's Perceptions of InterventionChange from exit to follow up (3 months later) in Playground Intervention Teacher Perception 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).

Playground Intervention: Coach Ratings of Aide ImplementationChange from Exit to Follow Up (3 months follow up) in Playground Intervention Coach Rated Aide Fidelity

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.

Playground Intervention: Observer Ratings of Aide ImplementationChange from baseline to exit (12 weeks later)

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.

Playground Intervention: Aides Ratings of Effectiveness of InterventionChange from Exit to Follow Up (3 months later) in Playground Intervention Aide Rated Fidelity

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.

Playground Intervention: Teacher's Perceptions of InterventionChange from baseline to exit (12 weeks later) in Playground Intervention Teacher Perception 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).

Playground Intervention: Observer Ratings of Aides ImplementationChange from exit to follow up (3 months later)

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.

STAT Intervention: Teacher Ratings of ImplementationExit (12 weeks from Baseline)

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.

STAT Intervention: Teachers Ratings of Effectiveness of InterventionChange from Exit to Follow up (3 months later) in STAT Intervention in Teacher Fidelity

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.

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

UPENN Map Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research

🇺🇸

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

UCLA Semel Institute

🇺🇸

Los Angeles, California, United States

University of Rochester Medical Center

🇺🇸

Rochester, New York, United States

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