The Elementary and Middle Schools Technical Assistance Center (EMSTAC) tested an insider-outsider approach to assist local school districts in effectively identifying and implementing scientifically based practices. Methods used to measure EMSTAC's effectiveness in supporting successful practice adoption are presented. The overarching finding is that EMSTAC-assisted districts learned to work through a systematic process for changing and improving their instructional programs over time. Further, although differences in EMSTAC financial support for districts were substantial, only nonfinancial factors, such as district leadership, were found to significantly influence the change process. Also discussed are the implications and limitations of these findings for improving instructional practices in special education.
Twenty-nine adults with developmental disabilities were trained by an occupational therapist to use city buses for leisure outings to local shopping malls. Program evaluation was based on the number of times each program participant used his or her mobility skills to make an independent leisure outing. These data were collected for 1 year after each person left the program and were analyzed with the use of multiple regression procedures. The results revealed that the participants maintained their mobility skills for 1 year. Older women who shared common leisure interests as well as persons who were afforded more intensive individualized training were especially likely to use the city bus for leisure outings after the treatment program ended. This study demonstrates the long-term effectiveness of occupational therapy when specific treatment goals are matched with individualized training sequences for persons with developmental disabilities.
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