Objectives: To compare the engagement states of TSS workers to teachers and classroom assistants in 56 kindergarten-through-second grade autism support classrooms in the School District of Philadelphia across seven months in the 2010-2011 school year.
Methods: Sample includes TSS workers from 56 classrooms participating in a randomized controlled trial of a behavioral intervention conducted in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. There were 303 45-minute observations of classrooms across seven months. Engagement states of all classroom staff were coded every ten minutes, resulting in 1002 data points of teacher behaviors, 732 data points of classroom assistant behaviors and 581 data points of TSS behaviors.
Behavior states were categorized as engaged or disengaged. Engaged states included “teaching” (i.e., actively engaged in a teaching activity with a child or group of children including a one-to-one lesson, helping student use a schedule, self-help skills), “other with child” (i.e., helping child with activities that are not specifically teaching such as taking a child to the bathroom, passing out a snack, addressing challenging behaviors, sitting behind a child in a group to make sure they stay in place, sitting near a child with only brief interactions or reminders. Researchers coded here if the child was taken out of the room to go to the nurse’s office, taken to the hallway to deal with a behavior issues, etc.), “Preparation” (i.e., compiling workbooks or materials), “Data Collection”, “Work Talk, Work Phone, Work Computer, or Work Reading”. Disengaged states included “Personal Talk, Personal Phone, Personal Reading”, “Sitting” and “Personal Paperwork”.
Results: Teachers were engaged during 97.60% of the observed data points, classroom assistants were engaged during 90.03% of the observed data points, and TSS were engaged during 55.61% of the observed data points, indicating that for a large portion of the observed time TSS were not interacting with students, teachers, classroom assistants or fellow paraprofessionals.
Conclusions: Teachers and classroom assistants spent most of their classroom time engaged with students and with the classroom environment. TSS workers spent significantly less time engaged with students and classroom environment. Further research is needed to determine the barriers to engagement for TSS. Schools, parents and public and private agencies should evaluate the role of TSS in autism support classrooms and consider measures that would facilitate greater engagement, including promoting TSS training that increases awareness and understanding of how to effectively engage with a student on the autism spectrum, articulating the role of the TSS as a proactive and engaged member of the school staff, establishing consistency of mission and values between the school district and TSS agency, and reevaluating the sustainability of the one-to-one mode of paraprofessional service delivery.
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