Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education

First Committee Member

Joshua Baker

Second Committee Member

Joseph Morgan

Third Committee Member

Tracy Spies

Fourth Committee Member

Tim Bungum

Number of Pages

232

Abstract

For over 15 years, the opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities to continue education in inclusive postsecondary education programs has steadily risen (Baker et. al, 2018). Poor employment trends for these individuals has motivated institutions to provide more educational opportunities by increasing the number of such programs. Education is consistently linked to greater employment opportunities and the potential for greater earnings as more education is achieved (BLS, 2023). Research attests this connection by studying individuals’ experiences in education after high school. In addition to greater employment opportunities, those individuals receiving postsecondary education services are also earning wages at a higher rate (Migliore et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2018). While this is promising for individuals with intellectual disabilities, research on evidence-based practices used in postsecondary education settings is limited. There are two primary aims of this dissertation. First, the purpose was to examine the use of two evidence-based practices (e.g., Model-Lead-Test, Video Prompting) used in an intervention of four individuals attending an inclusive postsecondary education program for work and professional related tasks. The intervention was completed previously, and the researcher examined the extant dataset. Examining the data found an adapted alternating treatment design where all four participants were taught two professional- and work-related tasks i.e., Google Calendar Task, professional email task). The mode of instruction (i.e., Model-Lead-Test, Video Prompting) was randomly assigned and instruction in each task alternated between probes. All four participants made steady progress towards learning the task with two of the four participants reaching a maintenance phase. Results indicate both modes of instruction were therefore effective in teaching the task. Also, each participant indicated satisfaction in learning the task and the mode of instruction used to learn the task. Second, another purpose of this dissertation was to examine the social validity of the two evidence-based practices from the perspective of inclusive postsecondary education staff members working specifically on career development within their program. Using the extant data and creating a vignette to explain the intervention, a survey was designed and sent to program staff to evaluate the social validity of the two evidence-based practices. Results of the survey indicated that both strategies were effective and neither strategy was better than the other. This dissertation looked to extend research in the social validity of two evidence-based practices used in postsecondary education settings. Ultimately, this research looked to move the field forward as researchers continue to examine “what works and with whom” in inclusive postsecondary education (Papay & Grigal, 2019).

Keywords

Competitive Integrated Employment; Evidence-Based Practices; Intellectual and Developmental Disability; Model-Lead-Test; Postsecondary Education; Video Prompting

Disciplines

Education | Special Education Administration | Special Education and Teaching

File Format

PDF

File Size

1924 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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