Single Case Research Design: Teacher Outcomes

NCT06729177 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: 5140921R21DC021024-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 4
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study examines whether a professional development program helps teachers implement Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction (SISI) with higher fidelity. The training includes review of an intervention manual, live modeling of SISI components, and discussion of implementation expectations. Teacher fidelity is evaluated with the Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction Fidelity Tool, which rates the extent to which core components are used during a intervention session. The study also documents how often teachers receive additional support (e.g., coaching) to understand which procedures help strengthen implementation.

Conditions

Teacher Practice

Keywords

Sign Language; Deaf; Teacher Training

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• SISI Fidelity

  The Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction (SISI) Fidelity Tool is a 45-item observational checklist assessing adherence to the model-guided-independent cycle, scaffolding quality, and use of targeted ASL skills. Each item is rated from 0 to 1 (0 = not implemented, 0.5 = partially implemented, 1 = fully implemented). Scores are summed and converted to a percentage (0-100%). Higher scores indicate stronger fidelity of implementation.

  Baseline began at the start of the school year for all participants. Because intervention start times were staggered in the multiple-baseline design, intervention duration ranged from approximately 12 to 40 weeks across participants.

Study Arms (4)

Single Case Research Design: Teacher 1

EXPERIMENTAL

The PI worked with teachers to increase SISI implementation fidelity using a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across teacher participants. Four teachers who served deaf children were recruited from a school for the deaf. The SISI Fidelity Tool was used to observe teachers' business-as-usual language arts instruction and to establish three stable baseline data points for each teacher. Each SISI component was scored as 1 (fully implemented), 0.5 (partially implemented), or 0 (not implemented) and reported as the percentage of components implemented. After baseline observations were completed, the PI provided a two-day training on SISI implementation. Teacher 1 began implementing SISI for three weeks following the training, Teacher 2 began in Week 4, and Teachers 3 and 4 began in Weeks 7 and 10, respectively.

Behavioral: Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction

Single Case Research Design: Teacher 2

EXPERIMENTAL

The PI worked with teachers to increase SISI implementation fidelity using a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across teacher participants. Four teachers who served deaf children were recruited from a school for the deaf. The SISI Fidelity Tool was used to observe teachers' business-as-usual language arts instruction and to establish three stable baseline data points for each teacher. Each SISI component was scored as 1 (fully implemented), 0.5 (partially implemented), or 0 (not implemented) and reported as the percentage of components implemented. After baseline observations were completed, the PI provided a two-day training on SISI implementation. Teacher 1 began implementing SISI for three weeks following the training, Teacher 2 began in Week 4, and Teachers 3 and 4 began in Weeks 7 and 10, respectively.

Behavioral: Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction

Single Case Research Design: Teacher 3

EXPERIMENTAL

The PI worked with teachers to increase SISI implementation fidelity using a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across teacher participants. Four teachers who served deaf children were recruited from a school for the deaf. The SISI Fidelity Tool was used to observe teachers' business-as-usual language arts instruction and to establish three stable baseline data points for each teacher. Each SISI component was scored as 1 (fully implemented), 0.5 (partially implemented), or 0 (not implemented) and reported as the percentage of components implemented. After baseline observations were completed, the PI provided a two-day training on SISI implementation. Teacher 1 began implementing SISI for three weeks following the training, Teacher 2 began in Week 4, and Teachers 3 and 4 began in Weeks 7 and 10, respectively.

Behavioral: Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction

Single Case Research Design: Teacher 4

EXPERIMENTAL

The PI worked with teachers to increase SISI implementation fidelity using a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across teacher participants. Four teachers who served deaf children were recruited from a school for the deaf. The SISI Fidelity Tool was used to observe teachers' business-as-usual language arts instruction and to establish three stable baseline data points for each teacher. Each SISI component was scored as 1 (fully implemented), 0.5 (partially implemented), or 0 (not implemented) and reported as the percentage of components implemented. After baseline observations were completed, the PI provided a two-day training on SISI implementation. Teacher 1 began implementing SISI for three weeks following the training, Teacher 2 began in Week 4, and Teachers 3 and 4 began in Weeks 7 and 10, respectively.

Behavioral: Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction

Interventions

Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction BEHAVIORAL

Evidence-based instructional methods, grounded in cognitive, sociocultural, and linguistic theories, are applied to interventions that support sign language development in deaf children.

Single Case Research Design: Teacher 1; Single Case Research Design: Teacher 2; Single Case Research Design: Teacher 3; Single Case Research Design: Teacher 4

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Teachers of the deaf working in a school for the deaf across kindergarten to 3rd grade levels

You may not qualify if:

• Not teachers of the deaf working in a school for the deaf across kindergarten to 3rd grade levels

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Tennessee, Knoxville: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sign Language

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Language; Communication; Behavior; Manual Communication; Nonverbal Communication

Limitations and Caveats

This study used a multiple-baseline single-case design with four teachers. The design permits identification of functional relations between the intervention and changes in teacher behaviors; however, the small number of participants and the single-site setting restrict the extent to which results can be generalized beyond this context.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Leala Holcomb
• Organization: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

lholcom5@utk.edu

415-307-6410

Study Officials

• Leala Holcomb, PhD

  Center of Deafness

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: This research uses the noncurrent multiple baseline design across teacher participants.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 5, 2024
• First Posted: December 11, 2024
• Study Start: August 23, 2024
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2025
• Study Completion: September 30, 2025
• Last Updated: December 19, 2025
• Results First Posted: December 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: December, 2026 to December, 2036
• Access Criteria: Researchers may contact the principal investigator for additional supporting information not available on OSF.

Locations

US (1)