Evaluating the Effects of a Commitment Emphasis Consultation Model to Increase Teacher Implementation of Autism Specific Assessment

Abstract

There are several effective treatment methods and evidence based practices (EBP) for teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The use of EBPs is federally mandated, but it is often overwhelming for teachers to identify and implement available best practices with fidelity in the absence of ongoing training and support (Alexander, Ayres & Smith, 2015). Teachers often display low implementation fidelity, and, specifically, special education teachers often struggle with progress monitoring and data collection, which are essential elements of EBPs. Although most teachers are familiar with direct and frequent measurement for data collection, less than half reported using this type of progress monitoring in their classroom, stating several barriers including lack of time and knowledge (Wesson, King & Deno, 1984). One way to affect teacher implementation and behavior change is through different consultation styles, including performance feedback or a commitment emphasis approach. Performance feedback is a widely used and effective method to improve teacher implementation and treatment fidelity (Burns, Peters & Noell, 2008; Sanetti, & Kratochwill, 2009; Solomon, Klein & Politylo, 2012). A commitment emphasis model is a social influence strategy, which also shows continuing support for teacher behavior change (Noell et al. 2005). This study evaluated a strategy for increasing teachers’ completion of the Student Learning Profile (SLP), a curriculum-based student assessment that is administered as part of the Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research (STAR; Arick, Krug, Loos & Falco, 2004), using a randomized control group design to compare a performance feedback model with a commitment emphasis plus prompt model of consultation. Overall, the study found a significant effect for teacher SLP completion at time-point one for teachers’ in the experimental group using a commitment emphasis model, but less so over time. Implications for researchers, clinicians and educators are also explored.