20-11-2017 | Original Paper | Uitgave 3/2018 Open Access

Assessing Quality of Program Environments for Children and Youth with Autism: Autism Program Environment Rating Scale (APERS)
- Tijdschrift:
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > Uitgave 3/2018
Introduction
Theoretical Rationale for APERS
APERS domains
|
Description of content
|
---|---|
Learning environments
|
Safety, organization, materials, visual schedules, transitions
|
Positive learning climate
|
Staff-student interactions, staff behaviors
|
Assessment and IEP development
|
Assessing student progress, assessment process, IEP goals, transition planning
|
Curriculum and instruction
|
Classroom instruction, focus on IEP goals, opportunity to generalize, prompting, accommodations
|
Communication
|
Planning for communication, communication rich environment, individualized communication instruction, responsiveness to student, communication systems
|
Social competence
|
Arranging opportunities, teaching and modeling, personal hygiene and relationships, social skills training, peer social networks
|
Personal independence
|
Self-advocate for accommodations, self-management, choices available
|
Functional behavior
|
Proactive strategies, behavioral assessment, data collection, teaming
|
Family involvement
|
Teaming, communication, parent teacher meetings
|
Teaming
|
Team membership, team meetings, decision making
|
Development of the APERS
Research Questions
Method
Sample 1: NPDC
Instrument
Rater Training
Settings
Program (level, type)
|
Preschool
|
Elementary
|
Middle
|
High
|
Total
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inclusive
|
9
|
20
|
5
|
8
|
42
|
Self-contained
|
5
|
9
|
10
|
6
|
30
|
Total
|
14
|
29
|
15
|
14
|
72
|
Study 2: CSESA Sample
Instrument
Settings
Coder Training
APERS Data Collection
Results
Inter-rater Agreement
Question 1: Reliability of the APERS
NPDC
|
CSESA
|
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P/E
|
MHS
|
Incl
|
S/C
|
Incl
|
S/C
|
|
Total
|
.96
|
.96
|
.96
|
.94
|
.95
|
.96
|
Learning environment
|
.69
|
.71
|
.76
|
.73
|
.82
|
.81
|
Positive learning climate
|
.76
|
.78
|
.61
|
.77
|
.71
|
.68
|
Assessment/IEP development
|
.84
|
.87
|
.86
|
.86
|
.60
|
.76
|
Curriculum and instruction
|
.81
|
.77
|
.85
|
.84
|
.87
|
.89
|
Communication
|
.79
|
.92
|
.84
|
.73
|
.69
|
.74
|
Social
|
.72
|
.78
|
.73
|
.63
|
.70
|
.75
|
Personal independence and competence
|
.75
|
.78
|
.75
|
.76
|
.70
|
.75
|
Functional behavior
|
.85
|
.81
|
.76
|
.68
|
.81
|
.81
|
Family involvement
|
.88
|
.76
|
.78
|
.68
|
.74
|
.68
|
Teaming
|
.85
|
.71
|
.72
|
.74
|
.68
|
.60
|
Question 2a: Construct Validity–Factor Structure
APERS domains
|
One factor
|
---|---|
Learning environment structure/schedule
|
0.61
|
Positive learning climate
|
0.63
|
Assessment/IEP development
|
0.72
|
Curriculum and instruction
|
0.87
|
Communication
|
0.67
|
Social
|
0.68
|
Personal independence and competence
|
0.79
|
Functional behavior (interfering and adaptive)
|
0.67
|
Family involvement
|
0.57
|
Teaming
|
0.61
|
Model fit
|
|
Degrees of freedom
|
35
|
Chi square
|
149.81 p = .0000
|
RMSEA
|
.14
|
CFI
|
.87
|
APERS domains
|
With clustering
|
Ignoring clustering
|
---|---|---|
Learning environment structure/schedule
|
0.71
|
0.62
|
Positive learning climate
|
0.60
|
0.63
|
Assessment/IEP development
|
0.49
|
0.61
|
Curriculum and instruction
|
0.83
|
0.89
|
Communication
|
0.68
|
0.77
|
Social
|
0.26
|
0.61
|
Personal independence and competence
|
0.69
|
0.75
|
Functional behavior (interfering and adaptive)
|
0.72
|
0.63
|
Family involvement
|
0.40
|
0.50
|
Teaming
|
0.43
|
0.59
|
Model fit
|
||
Degrees of freedom
|
70
|
35
|
Chi square
|
152.74
p = .0000
|
70.21
p = .0004
|
RMSEA
|
.11
|
.10
|
CFI
|
.83
|
.92
|
Question 2b: Construct Validity–Sensitivity to Program Effects
Point estimates
|
t
|
d
|
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre
|
Post
|
|||||||
N
|
Mean
|
Std
|
N
|
Mean
|
Std
|
|||
Total
|
68
|
3.50
|
0.61
|
66
|
4.16
|
0.46
|
9.77***
|
1.08
|
Learning environment structure/schedule
|
68
|
3.99
|
0.63
|
66
|
4.47
|
0.44
|
6.84***
|
0.76
|
Positive learning climate
|
68
|
3.93
|
0.84
|
66
|
4.40
|
0.58
|
4.38***
|
0.56
|
Assessment/IEP development
|
68
|
3.43
|
0.83
|
66
|
4.13
|
0.58
|
7.70***
|
0.84
|
Curriculum and instruction
|
68
|
3.35
|
0.71
|
66
|
4.09
|
0.64
|
9.52***
|
1.04
|
Communication
|
68
|
2.47
|
0.96
|
66
|
3.50
|
0.98
|
6.80***
|
1.07
|
Social
|
68
|
3.00
|
0.81
|
66
|
3.88
|
0.87
|
8.16***
|
1.09
|
Staff/peer relationships
|
68
|
2.95
|
0.96
|
66
|
3.76
|
0.82
|
6.57***
|
0.84
|
Personal independence and competence
|
67
|
3.58
|
0.91
|
66
|
4.17
|
0.80
|
5.48***
|
0.65
|
Functional behavior
|
68
|
4.20
|
0.80
|
66
|
4.60
|
0.56
|
6.04***
|
0.50
|
Family involvement
|
68
|
3.80
|
0.69
|
66
|
4.38
|
0.51
|
7.08***
|
0.84
|