Abstract
This study examined the effects of a professional development (PD) intervention on inservice teachers' use of embedded instruction practices within inclusive preschool classrooms. The results of a multiple baseline across participants design suggested the PD intervention was effective in increasing teachers' implementation fidelity of embedded instruction learning trials (EILTs) to address individualized learning objectives of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Teachers generalized and maintained their use of EILTs to novel children with disabilities within novel settings during follow-up sessions three months after the PD ended. Positive outcomes of individualized learning objectives were also observed across children.
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Acknowledgements
We thank teachers, parents, and children of the pilot inclusive preschool for their participation. We thank the preschool director for their thoughtful feedback on the design of the professional development intervention. We thank Dr. Zhao’s undergraduate students in Class 2021 for assisting the data collection and data analysis.
Funding
This research was funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. CKA220274).
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JA designed the study, collected and analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. MZ collected and analyzed the data. SB critically reviewed the manuscript. EH critically reviewed the manuscript and advised on the design and implementation of the study.
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This study was approved by an equivalent office to the Institutional Review Board in the second author’s university. All teacher participants and the parents of child participants provided written consent for participating in this study.
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Ai, J., Zhao, M., Behrens, S. et al. Professional Development Improves Teachers' Embedded Instruction and Children's Outcomes in a Chinese Inclusive Preschool. J Behav Educ 33, 374–395 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-022-09490-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-022-09490-5