Instructional Practices in Nonvocational Special Education Classes

The use of a general education curriculum without modification is rare in a nonvocational special education class, with 2 percent of secondary students with autism in such classes receiving an unmodified curriculum (figure 7). One out of 10 are reported to have a general education curriculum with "some modifications," and 15 percent have a "substantially modified" curriculum in their special education class. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) receive a specialized or individualized curriculum, and 10 percent have no curriculum.

Instructional groupings. Nonvocational special education classes tend to have low student/adult ratios; on average, there are 3 students per adult, compared with 22 students per adult in general education academic classes (p < .001). Although students with autism experience a mix of instructional groupings in special education classes (figure 8), they are more likely to receive individual instruction from an adult (38 percent) and small group instruction (39 percent) "often" in special education than in general education classes (29 percent, 18 percent, and 11 percent, respectively, p < .05 and p < .01, respectively). In contrast, wholeclass instruction is less common in special education than in general education classes, with less than one-quarter (22 percent) of students with autism in special education classes "often" receiving whole-class instruction, compared with 63 percent of those in general education classes (p < .001).

Instructional materials and instructional activities outside the classroom. A variety of materials and equipment are used in nonvocational special education classes. Textbooks, workbooks, or worksheets are reported to be used "often" for 41 percent of students with autism in special education classes. Slightly more than one-third (35 percent) "often" use life-skills materials, and one-quarter are in classes where they "often" use instructional games and toys. Computers are not frequently used for any purpose in special education classes; less than one out of five students with autism are in special education classes in which they use computers "often" for skills practice, word processing, or other applications, or to access the Internet.

For about half (47 percent) of students with autism in nonvocational special education classes, classroom instruction is augmented with instructional activities that occur outside the classroom, such as going to the library or working on a project in the school media center. Activities that take place in the community (e.g., riding a bus, visiting a grocery store) are experienced "often" by 40 percent of students with autism, and 25 percent "often" go on field trips. Each of these activities occurs more frequently in special education than in general education classes, where 23 percent "often" participate in out-of-classroom school-based activities (p < .05), 4 percent "often" participate in community-based experiences (p < .01), and 5 percent "often" go on field trips (p < .01).

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