Browsing by Author "Ruble, Lisa A."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    An empirical study of multidimensional fidelity of COMPASS consultation
    (American Psychological Association, 2018-06) Wong, Venus; Ruble, Lisa A.; McGrew, John H.; Yu, Yue; Psychology, School of Science
    Consultation is essential to the daily practice of school psychologists (National Association of School Psychologist, 2010). Successful consultation requires fidelity at both the consultant (implementation) and consultee (intervention) levels. We applied a multidimensional, multilevel conception of fidelity (Dunst, Trivette, & Raab, 2013) to a consultative intervention called the Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success (COMPASS) for students with autism. The study provided 3 main findings. First, multidimensional, multilevel fidelity is a stable construct and increases over time with consultation support. Second, mediation analyses revealed that implementation-level fidelity components had distant, indirect effects on student Individualized Education Program (IEP) outcomes. Third, 3 fidelity components correlated with IEP outcomes: teacher coaching responsiveness at the implementation level, and teacher quality of delivery and student responsiveness at the intervention levels. Implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record.
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    Individualized Education Program Quality for Transition Age Students with Autism
    (Elsevier, 2022) Findley, Jordan A.; Ruble, Lisa A.; McGrew, John H.; Psychology, School of Science
    Background: Students with ASD have some of the worst postsecondary outcomes when compared to other students with disabilities indicating transition planning may not be working effectively. One source of support for postsecondary planning is development of the transition Individualized Education Program (IEP). However, little research is available to describe the current contents of transition IEPs for students with ASD. This study aimed to describe IEP and postsecondary planning quality for students with autism in their final year of high school. Method: IEPs for 20 students with autism (Mage = 18.2 years; SD = 1.1) from two mid-southern states were analyzed. Descriptive analyses were used to identify strengths and weaknesses of IEPs and postsecondary goals based on federal law requirements and best practice recommendations. Results: IEPs contained an average of 3.1 IEP goals and 1.6 postsecondary goals. IEP goals were most frequently related to academic, learning/work, or communication skills. All IEPs contained an employment postsecondary goal while less than half of the IEPs included an independent living postsecondary goal. Key findings include lack of goals related to social skills and the lack of alignment between present levels of performance, IEP goals, and postsecondary goals. Conclusions: IEPs for students with ASD in their final year of school do not consistently meet standards outlined by federal law or best practice recommendations necessary for successful transition from high school.
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    A mixed methods study examining the factors associated with retention in Direct Support Professionals
    (2017) Krakovich, Teri; McGrew, John H.; Salyers, Michelle P.; Ruble, Lisa A.; Cyders, Melissa A.; Sliter, Michael T.
    The current study investigated the organizational and individual factors that promote retention for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who work with individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) in residential or community-based settings across a Midwestern state. Twenty-seven DSPs completed qualitative and quantitative measures by responding to open-ended interview questions and supplying background information and ratings indicating their desires to stay or leave their current organizations and reasons for doing so. Content analysis was used to interpret the qualitative data and descriptive statistics, t-tests and Chi-square analyses were used to examine the quantitative data. Factors were conceptualized under three categories: (1) Intrinsic Factors, (2) Extrinsic Factors, and 3) Individual Factors. This organizational framework for DSPs is similar to retention models for other direct care workers (e.g., Ellenbecker, 2004; Li, 2007; Warburton et al., 2014). Some factors DSPs endorsed were similar to direct care workers generally, e.g., personality traits such as being loving or empathetic towards clients, having strong communication with coworkers and supervisors, and valuing the flexibility and benefits they receive on the job, whereas other factors appeared to be relatively unique to staff working with adults with ID/DD, e.g., seeing progress and change in their clients and feeling love and appreciation from clients. When the reasons DSPs stay (e.g., relationships with clients, flexibility in their schedules) and leave their jobs (e.g., financial constraints, viewing the job as temporary) were compared, they appeared to differ, but more research is warranted. Further research is also needed to examine whether the factors promoting retention for DSPs may differ based on age and on the settings in which DSPs work. Suggestions for ways to improve recruitment, retention, and training efforts for DSPs are highlighted, and the implications of the current findings are discussed.
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    Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions and Intentions Toward Data Collection
    (Sage, 2018-06) Ruble, Lisa A.; McGrew, John H.; Wong, Wing Hang; Missall, Kristen N.; Psychology, School of Science
    Although data-based decision making is an evidence-based practice, many special educators have difficulty applying the practice within daily routines. We applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand the influences that promote or hinder early childhood special educators’ intentions to collect data. We assessed three influences on behavioral intention to collect data derived from the TPB: (a) attitude toward collecting data, (b) social norms for collecting data, and (c) perceived behavioral control for collecting data. All three influences correlated positively with teachers’ reported intention to collect data; however, only perceived behavioral control of barriers correlated positively with actual data collection. Additional measures of teacher self-efficacy and administrative support correlated positively with intention to collect data, but not with actual data collection behaviors. Perceived behavior control accounted for the most variance in actual data collection behavior. Implications of the findings for data collection practices in educational settings are discussed.
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    Teacher Self-Efficacy for Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associations with Stress, Teacher Engagement, and Student IEP Outcomes Following COMPASS Consultation
    (Sage, 2020-03) Love, Abigail M. A.; Findley, Jordan A.; Ruble, Lisa A.; McGrew, John H.; Psychology, School of Science
    Although teachers reporting high teaching self-efficacy demonstrate positive teaching behaviors, minimal stress, and superior classroom management techniques, surprisingly few studies have demonstrated a relationship between teacher self-efficacy and student outcomes. This study explored self-efficacy specific to teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and examined relationships with stress, teacher engagement, and student individualized education program (IEP) outcomes. Special education teachers (N = 44) were recruited as part of a larger study examining a consultation intervention. Results indicated that self-efficacy for teaching students with ASD was significantly and positively correlated with teacher engagement and student outcomes, and negatively correlated with teacher stress. Furthermore, teachers who received the consultation intervention reported higher levels of self-efficacy for teaching students with ASD. This is the first study to report a direct association between teacher self-efficacy and student IEP outcomes and the potential positive impact of a teacher consultation intervention on the teacher intrapersonal factor of self-efficacy.
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    Too Stressed to Teach? Teaching Quality, Student Engagement and IEP Outcomes
    (Sage, 2017-07) Wong, Venus; Ruble, Lisa A.; Yu, Yue; McGrew, John H.; Psychology, School of Science
    Teacher stress and burnout have a detrimental effect on the stability of the teaching workforce. However, the possible consequences of teacher burnout on teaching quality and on student learning outcomes are less clear, especially in special education settings. We applied Maslach and Leiter’s (1999) model to understand the direct effects of burnout on teaching in general and stress arising from interaction with a specific student on the individualized education program (IEP) outcomes of young children with autism spectrum disorder. We also examined indirect effects through teaching quality and student engagement. The results indicated that one of the three components of burnout—teacher personal accomplishment—was directly related to IEP outcomes, a distal effect, whereas stress was directly related to teaching quality and student engagement, which were more proximal effects. In addition, teacher stress, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization had indirect effects on IEP outcomes through teaching quality and student engagement.