Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning Sciences

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences, Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Devadrita Talapatra

Second Advisor

David Furjanic

Third Advisor

Leandra Parris

Fourth Advisor

Erin Anderson

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Academic intervention, Developmental disability, Intellectual disability, Intervention, Intervention adaptation, School psychology

Abstract

Targeted interventions can equip students with intellectual disabilities (ID) with essential academic skills that support positive post-secondary outcomes. However, the lack of interventions specifically designed for this population creates barriers to equitable education. Until more interventions are developed, educators may benefit from resources that help adapt evidence-based practices to meet the needs of students with IDD.

The first manuscript introduces GAINS-ID (Guide for Adapting INtervention Sessions for Intellectual Disabilities). Based on best practices and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the guide offers examples of adaptations to various intervention components—such as time, materials, environment, objectives, and assessment—to help students with ID meet their educational goals. Although GAINS-ID is tailored for academic interventions, its adaptations can also be applied to social-emotional, behavioral, and adaptive living skills interventions. This guide serves as a resource for school psychologists and educators, either for direct use with students or through consultation.

The second manuscript presents a Delphi study, which is a qualitative approach for gathering expert consensus on a professional issue. Through feedback from two cohorts of experts in school psychology and special education, GAINS-ID underwent five rounds of revision to improve its content validity and feasibility. The guide is considered a final product with experts reaching a percent agreement threshold of ≥80% (i.e., ≥80% of SMEs agree that each component of the guide is valid and feasible and should be kept “as-is”) for 97.4% of items within GAINS-ID.

Together, these manuscripts aim to create a validated and useful tool for educators. Future research may include case studies to observe how school teams use GAINS-ID, its impact on student outcomes, the applications of GAINS-ID to other types of interventions (i.e., social-emotional), and ways that GAINS-ID is used in school consultation, graduate training, and/or professional development.

Copyright Date

8-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Kayla McCreadie

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

446 pgs

File Size

16.3 MB

Download



Share

COinS