Randomized Control Trial of COMPASS for Improving Transition Outcomes of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
One COMPASS consultation plus teacher coaching makes high-school transition goals happen far faster than usual services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The research team tested COMPASS. COMPASS stands for Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success.
High-school students with autism joined the study. Half of their IEP teams got COMPASS. The other half kept usual services.
Each COMPASS team met once for a two-hour planning session. After that, a coach visited the teacher twice a month for three months.
What they found
Students in the COMPASS group crushed their transition goals. The effect size was huge.
The control group made only small gains. The difference was big enough to see without statistics.
How this fits with other research
Love et al. (2024) tried the same model in Australia. They worked with younger kids in autism-only schools. They also saw strong gains, showing the model travels well.
Nadig et al. (2018) ran a group class for transition-age adults. That study found only small boosts in self-determination. The difference is COMPASS gives each student a custom plan, not a set curriculum.
Taylor et al. (2023) taught parents to advocate for services. That helped parents, but the student goals still moved less. COMPASS works faster because it coaches the teacher who sees the teen every day.
Why it matters
If you write IEP transition goals, COMPASS gives you a ready map. One meeting plus short coach visits tripled goal success. Ask your district to train a few staff as COMPASS coaches. Start with one student and track the goal data. You should see clear change before the next IEP review.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The postsecondary outcomes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are significantly worse than peers with other disabilities. One problem is the lack of empirically-supported transition planning interventions to guide services and help produce better outcomes. We applied an implementation science approach to adapt and modify an evidence-based consultation intervention originally tested with young children called the Collaborative Model for Promoting Competence and Success (COMPASS; Ruble et al., The collaborative model for promoting competence and success for students with ASD. Springer, New York, 2012a) and evaluate it for efficacy in a randomized controlled trial for transition-age youth. Results replicated findings with younger students with ASD that IEP outcomes were higher for COMPASS compared to the placebo control group (d = 2.1). Consultant fidelity was high and teacher adherence improved over time, replicating the importance of ongoing teacher coaching.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018 · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3623-9