An Evaluation of the Attitudes Teachers Have Towards Adopting Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Autism in Preschool Classrooms

Abstract

No longer considered a rare or low incidence disability, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has made an impact in all academic environments across the country and around the world for educators in both general and special education settings. Given the complexity of ASD, the need goes beyond identifying effective practices but examining how teachers' attitude about evidence-based practices influences their willingness to actually implement them. This study examined the responses from 73 certified preschool educators working in preschool programs for students with ASD relative to their attitude towards adopting evidence-based practices. Participants completed the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) in an online forum. In addition to the EBPAS, fidelity measures associated with three different models were used to measure the manner in which participants used the three approaches in the preschool classrooms. The participants were part of a larger, national multi-state study, Comparison of Two Comprehension Treatment Models for Preschool-aged Children with Autism and Their Families (P.I. S. Odom: IES: R324B070219) which was examining comprehensive treatment model preschool programs for children with ASD. Results from an ANOVA analysis between the three preschool models indicated that attitudes teachers have toward using evidence-based practices did not significantly vary across models. Additionally, a series of Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine the strength of the relationship between teaching fidelity and the attitudes teachers have toward adopting evidenced-based practices.