Seth A. King

Response to Intervention in Secondary Schools: Considerations for Administrators

Secondary school administrators are increasingly finding themselves in the position of implementing Response to Intervention (RTI). This system of providing progressively intensive levels of intervention for the purposes of preventing academic failure and identifying children with learning disability may be useful at the secondary level. However, many aspects of RTI are based on research conducted in elementary schools. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic description of RTI, to summarize research conducted at the secondary level, and to provide a set of considerations for secondary administrators regarding RTI implementation.

An Inadvertent Concurrent Replication: Same Roadmap, Different Journey

Replication is a critical aspect of scientific inquiry that presents a variety of challenges to researchers, even under the best of conditions. We conducted a review of replication rates in special education journals similar to the review conducted by Makel et al. in this issue. Unknowingly conducting independent reviews allowed for an unexpected opportunity to examine how two teams of researchers attempted to replicate a previously published study and explore similarities and differences between the outcomes. In our review, we identified 70 replication studies published between 1997 and 2013, indicating that 0.41% of published articles in special education journals are replication studies. Similar to findings reported by Makel et al., our review indicates that most replications are successful and that successful replications are more likely when author overlap occurs. Although there are similar patterns in the two data sets, an examination of exact agreement on article inclusion revealed an agreement rate of 15.2%. Possible explanations for the discrepancy and implications for future directions are provided.

Antecedent Social Skills Interventions for Individuals With ASD: What Works, for Whom, and Under What Conditions?:

Social skills interventions designed to increase pro-social interactions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders are critical, but the relative effectiveness of these interventions is not well understood. More than 250 single-case design studies in 113 articles were reviewed and described in terms of participants, settings, arrangements, implementers, social partners, target behaviors, and treatment components. Differential success rates are reported, given the variation in study and participant characteristics (e.g., implementers, treatment components, participant age). Environmental arrangement, social skills training, and prompting were highly successful, and peer training, priming, and video-based interventions were less successful. More evidence is needed, particularly research including older individuals and utilizing indigenous implementers and typical social partners.

Math Interventions for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder A Best-Evidence Synthesis

Educators need evidence-based practices to assist students with disabilities in meeting increasingly rigorous standards in mathematics. Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly expected to demonstrate learning of basic and advanced mathematical concepts. This review identifies math intervention studies involving children and adolescents with ASD and describes participant characteristics, methodological features, interventions, target behaviors, and related outcomes. Included studies met the design standards of the What Works Clearinghouse (2014). Studies focused on functional and computational skills for students with a comorbid diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID). Visual analysis confirmed a functional relation between evaluated interventions and mathematics outcomes in 71% of cases. Interventions generally yielded moderate to large effect sizes. Large confidence intervals were obtained across effects. More high-quality research including students with higher-functioning ASD is required to fully address the needs of this population.

Adapting Phonological Awareness Interventions for Children with Down Syndrome Based on the Behavioral Phenotype: A Promising Approach?.

Many children with Down syndrome demonstrate deficits in phonological awareness, a prerequisite to learning to read in an alphabetic language. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adapting a commercially available phonological awareness program to better align with characteristics associated with the behavioral phenotype of Down syndrome would increase childrens learning of phonological awareness, letter sounds, and words. Five children with Down syndrome, ages 6 to 8 years, participated in a multiple baseline across participants single case design experiment in which response to an adapted phonological awareness intervention was compared with response to the nonadapted program. Results indicate a functional relation between the adapted program and phonological awareness. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are provided.

Mathematics interventions for children and adolescents with Down syndrome: a research synthesis

BACKGROUND Many children and adolescents with Down syndrome fail to achieve proficiency in mathematics. Researchers have suggested that tailoring interventions based on the behavioural phenotype may enhance efficacy. METHOD The research questions that guided this review were (1) what types of mathematics interventions have been empirically evaluated with children and adolescents with Down syndrome?; (2) do the studies demonstrate sufficient methodological rigor?; (3) is there evidence of efficacy for the evaluated mathematics interventions?; and (4) to what extent have researchers considered aspects of the behavioural phenotype in selecting, designing and/or implementing mathematics interventions for children and adolescents with Down syndrome? Nine studies published between 1989 and 2012 were identified for inclusion. RESULTS Interventions predominantly focused on early mathematics skills and reported positive outcomes. However, no study met criteria for methodological rigor. Further, no authors explicitly considered the behavioural phenotype. CONCLUSIONS Additional research using rigorous experimental designs is needed to evaluate the efficacy of mathematics interventions for children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Suggestions for considering the behavioural phenotype in future research are provided.

Developing an Early Reading Intervention Aligned With the Down Syndrome Behavioral Phenotype

The aim of this project was to develop an early reading intervention for children with Down syndrome based on the related behavioral phenotype. The intervention targeted learning of letter–sound correspondences, reading of decodable and high frequency words, and phonological awareness. We evaluated the feasibility and potential efficacy of the intervention with seven children between the ages of 6 and 8 years who participated in a series of multiple-probe across lessons single-case design studies. Results indicate a functional relation between the intervention and mastery of taught content for three students. Two students demonstrated positive although inconsistent response; two students demonstrated limited learning. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Students With Autism, Service Dogs, and Public Schools A Review of State Laws

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increasingly receive assistance from service dogs. Nonetheless, confusion surrounding service dogs for students with ASD has precipitated litigation between parents and schools. The purpose of this review was to examine state laws pertaining to the use of service dogs among children with ASD. Statutes were evaluated to identify all disability classifications eligible to use a service dog, regulations related to the authorized training of service animals, and school access for service animals. Results suggest that current state laws do not facilitate the use of service dogs by children with ASD or provide sufficient guidance for parents and schools. Recommendations for policy follow a discussion of the results.

Choice-Based Stimulus Preference Assessment for Children with or at-risk for Emotional Disturbance in Educational Settings

Students with or at-risk for emotional disturbance (ED) frequently receive interventions that include a direct manipulation of consequences. The ability of educators to identify reinforcing stimuli that may function as powerful consequences determines the success of reinforcement-based strategies. Choice-based stimulus preference assessments provide a systematic means of identifying potential reinforcers that have been well researched with children and adults with severe disabilities. However, research concerning the effectiveness of choice-based stimulus preference assessments for students with ED remains limited. Therefore, the current literature review examines the experimental context and effectiveness of choice-based stimulus preference assessments in identifying reinforcers for students with ED in educational settings and the advantages of these procedures over preference surveys. While reinforcers identified through choice-stimulus preference assessment increased the target behaviors of the participants, choice-based preference assessment methods did not unequivocally improve upon preference surveys. Implications for practitioners and future research directions are discussed.

Personalized reading intervention for children with Down syndrome

The purpose of this replication study was to evaluate the potential efficacy and feasibility of an early reading intervention for children with Down syndrome. The intervention was developed in alignment with the Down syndrome behavioral phenotype. Six children between the ages of seven and ten years participated in a series of multiple-probe across lessons single-case design studies. Results indicate a functional relation between intervention and reading outcomes for four children. Results were mixed for one participant and no functional relation was demonstrated for another. The potential promise of pursuing aptitude-by-treatment interaction research for subgroups of learners with similar characteristics as an effort to personalize intervention is discussed.