COMPASS Across Settings (CAST) for Improving Transition Outcomes for Students With ASD

NCT06309160 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: R324A230008
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 297
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to develop and test the COMPASS \[Collaborative Model for Competence and Success\] Across Settings (CAST) intervention to enhance the goal setting and attainment skills of autistic youth. Despite federal education law mandating transition services as part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for ensuring good outcomes for students with disabilities, current educational practices have been unable to demonstrate that autistic students experience positive postsecondary outcomes. There are existing, evidence-based interventions aimed at supporting positive outcomes for these students. However, these interventions have not systematically provided coaching support to the caregivers, students, and employment specialists. To address these issues, CAST will integrate three evidence-based interventions for supporting student transitions while providing this critical coaching support. By doing so, CAST aims to align the priorities and goals of interventions across home, school, and community settings to better support positive postsecondary outcomes for autistic students.

Conditions

Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Goal Attainment of IEP progress (Ruble et al., 2012; 2018).

  Goal attainment is assessed using psychometric equivalence goal attainment scaling (PET-GAS). Each goal attainment scale used a five-point rating scale: - 2 = student's present levels of performance, - 1 = progress, 0 = expected level of outcome by the end of the school year, +1 = somewhat more than expected, +2 = much more than expected. Half-scores were allowed when raters observed skill levels between two benchmarks. A score of zero represented improvement consistent with the actual description of the written IEP objective. PET-GAS pre- and post-treatment ratings are based on video demonstrations, work samples, and/or data collected by the teacher, caregiver, and/or job coach. In a prior study, two coders independently coded 65% of the goals at baseline and three coders independently rated 35% at final evaluation. Interrater agreement was .94 at baseline and .86 at final evaluation.

  Outcomes are assessed at the end of the school year (9 months from start of intervention)

• Attainment of Postsecondary Goals (Ruble et al., 2019)

  Postsecondary outcomes will be assessed by parent report of attainment in goals (such as enrolling in a training or college program and living independently; Ruble et al., 2019). IEP goal progress is based on a Likert-type scale questionnaire. Parents are asked to think of where the student was at the beginning of the school year with the specific skill (goal) and rate how much progress has been made to date using a five-point scale (1 'none at all' to 5 'a great deal') for each of the three monitored IEP goals. Because CAST prioritizes the development of goals that represent the pivotal areas of instruction for students with autism-social, communication, and learning/work behavior skills, similar goal domains are selected for the control group students for end of the year progress. In a prior study (Ruble et al., 2019), informants' judgments of goal progress were internally consistent across the three goals (alpha) for the parent measure (α = .81) and the teacher measure (α = .69).

  Once a year (3 months following school graduation)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Fidelity Assessment of Initial CAST consultation (Ruble et al., 2018)

  One time after the initial consultation (within 2 months of the start of the school year).

• Fidelity Assessment of CAST Coaching (Ruble et al., 2018)

  At each coaching session (four timepoints) from fall through spring of school year (about every 4-6 weeks following the initial consulation)

• Organizational Connectedness

  At 2 time points; start of the intervention and at the end of the intervention (over a 9 month period or school year)

• Transition Plan Quality (Ruble et al., 2019)

  Once per year; at the end of the school year

Study Arms (3)

Focus Groups to Inform CAST

NO INTERVENTION

For the year 1 development activities, the research team will conduct focus groups with administrators, special education teachers, parents, students, and pre-employment transition specialists about how to integrate plans and services across settings.

Pre-Post study of CAST

EXPERIMENTAL

The research team will then conduct a field test of CAST in year 2, making further revisions.

Behavioral: COMPASS Across Settings (CAST)

Randomized Controlled Study of CAST

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

In year 3, they will use a mixed methods design using a small RCT and network analysis, oversampling African American students and students from rural areas, to evaluate CAST for improved postsecondary outcomes in employment, training, and education.

Behavioral: COMPASS Across Settings (CAST)

Interventions

COMPASS Across Settings (CAST) BEHAVIORAL

CAST will begin with an initial joint session with the student, caregiver, special education teacher, and pre-employment transition specialist that allows for discussion on the student's postsecondary goals, preferences, frustrations, challenges, and strengths related to social skills, adaptive/self-management, communication, problem behaviors, learning skills, and sensory sensitivities and preferences. This discussion will pinpoint critical social, communication, and work behavior/learning goals related to postsecondary goals and inform the intervention plans that are generated for each goal. Following this initial consultation, there will be four additional 1-hour sessions that incorporate evidence-based coaching, provided by the investigators, including performance feedback monitoring and instructional support. Each session is standardized and allows for assessment of student progress and intervention modification/self-reflection on the implementation of the intervention plans.

Pre-Post study of CAST; Randomized Controlled Study of CAST

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 16 Years - 99 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Students with verified autism and IEPs that designate services for autism
• Caregivers of students with autism
• Special education teachers of students with autism
• Pre-employment specialists of students with autism

You may not qualify if:

• Not planning to move or leave their job over the school year

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ball State University: lead
• University of Toledo: collaborator
• Indiana University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Ball State University

Muncie, Indiana, 47306, United States

RECRUITING

Related Links

• Website that explains study and offers assessment tools to use for CAST/COMPASS

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Central Study Contacts

Lisa A Ruble, PhD

CONTACT

765-285-5702; lisa.ruble@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Independent observer evaluating goal attainment outcomes
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Pre-post; randomized control

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2024
• First Posted: March 13, 2024
• Study Start: December 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2027
• Last Updated: March 13, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)