Peer support interventions are emerging as an effective alternative to traditional paraprofessional models for assisting students with moderate to severe disabilities to access the general curriculum. To contribute to the refinement of peer support interventions, we evaluated the impact of altering the number of participating peers on the social and academic outcomes of students with and without disabilities. Our findings indicated that changes in the configuration of peer support arrangements differentially affected student outcomes. Specifically, higher levels of social interaction and contact with the general curriculum were observed when students with disabilities worked with two peers relative to one peer. The additive benefits of a second peer provide guidance to educators concerning the implementation of peer support interventions in inclusive classrooms.

The authors examined the effects of an intensive onsite technical assistance (IOTA) model on the inclusive practices of special educators. Three special educators received technical assistance that included performance assessments, workshops on inclusive practices, and intensive onsite follow-up support. Inclusive practices were measured using direct observations and interviews to document (a) the use of informal assessment, (b) development and implementation of quality individualized education plans, and (c) access to the general education curriculum. These results showed that the IOTA model was effective in improving the inclusive practices of special educators and the quality of instruction received by students. These findings offer an empirically validated approach to delivering technical assistance to improve the inclusive teaching practices of special educators.

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Recent legislative and school reform efforts require schools to evaluate and improve educational practices for students with severe disabilities. The authors developed the Program Quality Measurement Tool (PQMT) to enable administrators and educators to evaluate the educational programming provided to students with severe disabilities against best practice indicators, identify programmatic strengths and needs, and assess improvements in educational service delivery over time. The PQMT incorporates a multimethod approach to assessing inclusive practices for students with severe disabilities at the levels of the local education agency, school building, and student. The results indicate acceptable levels of interobserver agreement, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, congruent validity, and discriminative validity for the PQMT.

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