English learners (ELs) are one of the fastest growing groups in U.S. public schools, making up approximately ten percent of the student population (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2020, May). Several empirically-supported instructional supports exist to address the unique needs of this group (e.g., the supports included in the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP; Echevarria et al., 2014); however, the extent to which these are used by classroom teachers is unclear. Social validity of these supports may play a critical role in the degree to which they are used. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the measurement qualities of an existing social validity measure (Usage Rating Profile-Intervention Revised [URP-IR]; Briesch et al., 2013) when applied to four instructional supports for ELs. In addition, the current study investigated potential predictors of URP-IR ratings, as well as differences in acceptability between four instructional supports. Lastly, the current study explored the social validity of EL supports beyond acceptability through qualitative teacher interviews. Results indicated that the existing factor structure of the URP-IR was not a strong fit for teacher ratings of four instructional supports for ELs. Further, only one of the predictors explored (teacher training) significantly predicted teacher URP-IR ratings, for two of the four supports (visual aids and alternate response format). Findings indicated that URP-IR ratings differed significantly between all four instructional supports. Lastly, qualitative findings provided a more complete understanding of social validity of instructional supports for ELs by describing teachers' goals for ELs as well as perceptions of effectiveness of the four supports. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Read
