Change for the Better: Assessing Organizational Readiness for ABA Classrooms in Michigan Public Schools

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Introduction: Despite recent statewide adoption of licensure for professionals in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA), Michigan public schools have not thoroughly integrated ABA into special education classrooms for students with challenging behavior and/or deficits in skill acquisition. This is particularly troubling for students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for two reasons. First, ASD is a pervasive disability that impedes child development in multiple domains. Second, ABA is an efficacious treatment for ASD students, and has led to positive outcomes across developmental domains, in addition to placement in less restrictive school environments and successful vocational placement later in life.
Drawing from ABA, developmental psychology, organizational psychology, education, and implementation science, this study will explore whether Michigan educators are willing and able to adopt applied behavior analytic classrooms from an organizational readiness for change (ORC) perspective. We will focus on Weiner’s (2009) two-factor theory of organizational readiness for change and test it in this specific context, using a representative sample of Michigan K-12 school principals.
In Weiner’s (2009) theory, the colloquial terms willing and able are operationalized as “change commitment” and “change efficacy,” respectively. Reflective of motivation theory, Weiner (2009) also discusses change commitment as a function of change valence, or the value that organizational stakeholders attribute to the specific impending change (see Fig. 1). This study includes several hypotheses designed to test the relationships between variables in the Weiner (2009) model within the context of potential adoption of ABA classrooms in Michigan public schools. Hypothesis 1: The endorsement of contextual factors such as organizational culture, existing policies and procedures, past experience, and organizational structure that are all supportive of evidence-based practices will be positively related to organizational readiness for change. Hypothesis 2: Positive endorsement of contextual factors will lead to increases in change valence, which in turn will lead to higher levels of change commitment. Hypothesis 3: Positive endorsement of previously mentioned contextual factors will lead to a more positive informational assessment of task knowledge, resource availability, and situational factors, which will in turn lead to higher levels of change efficacy. Hypothesis 4: Confirmatory factor analysis will support a two-factor structure for organizational readiness for change, indicative of change commitment and change efficacy as constituent factors of the supraordinate construct of ORC.
Method. Data will be collected from a representative sample of K-12 principals from Michigan public schools. Surveys will include basic demographic information, Likert-type items pertinent to contextual factors, change valence, and the informational assessment of task demands, resource perceptions, and situational factors (see Fig. 1). The surveys will include the ORIC as a measure of organizational readiness for change.
Results. Mediated regression analyses will be used to test hypotheses 1-3. Confirmatory factor analysis will be used to test hypothesis 4. This study is expected to contribute to the literature in several ways. Most importantly, it could shed light on how Michigan public schools might become more equitable for students with disabilities, which would in turn lead to an improvement in developmental outcomes for these students.

Author

• Brian Brutzman, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author