Saudi teachers' perspectives on implementing evidence-based transition practices for students with intellectual disabilities.
Saudi veteran teachers say they already use transition EBPs, but we still need parent input and student outcome data.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked Saudi secondary teachers how often they use evidence-based transition practices. They sent a survey to teachers of students with intellectual disability.
Teachers rated their own use of practices like vocational training, self-advocacy lessons, and family meetings.
What they found
Teachers reported high use of most transition practices. Veterans with ten or more years on the job scored highest.
Experience beat class size, degree level, or training hours as the top predictor.
How this fits with other research
Stephens et al. (2018) scoured the literature and found almost no studies on culturally sustaining transition work with families. The new Saudi data fill that gap from the teacher side.
Ruble et al. (2019) showed that strong parent-teacher teams boost goal attainment for US students with ASD. The Saudi survey hints that veteran teachers may already build those alliances, but parent voices are still missing.
Schaaf et al. (2015) found that US students with autism rarely get truly functional curricula and still struggle after school. Saudi teachers say they use EBPs, yet without outcome data we cannot tell if their students fare any better.
Why it matters
If you coach transition teams, start by tapping veteran teachers as on-site mentors. Pair them with newer staff and add parent-engagement steps to every IEP meeting. Track real-world outcomes like paid work or community access to see whether high teacher scores actually lead to better adult lives.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Improving students' transition outcomes requires providing adequate transition services that use evidence-based transition practices (EBTPs). AIM: The current study investigates teachers' perspectives on implementing EBTPs for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) and explores the differences in the implementation of EBTPs for students with ID according to the following variables: gender, educational level, and teaching experience. METHODS: To obtain the research objectives, the researchers implemented a quantitative descriptive approach and utilized the survey as a tool for data collection. The survey consisted of two parts: the first part included information about the participants' characteristics, while the second part consisted of 29 items regarding the level of implementing EBTPs for students with ID. The data was collected from a sample of 170 male and female secondary teachers, which represents 61 % of the study population. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that the level of implementing EBTPs for students with ID was high, and it also found that there were no statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level between the average responses of the study sample according to the variables of the study (gender, educational qualification). However, there were statistically significant differences according to the variable of the study (years of experience) for teachers who have more than 10 years of teaching experience. The implications and recommendations following the results are also discussed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that implementing EBTPs supports providing adequate transition services that improve student transition outcomes.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104512