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| The Application of Peer Supports in Accessing the General Curriculum for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities |
| Sunday, May 27, 2007 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| Ford AB |
| Area: DDA/EDC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Fred Spooner (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) |
| Discussant: Fred Spooner (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) |
| Abstract: Current legislation mandates that all students with developmental disabilities are provided the supports to access and demonstrate progress within the general curriculum. The purpose of this symposium is to extend pervious work and continue to explore applications of peer supports in accessing the general curriculum for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The first study presented by investigators from UNC Charlotte will examine outcomes designed to assess how peers assisted students with disabilities in accessing the essences of the general curriculum via a multiple probe design across four pairs of students to access grade appropriate adapted reading material. In the second presentation, authors from Vanderbilt University examine the degree to which peer support programs were maintained over 6 months period. Dependent variables included pre-/post-measures of intervention fidelity, social interaction, and academic engagement. Outcomes are strongly correlated with educators’ perceptions of the value of inclusive education. The authors of the third presentation from the University of Wisconsin will examine the academic and social participation of middle and high school students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in both core academic and elective general education classrooms. The peer support intervention package on academic engagement, coupled with social and task-related interactions, will be discussed. |
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| Literary Responses of Middle-School Aged Students with Severe Cognitive Disabilities in Reading Adapted Grade Level Material with Peer Supports. |
| TRACIE-LYNN ZAKAS (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Fred Spooner (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Diane Browder (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of training peers without disabilities to follow a story sharing protocol with students with significant cognitive disabilities to participate in grade appropriate reading material, and to engage students with disabilities in grade appropriate reading materials with exposure to a series of literacy readiness skills utilizing a multiple probe across participants design. Four middle school aged students considered developmentally typical, and four students with significant cognitive disabilities considered at the middle school level participated in the study. Peers and partners followed an 8 to 14 step task analysis, respectively, to engage in the use of a grade appropriate adapted book. All students showed a positive effect after the intervention was introduced and a functional relationship was determined between the intervention and student responding for both groups of students. Typically developing peers increased mean performance on the 14 point task analysis from 2.71 in the baseline phase to a 13.7 after the implementation of intervention. Students with significant cognitive disabilities were able to boost mean performance from .04 in baseline to 6.03 in intervention on the 8 point task analysis. The peers indicated social relevance of the intervention in a post-study survey. |
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| Sustainability of Peer Support Programs for Students with Severe Disabilities. |
| CRAIG H. KENNEDY (Vanderbilt University), Nitasha M. Clark (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Sustainability is an important indicator of the social validity of behavior-analytic interventions. We assessed the degree to which peer support programs were maintained over 6 months. We initially used an intensive onsite technical assistance model to train general and special educators to use peer support programs in their classrooms. The peer support programs included structured interactions between peers without disabilities and students with severe disabilities in general education settings. Training and feedback were provided by university personnel to educators for one semester until a proficiency criterion was met. We then returned to the same settings after 6 months and assessed the degree to which the peer support interventions were being implemented. Dependent variables included pre-/post-measures of intervention fidelity, social interaction and academic engagement. We also estimated the degree to which educators perceived inclusion and social interaction as valued educational outcomes. Our results show a high degree of variability for intervention fidelity after 6 months that was strongly correlated with educators’ perceptions of the value of inclusive education. Our outcomes are the first report of the sustainability of an educational intervention in general education settings and suggest variables that may be considered in social validity assessments of peer support programs. |
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| Promoting Peer Interaction and Academic Engagement in Inclusive Secondary Classrooms. |
| ERIK CARTER (University of Wisconsin, Madison) |
| Abstract: Recent legislative and policy initiatives are challenging schools to ensure that all students with developmental disabilities are provided the supports necessary to access and demonstrate progress within the general curriculum. Moreover, teachers, parents, administrators, and students have placed high value on creating opportunities for youth with developmental disabilities to develop relationships with their peers. However, ensuring that students with disabilities meaningfully participate—both academically and socially—within general education still remains a formidable task, particularly at the secondary level.
We will report findings from a study examining the academic and social participation of middle and high school students with intellectual disabilities and autism (n = 24) enrolled in both core academic and elective general education classrooms. Several contextual factors (e.g., instructional formats, adult proximity, peer supports, curricular focus) were found to be associated with varying levels of academic engagement and social interaction. Drawing upon these descriptive findings, we then evaluated the effectiveness of a peer support intervention package on the academic engagement and social- and task-related interactions of participating youth. Recommendations for supporting youth with developmental disabilities will be presented. |
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