A mixed methods study of individual and organizational factors that affect implementation of interventions for children with autism in public schools
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The significant lifelong impairments associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), combined with the growing number of children diagnosed with ASD, have created urgency in improving school-based quality of care. Although many interventions have shown efficacy in university-based research, few have been effectively implemented and sustained in schools, the primary setting in which children with ASD receive services. Individual- and organizational-level factors have been shown to predict the implementation of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for the prevention and treatment of other mental disorders in schools, and may be potential targets for implementation strategies in the successful use of autism EBIs in schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the individual- and organizational-level factors associated with the implementation of EBIs for children with ASD in public schools. METHODS: We will apply the Domitrovich and colleagues (2008) framework that examines the influence of contextual factors (i.e., individual- and organizational-level factors) on intervention implementation in schools. We utilize mixed methods to quantitatively test whether the factors identified in the Domitrovich and colleagues (2008) framework are associated with the implementation of autism EBIs, and use qualitative methods to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors associated with successful implementation and sustainment of these interventions with the goal of tailoring implementation strategies. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide an in-depth understanding of individual- and organizational-level factors that influence the successful implementation of EBIs for children with ASD in public schools. These data will inform potential implementation targets and tailoring of strategies that will help schools overcome barriers to implementation and ultimately improve the services and outcomes for children with ASD.
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Barriers related to support from school leadership are commonly cited as reasons why EBP implementation fails in the school setting.
“Barriers related to support from school leadership are commonly cited as reasons why EBP implementation fails in the school setting [7, 8].”
From Leading the charge in the education sector: development and validation of the School Implementation Leadership Scale (SILS) (2022) · cites this paper as [8]
The Background (page unavailable) identifies leadership and organizational support as factors that may affect implementation of evidence-based interventions in schools. It does not establish that lack of school-leadership support is commonly cited as a reason implementation fails; it says the relevant leadership constructs had not been systematically studied in public schools. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Locke, J., Beidas, R. S., Marcus, S., Stahmer, A., Aarons, G. A., Lyon, A. R., Cannuscio, C., Barg, F., Dorsey, S., & Mandell, D. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Locke, Jill
- ORCID
- Venue
- Implementation Science
- Published
- 2016-10-10
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 135-135
- ISSN
- 1748-5908 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5057436
- OpenAlex
- W2530796894
- Cited by
- 62
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 9.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Implementation Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- ScholarlyCommons (University of Pennsylvania) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K01 MH100199)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › School Health and Nursing Education
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, evidence-based interventions, intervention implementation, school-based services, public schools, organizational factors, personal factors, implementation strategies, intervention sustainability, children with autism
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Research Design, School Health Services, Schools, Students, Evidence-Based Medicine
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