The impact of classroom climate on autism intervention fidelity and outcomes

描述(由申请人提供)：对自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)儿童的干预在研究环境中被证明是有效的，但在社区环境中通常没有得到有效实施。成功实施干预措施的挑战在AIMS(自闭症教学方法研究)中显而易见，这是一项正在进行的随机试验，旨在测试对在大型城市学区自闭症支持教室注册的儿童进行有效的、由教师授课的、基于课程的干预的有效性。早期的观察表明，这种差异的一个关键原因是教师认为他们的干预措施的使用在多大程度上得到了他们的主管和其他课堂工作人员的期望、支持和奖励。这种共同的看法被称为本组织的执行环境。虽然有丰富的文献研究了执行环境在商业环境中的作用，但很少有研究一般的保健和公共服务，特别是特殊教育环境中独特的执行环境。这项拟议的研究将考察1)行政和教育支持人员对干预的接受程度以及2)自闭症支持教室的氛围对正在进行的循证干预的实施和随后的学生结果的影响。为了实现这些目标，学校校长和课堂助理将报告他们对干预措施的接受和支持，教师将报告课堂实施环境，并将使用正在进行的试验的项目忠诚度和儿童结果的直接衡量标准。如果成功，该项目将促进我们对支持在特殊教育环境中实施有效干预措施的最佳方式的了解。它将首次将在业务背景下开发的概念模型和工具应用于特殊教育环境，目的是量化学校和教室环境在多大程度上支持或阻碍干预措施的实施。这项研究为以组织氛围为目标的干预研究提供了坚实的基础，以此作为支持实施循证干预的一种方式，目的是改善对儿童的服务和结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):. Interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that have proven efficacious in research settings generally have not been effectively implemented in community settings. Challenges to successful implementation of interventions are apparent in AIMS (Autism Instructional Methods Study), an ongoing, randomized trial designed to test the effectiveness of an efficacious, teacher-delivered, curriculum-based intervention for children enrolled in autism support classrooms in a large, urban school district. Early observations suggest that a key reason for this variability is the extent to which the teachers perceive that their use of the intervention is expected, supported, and rewarded by their supervisors and other classroom staff. This shared perception is referred to as the organization's implementation climate. While a rich literature examines the role of the implementation climate in business settings, there is little study of the unique implementation climate in health and human services in general, and special education settings specifically. The proposed study will examine the impact of 1) administrative and education support staffs acceptance of the intervention and 2) the climate of autism support classrooms on the ongoing implementation of an evidence-based intervention and subsequent student outcomes. To address these aims, school principals and classroom assistants will report their acceptance of and support for the intervention, teachers will report on classroom implementation climate, and direct measures of program fidelity and child outcomes from the ongoing trial will be used. If successful, this project will advance our understanding of the best ways to support the implementation of efficacious interventions in special education settings. It will apply, for the first time, conceptual models and tools developed in business contexts to special education settings, with the goal of quantifying the extent to which the school and classroom environment supports or impedes intervention implementation. This study provides a strong foundation for intervention research targeting organizational climate as a way to support the implementation of evidence-based interventions, with the goal of improving services and outcomes for children.