Evidence-Based Teaching Practices in Autism Education Examining Teacher Knowledge, Use, and Professional Characteristics

Abstract

The current study focused on teachers' knowledge of and reported use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in autism education and the differences between those results based on teacher characteristics. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used in the study, and data from 369 teachers who have experience in teaching autistic students were used in the study. The information comprised EBP knowledge and use scores, as well as teacher characteristics of teaching position, education level, autism specific teaching experience, initial teacher education, continuing professional development, training intensity, school characteristics and access to professional support. There were significant differences between practices in descriptive data, comparisons of groups and post hoc analyses. Teachers reported higher knowledge and use of familiar, classroom-based interventions (such as visual supports, social stories, reinforcement, and modelling, prompting), and less specialized interventions were less familiar or less used. There was a significant amount of variation across all of these factors (teaching role, autism-specific experience, training intensity, CPD, and professional support), and those teachers with more autism specific experience or more intensive training, or with more frequent autism specific professional support, had better EBP outcomes. The results overall underscore the need for autism-specific teacher preparation, ongoing teacher professional development, and frequent autism-specific support from specialists to enhance EBP knowledge and implementation.