Applied Research Unit: Current Research
Current Research
Research Title: Project DATA: A Multisite Evaluation of a School-Based Model for Preschoolers with Autism, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research (subcontract with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center)
Principal Investigator: Ilene Schwartz
Project Coordinator: Jennifer Fung
A randomized trial across the two sites, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Washington, will be conducted with a minimum of 120 children per year over the 5 year period. Child assessments and parent reports will be administered pre-intervention and quarterly thereafter, including measures of symptoms, cognitive functioning, language, problem behavior, social behavior, engagement, and parent and family stress. Measures of adaptive behavior, family routines, and received child services will be collected at baseline and post-treatment. The project will use procedural monitoring to maintain treatment fidelity, balancing of key baseline group differences, blinded data collection with inter-rater reliability checks, and multiple core symptom assessments.
Research Title: National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning,
Office of Head Start
Principal Investigator: Susan Sandall
Co-Principal Investigator: Gail Joseph
Project Coordinator: Randi Shapiro
The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning (NCQTL) will identify, develop, and promote teaching and learning practices with a strong evidence base to help Head Start programs achieve the best possible outcomes for young children. The Center will develop products, deliver professional development opportunities, and work closely with Head Start training and technical assistance providers to ensure that effective educational strategies become everyday practices in Head Start programs throughout the United States and territories. NCQTL is one of six national centers funded by the Office of Head Start to help programs improve outcomes for children and families. Headquartered at the Haring Center, University of Washington, other members of the Leadership Team are located at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University.
Research Title: Evaluation of a Comprehensive Community-Based Intervention for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research (subcontract with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center)
Principal Investigator: Ilene Schwartz
Project Coordinator: Jennifer Fung
A randomized trial across the two sites, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Washington, will be conducted with a minimum of 80 children per year over the 4 year period. Children enrolled will have an autism diagnosis or be at risk for an autism spectrum disorder, and will be between 16-30 months of age at the time of enrollment. Child assessments and parent reports will be administered pre-intervention and quarterly thereafter, including measures of symptoms, cognitive functioning, language, problem behavior, social behavior, engagement, and parent and family stress. Measures of adaptive behavior, family routines, and received child services will be collected at baseline and post-treatment. The project will use procedural monitoring to maintain treatment fidelity, balancing of key baseline group differences, blinded data collection with inter-rater reliability checks, and multiple core symptom assessments.
Research Title: Peer Networks Project: Improving Social-Communication, Literacy, and Adaptive Behaviors for Young Children with ASD, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Special Education Research (subcontract with the University of Kansas)
Principal Investigators: Ilene Schwartz and Roxanne Hudson, University of Washington
Project Coordinator: Nancy Rosenberg
Collaborative Partners: Debra Kamps, Linda Heitzman-Powell, Kathy Thiemann, University of Kansas
Project Summary: The purpose of the Peer Networks Intervention Project is to examine the effectiveness of a comprehensive social-communication and literacy intervention program that addresses early social-communication and interaction skills, reading and academic skills, and behavioral and adaptive functional skills for young children with ASD. This project will test the efficacy of a comprehensive program using a behavior analytic approach with (1) Peer Networks using peer-mediated social-communication intervention and the Play Time Social Time and Connecting Kids curricula, and (2) Peer Networks for academics using teacher-led, early literacy instruction in small groups with neurotypical peers and the Reading Mastery curriculum and peer tutoring to supplement the lessons. The intervention is designed to improve school outcomes for children with ASD. Public school districts in the metropolitan Kansas City, MO and KS area and the Seattle, WA area representing culturally diverse communities will participate.
A randomized trial across the two sites, the University of Kansas and the University of Washington will be conducted with a minimum of 60 children in intervention over the 4 year period, and 60 children in a comparison group. Children will be enrolled in Kindergarten through 1st grade classrooms for the two-year intervention. Outcomes will include multiple measures of academic, social communication, and behavioral performance using pre and post tests, and repeated measures using direct observation. Fidelity will include measures of dosage and procedural quality of intervention, and fidelity measures will be collected for the intervention group (participation in the Peer Networks Intervention) and comparison group (participation in the business as usual literacy and peer group condition). The data analysis for the investigation will (1) determine differential effects between the experimental group and children in the comparison (non-treatment) group for social-communication, literacy, language, and adaptive behavior at the end of first grade; and (2) determine if the Peer Network treatment group has more rapid growth than the comparison group in social-communication, literacy, and language skills. Additional data analysis will determine the degree to which Autistic characteristics, learning rate, and fidelity of intervention impact growth for the treatment group.
