A Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Intervention Implementation in Special Education.

Background: In the autism literature, “evidence-based practices” (EBPs) are practices which have repeatedly been shown effective in addressing key deficits associated with autism (Odom et al., 2010). These practices have been found to lead to optimal outcomes for students with autism and special education teachers (Bond et al., 2016; Wong et al., 2013). Traditionally, however, teachers’ engagement in EBPs has been poor, with teachers engaging in classroom practices that have little scientific support (McMahon & Cullinan, 2014). Factors that may affect teachers engagement in EBP’s have been theorised to include staff training and buy-in (Forman et al., 2013), however, these factors have not yet been delineated.

Objectives: This study aimed to synthesise and analyse findings related to the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of evidence-based practices in special education.

Methods: Papers were extracted from the following databases: Academic Source Complete, ERIC, Education Source and PsycInfo. A total of 3452 papers were returned and screened by abstract and title. 188 papers were included for full text review. From these, 8 quantitative papers and 7 qualitative papers were included for data synthesis and analysis.

Results: Results indicate that the barriers to implementation are yet to fully be delineated. Barriers and facilitators were present across different systems, including; the individual teacher, the school environment and external policies. Barriers and facilitators within these systems included resources, training, administrative support, and school wide supports.

Conclusions: Barriers and facilitators to intervention implementation in special education are evident at the macro, meso and micro levels of the individual. Whilst little can be done by special education teachers at the macro level, this paper has identified key factors at the micro level which could be used to inform interventions to alleviate barriers to intervention implementation.