Quality of Educational Programs for Elementary School-Age Students with Autism

The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of educational programs for school-aged children with autism in the United States. Investigators completed the Autism Program Environment Quality Rating Systems-Preschool/Elementary (APERS) in 60 elementary schools enrolling children with autism. The mean total rating scores were near the midpoint rating, indicating schools were providing educational program environments classified as adequate but not of high quality. Domains of the APERS reflecting structural quality tended to be significantly above average and domains reflecting process quality tended to be significantly below average. With a few exceptions, inclusive and special education program did not differ significantly in total program quality ratings and reflected the same pattern of domain quality ratings. [This paper was published in "American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities" v127 n1 p29-41 2022 (EJ1329796).]