This study examines the specific academic skills of children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS). Within the context of an observational case–control study, participants included 85 children with 22q11.2DS and 78 healthy controls. All participants underwent intelligence quotient and academic testing with the appropriate Wechsler assessment scales. When compared to controls, children with 22q11.2DS performed significantly worse on all academic tasks. Furthermore, although many children with 22q11.2DS performed in the bottom quartile, few met the criteria for the low achievement definition of a learning disability when the criterion of average intellectual functioning was included. Children with 22q11.2DS showed better reading and spelling skills than math skills, with specific deficits noted in literal and inferential reading comprehension as well as in one- and two-digit multiplication. These findings reinforce previous findings showing reading decoding skills being significantly higher than math skills and extend earlier findings by including additional educational intervention targets for this school-age population.
Special education has made substantial advances in evidence-based academic and behavioral interventions, but less attention has been devoted to understanding how instruction and intervention can be systematically aligned across tiers of support to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability. In this article, we introduce the special issue regarding aligning instructional and behavioral practices across tiers of support. We define alignment as the deliberate coordination of instructional goals, teaching practices, intervention approaches, assessment systems, behavioral supports, professional learning structures, and implementation processes across tiers of service delivery to create coherent approaches for multitiered systems of support while preserving the flexibility needed to address individual student needs. Future directions for research and practice are discussed.
Scholars have posed several explanations for the limited progress in improving reading comprehension outcomes for students with reading difficulties (RD), including inadequate measurement, the complex nature of reading comprehension, underdeveloped vocabulary and background knowledge, and the lack of theory-informed instruction. We provide another possible explanation: the lack of aligned reading practices across settings. This article describes an approach to aligning reading comprehension practices (e.g., building background knowledge, explicit vocabulary instruction, generating main idea statements) across tiers (i.e., core and intervention), which includes using the same strategies, instructional language, and pacing. This alignment supports students with RD to engage in intentional practice opportunities across reading experiences, thereby supporting generalization, skill transfer, and successful learning from text. We describe prior research on aligning reading comprehension instruction and provide a detailed example of this alignment from Project ALIGN. We conclude by providing considerations for future research and implications for educators.
In this systematic literature review we examined evidence for Second Step , a social-emotional learning curriculum implemented as a Tier 1 practice with elementary students. We applied Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Standards for Evidence-Based Practices in Special Education to evaluate if Second Step elementary could be considered an evidence-based practice. We found 37 studies meeting inclusion criteria, of which 13 met our weighted CEC quality indicator coding criterion (80%) to be considered methodologically sound. Following CEC guidelines, we classified three of 13 studies as having positive effects , while eight had neutral/mixed effects , and two were missing data preventing effect size calculation needed for classification. With three non-randomized group studies demonstrating positive effects and eight studies with neutral/mixed effects , the ratio of positive to neutral/mixed did not meet the minimum criterion of 3:1 or greater, so we placed Second Step elementary into CEC’s mixed evidence category of evidence-based classifications. We then discuss educational implications of these findings and future research directions.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience differences in peer proximity and need educator support to develop strong peer relationships. Sensor technologies have emerged to inform interventions that can support interactional proximity. An exploratory study was conducted to test a sensor technology in an inclusive classroom with a child with ASD and nine peers. Data were collected and analyzed to understand the interactional proximity of the child with ASD with peers and teachers including initiations, and terminations with peers. Results show differences in peer proximity, initiations, terminations, and preferences for specific peers. Teacher proximity for the head and assistant teacher is also reported. Findings show initial support for sensor technology to measure the interactional proximity of children with ASD and their peers including initiations, and terminations, as well as provide insights about teacher proximity.