Research Title: Teachers Beyond Classrooms - Preparation of Teachers for Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education, US Department of Education, Office of
Special Education Programs
Principal Investigator: Susan Sandall
Project Summary: This preparation program has 3 goals: (a) to increase the number of fully qualified teachers especially those from underrepresented groups, to teach infants, toddlers, and preschool children with disabilities; (b) to put supports in place to ensure retention of these teachers in early intervention and early childhood special education programs; and (c) to prepare teachers who are capable of meeting the needs of those young children who are most challenging to the EI/ECSE special education systems. The project will establish partnerships with high needs school districts and early intervention agencies serving high needs families. The project funds up to 8 graduate students per year. A seminar that focuses on building the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are important for collaborative teamwork has been developed and implemented.
Research Title: Implementing Academic and Behavior Interventions in the Schools
Principal Investigator: Carol Davis
Project Summary: This doctoral leadership program builds on the strong existing doctoral program at the University of Washington and develops a program of study and experience that produces leaders in special education who are committed to solving issues of practice and implementation related to the academic and behavioral difficulties of students. The program has a particular focus on the needs of students in high-needs, urban schools.
The framework for this program is the integrated fieldwork of our leadership fellows in the Ackerly Partner Schools Network. While students increase their depth of knowledge in the areas of research, teaching, and practice through coursework, the field experiences will impact the research questions and teaching practices by identifying and recognizing the organizational variables that facilitate implementation of the evidence-based strategies in these high-need schools.
Research Title: Scaling the Pyramid: A Model of Tertiary Behavior Support in Schools
Principal Investigator: Carol Davis
Project Summary: The purpose of the 'Scaling the Pyramid' project is to develop and validate a model of tertiary supports to be implemented by schools that provides the necessary supports to students who engage in the most challenging behavior. This model is intended to extend the services already provided by schools who are implementing a system of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS). In addition, this model will validate a process to assist schools in delivering structured interventions and monitoring progress in an efficient manner. The goal of this model is to assist school districts in the development of multidisciplinary technical assistance teams (TAT) that can provide a continuum of assistance to educators in providing educational services for students with challenging behaviors.
Research Title: Powerful Choices: Powerful Kids
Principal Investigator: Marilyn Cohen
Project Summary: Powerful Choices: Powerful Kids focuses on the media’s role in the issue of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has become a very serious issue all across this country. Not only is there a high probability that overweight children will become overweight adults but all our children are increasingly at risk for a host of serious health issues including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease based on their food choices. The rates at which these health problems are increasing among U.S. children are truly alarming.
This project focuses on one of the important variables identified by the Institute of Medicine as contributing to this major health issue. Recent statistics reveal that the food industry spends $1.6 billion a year targeting children with its marketing efforts that focus on foods high in sugar, fat and salt. Since the average child sees approximately 3000 ads per day across multiple media platforms, current research is indicating that these media messages are having a great influence on their food choices. Further, our children are spending increasing amounts of time sitting in front of screens, a factor that has also been found to contribute to problems of overweight.
The NW Center for Excellence in Media Literacy (Director, Marilyn Cohen) and the UW’s Center for Public Health Nutrition have designed a multi-faceted project to address the influence of the media on food choices in both home and school. The project has focused on the development and pilot testing of a curriculum designed to use media literacy education as a strategy to empower 4th and 5th children to make healthy food choices. The project also is working with the parents of these students, providing material designed to in form families about the influence of media on their children and strategies they could use to reduce this impact. Finally the project is working with teachers and school administrators to examine issues of nutrition and media and strategies that may be explored school wide. Powerful Choices: Powerful Kids is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and involves students, families and schools in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
Research Title: Take It Seriously: Sex, Abstinence & Media (TISSAM)
Principal Investigator: Marilyn Cohen
Project Summary: Take It Seriously: Sex, Abstinence & Media (TISSAM) is focused on the goals of teen pregnancy prevention and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Each year approximately 750,000 teen girls in the U.S. become pregnant. US teen pregnancy rates are higher than those of other developed countries. Not only does teen pregnancy continue to be a problem in this country, but a fact that seems less well known among the general public is that 1 in 4 sexually active teens will acquire a sexually transmited transmitted disease each year. Funded by the Washington State Department of Health, TISSAM is a sex education curriculum unit that the NW Center for Excellence in Media Literacy has developed in collaboration with groups of high school age teens all across the state. An import ant feature of TISSAM is that it has been designed so that it can be presented by high school age teens to younger teen audiences in 7th, 8th and 9th grades.
TISSAM provides a comprehensive approach to sex education including both the abstinence message as well as information about safer sex. Working in collaboration with Washington State University researchers and Washington State Department of Health, the program is based on three years of exploratory study and is now in its second year of pilot testing. TISSAM involves both schools and community groups and reaches middle and high school age youth across Washington with critical messages about sexuality. The research results t thus far have been extremely promising, indicating that there may be considerable merit in using this new approach to sex education involving media literacy education as a strategy to address critical issues of teen sexuality.
