Peer support arrangements have been advocated as a promising approach for increasing social interactions and academic engagement for students with severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms. However, it remains unclear whether paraprofessionals can facilitate these arrangements without substantial researcher support, and how best to prepare paraprofessionals to implement this intervention. In this single-case design study, four special education teachers trained and supported four paraprofessionals to implement peer support arrangements through delivery of a promising professional development package consisting of an initial orientation, video modeling, and performance feedback. Teachers implemented the professional development accurately, paraprofessionals implemented peer support arrangements effectively, and students with severe disabilities experienced increased social interactions with their peers while maintaining previous levels of academic engagement. These findings demonstrate one promising avenue for enabling paraprofessionals to implement peer support arrangements. Recommendations for preparing teachers to train and support paraprofessionals to implement evidence-based practices are offered, along with directions for future research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03212014-125328 |
| Date | 08 April 2014 |
| Creators | Brock, Matthew Eric |
| Contributors | Samuel Odom, Robert Hodapp, Mary Louise Hemmeter, Joseph Wehby, Erik Carter |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03212014-125328/ |
| Rights | restrictone, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds