Abstract
Organizational context (e.g., climate, culture, resources) can impede or enhance implementation of evidence-based practices in general education settings or special education settings serving students with autism spectrum disorder. We examined the relations between organizational context and individual (i.e., implementation leadership, administrator- or service provider-role) or school (i.e., enrollment size, public/nonpublic school type) characteristics. Participants were administrative or service providing leaders (n = 34) from 11 schools in one state on the East Coast of the United States. School leaders’ average ratings of the organizational context were generally more positive for special education than general education; however, greater culture stress was reported for special education. Correlation analyses indicated being an administrator and implementation leadership were positively associated with implementation climate in both education settings. Being an administrator was also positively associated with cultural effort (i.e., how hard people work towards achieving goals) in special education, but negatively associated with culture stress in general education. In special education, nonpublic schools had better climates (both learning and implementation), but more culture stress. Additionally, school enrollment size was negatively related to available resources and implementation climate in special education. Investigating the similarities and differences in organizational context across educational settings is needed in future research.
Highlights
Schools are a primary service setting for youth with mental and behavioral health needs (Duong et al, 2020; Merikangas et al, 2011)
Educational supports provided to students within special education must be delivered in the least restrictive environment, such that students with disabilities are educated with their peers without disabilities—in the general education environment—to the maximum extent appropriate based on their educational needs (IDEA, 2004)
As a preliminary exploration of school leaders’ perceptions of the organizational context, we investigated the following research questions: (1) How do school leaders perceive the organizational context of general and special education settings? and (2) What individual and school characteristics are associated with organizational context in general and special education settings?
Summary
Schools are a primary service setting for youth with mental and behavioral health needs (Duong et al, 2020; Merikangas et al, 2011). Once identified as eligible for special education, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed that outlines the student’s learning needs, sets measurable goals, and describes the special education and related services (e.g., learning accommodations, modifications to the standard curriculum, speech and language therapy, etc.) or supplementary aids the student will receive to make progress toward their identified IEP goals. More restrictive placements include tailored special education classrooms (e.g., designed for students with ASD) or nonpublic school programs (e.g., private schools approved to provide education for students with disabilities that cannot be served in public schools). All U.S schools are charged with serving students with ASD using 28 evidencebased practices (ESSA, 2015; Hume et al, 2021), that are often implemented by teachers We refer to these 28 EBPs broadly, rather than any ASD-specific intervention
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