Co-Principal Investigators: Wehmeyer, Michael; Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Quirk, Carol

Purpose: This study will test the efficacy of varied levels of support for teachers implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI). SDLMI is a research-based program designed to promote positive transition outcomes for high school students with disabilities. Previous research indicates that students whose teachers participate in professional development (PD) around SDLMI experience improved access to the general education curriculum and self-determination outcomes (e.g., increased decision-making and goal-setting skills). However, little is known about the additive value of intensifying teacher support to best promote teacher knowledge, skill, and the use of SDLMI. The current project will address this gap by evaluating the effect of various levels of SDLMI implementation support (i.e., no support, online support, and online and coaching support) received following the standard SDLMI PD, on teachers' knowledge, skills, and implementation of SDLMI and students' self-determination, access to the general education curriculum, and academic outcomes.

Project Activities: The researchers will assess the effect of the following three versions of SDLMI professional development and implementation support from the least to the most intensive: (1) standard SDLMI PD with no additional support, (2) standard SDLMI PD plus online support, and (3) standard SDLMI PD plus online support with coaching. Researchers will employ a longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial to compare the impacts of these different levels of support. Schools will be randomly assigned to one of the three versions. All participating teachers will receive the standard SDLMI PD and implement SDLMI with targeted students. Depending on their school's assigned condition, teachers will receive either no additional support, online support, or online support and coaching throughout the school year. Teacher and student assessment data will be collected at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and in each subsequent year of the project. Data will be analyzed to determine the effect of the added implementation supports on teacher and student outcomes.

Products: The products of this project will include evidence of the efficacy of implementation supports for teachers implementing SDLMI in inclusive high school classrooms. Products will also include presentations and peer-reviewed publications.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The research will take place in general education classrooms in Maryland public high schools. 

Sample: The sample will include 225 general and special education teachers (who teach Grade 9, 10, and 11 English or Social Studies) across 15 high schools. Approximately 1,350 students with disabilities who are in participating teachers' classes will also be included in the study.

Intervention: SDLMI was designed to enable teachers to teach students with disabilities to self-regulate for problem solving, set and attain goals related to learning in the classroom, and as a result better plan for the transition after high school. Teachers work to increase opportunities for students to direct their own learning through a three-phase instructional process during which students ask themselves the following questions: (1) what is my goal, (2) what is my plan, and (3) what have I learned? As part of SDLMI, teachers learn to implement the model by participating in a 3-day PD summer workshop and receive the Teacher's Guide to Implementing the SDLMI in the General Education Classroom (standard SDLMI PD). The current study focuses on increasing levels of implementation support (i.e., online support or online support with coaching) received after the standard SDLMI PD. The online support includes bi-weekly email and online activities designed to help teachers with challenges, provide ideas, and promote implementation of SDLMI. The coaching involves 1 hour per month of in-person observation and coaching using a standardized protocol developed to enhance teachers' implementation of SDLMI.

Research Design and Methods: The study will be a longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial with three groups of teachers to assess the effect of the standard SDLMI PDplus varying levels ofimplementation supports. Schools will be randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: (1) standard SDLMI PD with no additional support, (2) standard SDLMI PD plus online support, and (3) standard SDLMI PD plus online support with coaching. In Year 1, the researchers will engage in planning and recruitment. At the end of Year 1, the first cohort of Grade 9 teachers will receive the standard SDLMI PDand will implement SDLMI in Year 2 with their targeted Grade 9 students. Throughout the year they will receive either no additional support, online support, or online support and coaching based on their school's group assignment. In each of the 2 subsequent project years, teachers will continue to receive the same level of PD and supports and will implement SDLMI with a new group of Grade 9 students. In Year 3, a new cohort of Grade 10 teachers will participate in standard SDLMI PD, implementation, and varied levels of support, continuing to receive the same level of PD and support the following year. In Year 4, a new cohort of Grade 11 teachers will participate in standard SDLMI PD, implementation, and varied levels of support. Teacher and student data will be collected at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and teacher data will also be collected again in each subsequent year. Observational data on teachers' fidelity of implementing SDLMI will be collected four times per year in all conditions.

Control Condition: Teachers in schools assigned to the comparison condition will receive the standard SLDMI PD with no additional support.

Key Measures: Teacher outcome measures will include a researcher-developed SDLMI Knowledge, Skills, and Use Survey and the MainStream Version of the Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response (MS-CISSAR) to obtainobservational data on the use of SDLMI practices with a subset of teachers (25% of the teacher sample over the course of the project). Student outcome measures will include the Self-Determination Inventory-Self-Report (SDI-SR) and the Self-Determination Inventory-Other Report (SDI-OR). Student academic outcomes will be assessed using grades, benchmark and curriculum-based assessment data, and the state's standardized Grade 10 English assessment, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). The Access CISSAR, which is a part of the MS-CISSAR,will be used to obtain data from a subset of students on access to the general education curriculum. Teachers will complete the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale Short Form as well as a survey on their familiarity, previous training, and perceptions of self-determination instruction.

Data Analytic Strategy: The researchers will use both multilevel modeling and multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the efficacy of added teacher supports for implementing SLDMI compared to no support, as well as compare the two different types of supports to one another, on teacher and student outcomes. Additional analyses will be conducted to understand teachers' experience with, and fidelity and sustainability of, the intervention supports.

Related Projects: Promoting Positive Transition Outcomes for Students with Intellectual Disability: A Research Institution-SEA Partnership in Rhode Island (R324L160002); Determining the Efficacy of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) To Improve Secondary and Transition Outcomes for Students With Cognitive Disabilities (R324B070159)