Project Activities
Children with intellectual or developmental disabilities and teachers from across the country will participate in this research project. A series of five studies will be conducted to: (1) establish the reliability and validity of the Supports Intensity Scale for Children instrument; (2) calibrate scale scores resulting from the Supports Intensity Scale for Children with those from the adult version of the assessment; (3) determine how the items relate to typically developing children; (4) assess the ease of use and utility of the Supports Intensity Scale for Children for developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs); and (5) examine the association between the Supports Intensity Scale for Children and the supports identified in the IEPs.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The research will take place within 50 school districts across the country.
Sample
Children with intellectual or developmental disabilities between the ages of 5 and 18 from across the nation will participate.
The Supports Intensity Scale for Children is a tool to assist teachers and related service providers with input from parents in identifying the intensity of support a child with an intellectual disability will need to participate fully in school and the community.
Research design and methods
Nearly 1,500 students with intellectual or developmental disabilities aged 5 through 18 will be drawn from schools across the country, stratified by age, representing a range of characteristics including gender, economic status, race, level of intellectual disability, and ethnicity. They will all be administered the Supports Intensity Scale for Children, but the 17- and 18-year-old children in this sample will also take the adult version of the instrument in order to align the two measures. Extant data from another 1,500 students with intellectual or developmental disabilities will also be analyzed for validity and reliability of the measure. Finally, the research team will conduct focus groups, surveys, interviews and observations to evaluate student outcomes, the ease and utility of the Supports Intensity Scale for Children when developing IEPs, and the items relevant to typically developing students.
Control condition
There is no control group.
Key measures
One key measure is the adult version of the Supports Intensity Scale for Children assessment that will be used with 17- and 18-year-old students. Student IEPs will be evaluated to compare those IEPs written by teachers who are using the Supports Intensity Scale for Children to those who are not using the assessment.
Data analytic strategy
Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis and multi-level structural equation modeling (SEM) will be used to examine the reliability and validity of the assessment. Pearson's product coefficients will be generated for inter-interview reliability, inter-respondent reliability, mixed inter-rater reliability, and test-retest reliability. To calibrate the child and adult versions of the Supports Intensity Scale, the researchers will use item response theory for ordinal scores and SEM for interval scores.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Products: The products of this study include a fully developed and validated Supports Intensity Scale for Children, training modules and manuals, publications, and presentations.
Book
Thompson, J. R., Wehmeyer, M. L., Hughes, C., Shogren, K. A., Seo, H., Little, T. D.,.. Tassé, M. J. (2016). Supports Intensity Scale— Children's Version (SIS—C) User's Manual. American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.aaidd.org/sis/sis-c.
Book chapter
Thompson, J.R., Hughes, C., Walker, V., DeSpain, S. (in press). Measuring support needs and support planning. In M.L. Wehmeyer & K.A. Shogren (Eds.),Handbook of research based practices in educating students with intellectual disability. New York: Routledge.
Journal article, monograph, or newsletter
Seo, H., Little, T.D., Shogren, K.A., and Lang, K.M. (2016). On the Benefits of Latent Variable Modeling for Norming Scales: The Case of the Supports Intensity Scale - Children's Version. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 40(4): 373-384. doi:10.1177/0165025415591230
Seo, H., Shogren, K. A., Little, T. D., Thompson, J. R., and Wehmeyer, M. L. (2016). Construct Validation of the Supports Intensity Scale - Children and Adult Versions: An Application of a Pseudo Multi trait-Multimethod Approach. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 121(6): 550-563. doi:10.1352/1944-7558-121.6.550
Seo, H., Shogren, K.A., Wehmeyer, M.L., Hughes, C., Thompson, J.R., Little, T.D., and Palmer, S.B. (2016). Exploring Shared Measurement Properties and Score Comparability Between Two Versions of the Supports Intensity Scale. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 39: 216-226. doi:10.1177/2165143415583499
Shogren, K. A., Wehmeyer, M. L., Seo., H., Thompson, J. R., Schalock, R. L., Hughes, C., Little, T. D., and Palmer, S. B. (2016). Examining the Reliability and Validity of the Supports Intensity Scale-Childrens Version in Children With Autism and Intellectual Disability. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. doi: 10.1177/1088357615625060 Full text
Shogren, K.A., Seo, H., Wehmeyer, M.L., Thompson, J.R., Hughes, C., Little, T.D., and Palmer, S.B. (2015). Support Needs of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Age-Related Implications for Assessment. Psychology in the Schools, 52(9): 874-891. doi:10.1002/pits.21863
Thompson, J.R., Wehmeyer, M.L., Hughes, C., Shogren, K.A., Palmer, S.B., and Hyojeong, S. (2014). The Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version: Preliminary Reliability and Validity. Inclusion, 2(2): 140-149. doi:10.1352/2326-6988-2.2.140
Walker, V.L., DeSpain, S.N., Thompson, J.R., and Hughes, C. (2014). Assessment and Planning in K-12 Schools: A Social-Ecological Approach. Inclusion, 2(2): 125-139. doi:10.1352/2326-6988-2.2.125
Additional project information
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
