Empowering Teachers with Low-Intensity Strategies to Support Academic Engagement: Implementation and Effects of Instructional Choice for Elementary Students in Inclusive Settings

Instructional choice is a low-intensity strategy that requires little preparation, is easy to implement, and supports content instruction in the classroom. In this study we explored the effectiveness of two types of instructional choice—across-task and within-task choices—implemented classwide during writing instruction by classroom teachers with limited university support in an inclusive first-grade classroom. Student participants were one boy (Neal) and one girl (Tina) who were identified using academic and behavioral screening procedures as needing more intensive supports in the classroom. Results established a functional relation between choice conditions and increases in academic engaged time and decreases in disruptive behavior for Tina, but not for Neal. Teachers functioned as both primary and reliability data collectors using momentary time sampling and implemented both choice conditions with high levels of fidelity. Social validity was assessed from the perspectives of all stakeholders. Limitations and future directions are discussed.