Adaptation of COMPASS for use in Autism-Specific Schools in Australia: A Cluster Randomized Trial.
Abigail M A Love, Ru Ying Cai, Jennifer Stephenson and 3 others
PMID 38822899WHAT IT FOUND
Adapting the COMPASS goal-setting programme for Australian autism schools improved student progress on individualized goals by the end of the year.
The intervention group reached higher goal attainment scores than the usual care group, though no difference was seen at midterm.
Key findings
01Students in the COMPASS group showed a significant treatment effect on goal attainment scores at the final assessment, unlike at the midterm assessment.
02At the end of the year, 75% of students in the COMPASS group met their stated goals at the expected level or higher, compared to 50% of students receiving usual services.
03Teachers in the COMPASS group reported higher adherence to their teaching plans across the year compared to those in the usual services group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted during the 2021 school year, which included COVID-19 home learning periods. The lack of difference at midterm may be due to these disruptions, and the results may not generalize to a typical school year. The SAU group did not have a standardized number of goals, whereas COMPASS students always had three. This difference in goal structure complicates the comparison. The study was conducted in autism-specific schools with highly trained staff, so the results may not apply to mainstream schools or settings with less specialized support. Missing data occurred for some students in the SAU group due to having fewer than three goals, which required statistical adjustments. The sample size was small (36 students), and the effect size at the final assessment was very large, which may be unstable in smaller samples.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the University of Sydney. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume COMPASS is effective for short-term goals. The study found no significant difference between COMPASS and usual care at the midterm assessment; benefits only emerged by the end of the school year. Additionally, the usual care group performed better than in previous US studies, suggesting that existing high-quality school protocols may already yield good outcomes, making the added value of COMPASS less clear in well-resourced settings.
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