COMPASS and Innovative Education for Students with Autism

This book examines the five primary areas of the Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success (COMPASS). It describes COMPASS as an evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP) versus an evidence-based practice (EBP) and discusses how it informs innovative individualized education program (IEP) goal setting., planning, and implementation through teacher coaching. In addition, the book introduces the common elements necessary for improved teaching plan quality and child goal attainment in maximizing educational outcomes. It also describes the extension of COMPASS to transition-age high school students with autism as well as the integration of current research findings from NIH-funded studies for transition-age youth and professional development and training. Finally, the book explores innovative methods to support the consistent implementation and expansion of COMPASS across school, home, and community settings. It discusses how to integrate classroomwide performance assessment to identify students in need of the focused instruction that COMPASS provides.

Key areas of coverage include:

• Identifying personalized goals and intervention strategies (i.e., EBPs) using an EBPP framework within COMPASS for students with autism.
• Advances in measurement of IEP quality for transition-age autistic youth
• Integration of accessible online educational materials necessary to  implement COMPASS feasibly when implemented by school consultants and autism trainers
• Lessons learned from professional development and training of community-based autism school consultants for developing high quality intervention plans.
• COMPASS IEP goal attainment and fidelity outcomes with face-to-face, telecoaching, and electronic feedback.

COMPASS and Innovative Education for Students with Autism is an invaluable resource for educators, clinicians, scientist-practitioners, and therapists as well as researchers, professors, and graduate students in the fields of child and school psychology, behavioral therapy, and social work as well as rehabilitation, special education, speech pathology, and all interrelated disciplines.

Lisa A. Ruble, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in school psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington. She is the Earl F. Smith Distinguished Professor in Special Education and Autism at Ball State University. Previously, she was a faculty member and appointed as University Research Professor at the University of Kentucky in School Psychology and held previous appointments at University of Louisville in Pediatrics as well as Vanderbilt University in Pediatrics, where she helped develop autism outpatient, consultation, and professional development services. Dr. Ruble has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles, books, and chapters on autism and has led four NIH-funded trials on improving the educational outcomes of children with autism with COMPASS. She is a past recipient of the New Investigator Award from NIMH. Her research program is based on these past experiences as a Licensed Psychologist when she developed and provided social skills and behavioral interventions, school consultation and training, and parent training. These experiences influenced Dr. Ruble’s interest in services research and the study of issues involved in the provision of evidence-based practices in community settings.

John H. McGrew, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington. He is Professor of Psychology and past Director of the Clinical Psychology Program at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Dr. McGrew has been principal or co-principal investigator of more than 20 grants in the area of mental health services. He has published more than 100 articles in books or professional journals. Dr. McGrew has worked extensively in creating and scientifically evaluating implementation strategies for evidence-based practices. His research has focused heavily on fidelity measurement, identification of critical ingredients, exploration of policy impacts on implementation, and caregiver impacts when raising a child with ASD.