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NCT Number: NCT07276750

Coaching and Leadership in Autism Support Settings

Schools serve a large number of autistic children, yet face two critical gaps that stifle the delivery of evidence-based practices: 1) an intervention gap characterized by limited availability of evidence-based practices educators can use to address externalizing behaviors when they occur in the classroom; and 2) an implementation gap consisting of insufficient evidence-based practice fidelity and sustainment over time. To address these gaps, this project proposes a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation trial that simultaneously tests: 1) the clinical effectiveness of an efficient, educator-delivered clinical intervention to reduce autistic children's externalizing behaviors (Research Units in Behavioral Interventions in Educational Settings; RUBIES), and 2) the implementation effectiveness of an organizational implementation strategy designed specifically to enhance sustainment of evidence-based practices in public schools (Helping Educational Leaders Mobilize evidence; HELM). Consistent with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)'s experimental therapeutics approach, the project also examines the mechanisms through which RUBIES impacts clinical outcomes and through which HELM influences implementation outcomes. The proposed study directly responds to high priority research areas of the US Department of Health and Human Services Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee's Strategic Plan for Autism Research, which calls for expanded research on the translation of proven-efficacious interventions into the community, NIMH Strategic Priority 3.3 to test interventions for effectiveness in community practice settings, and NIMH Strategic Priority 4.2 to expedite adoption, sustained implementation, and continuous improvement of evidence-based mental health services. If successful, this study will have substantial public health impact because it will produce an effective intervention for a prevalent problem among a high impact population in schools across the United States of America and will determine how to sustain this (and other) intervention(s) with high fidelity, to the betterment of health.

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Key information

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Autism Spectrum Disorder Autistic Disorder Child Development Disorders, Pervasive Mental Disorders Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Age range

5 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UCLA

Los Angeles, California, 90025, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Special or general education teachers, paraeducators, and other staff who provide direct instruction and/or behavioral support to autistic children during the school day (e.g., speech therapist, school psychologist).
  • Autistic children with:
  • a documented autism spectrum disorder diagnosis via school records (i.e., Individualized Education Program; IEP)
  • are enrolled with a participating educator
  • are in grades K-5
  • ages 5-12
  • Sutter Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R) total score >=101
  • EDI sum score of >=8 at baseline

Exclusion criteria

  • SESBI-R total score <101 (i.e. T score 51+)
  • EDI sum score <8

Treatment and study plan

RUBIES

Other

RUBIES is a promising, but unvalidated, educator-delivered intervention that directly engages mechanistic antecedents of externalizing behavior of autistic children and is ready for large-scale testing. RUBIES is an 8-module intervention designed to help educators functionally evaluate and understand behavior as communication and to account for autistic characteristics including rigidities and sensory sensitivities.

HELM

Other

School principals and district-level leaders (e.g., Special Education Director, Special Education Administrator/Liaison, Inclusion Specialist, etc.) will participate in HELM. HELM is a 9-month, data-driven organizational and leadership implementation strategy that entails eight components: 1) Assessment and Feedback, 2) Initial Training, 3) Leadership Development Plan, 4) Individual Coaching; 5) Organizational Strategy Development; 6) Optional Group Coaching; 7) Professional Learning Collaborative; and 8) Graduation.

Educator Psychoeducation

Other

Autistic children in schools assigned to the educator psychoeducation condition will receive standard of care school-based interventions at the professional discretion and direction of educators (no research intervention). To support enrollment and provide an active clinical comparator to RUBIES, participating educators in schools randomized to this condition will receive an online, self-paced, 8-module independent studies webinar program broadly focused on supporting autistic children in schools. The program includes: 1) Introduction to Autism, 2) Autism in Schools, 3) Interventions for Supporting Communication, 4) Executive Functioning, 5) Inclusion in Schools, 6) Autism EBPs, 7) Social Functioning in Autism, and 8) Recess Engagement Strategies. Each module is 20-35-minutes and does not discuss behavioral management strategies.

Primary outcomes

  1. Reported Externalizing Behavior - SESBI-R

    Time frame: Baseline to 24 weeks after baseline

    The Sutter Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R) is a teacher-report measure used to assess conduct problems in youth ages 2-16. It contains 38 items where teachers are able to indicate the current frequency of behavior problems (Never to Always) and determine whether or not they find the behaviors to be problematic.

  2. Reported Externalizing Behavior- EDI

    Time frame: Baseline to 24 weeks after baseline

    The Emotion Dysregulation Inventory (EDI) is a questionnaire that assesses emotion regulation and is validated for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Response options are on a 5-point Likert scale from "not at all" to "very severe" for observed functioning over the past 7 days.

  3. RUBIES Fidelity

    Time frame: Baseline to 16 weeks after baseline

    Educator Homework Completion is rated by the coach after the completion of each module, with evaluation focused on three domains, each evaluated on a 4-point scale: 1) homework data collection , 2) correct implementation, and 3) frequency. Homework Completion is then calculated as the sum of coach ratings across the 3 domains/12 (total possible score). Educator Behavior Support Plan (BSP) Implementation is rated by the Coach after the completion of each module on a scale of 1-8 (1=none of the components of the BSP are implemented; 4=BSP is partially implemented and with some implementation errors; 8=The BSP is implemented consistently and effectively in its entirety). BSP Implementation is calculated as a proportion: sum of coach ratings/12 (total possible score). These measures allow for a calculation of educator weekly as well as total average Homework Completion and BSP implementation across the course of RUBIES

Secondary outcomes

  1. Sustainment

    Time frame: 52 and 76 weeks after baseline

    Sustainment is defined as 1) the level of fidelity to Research Units in Behavioral Interventions in Educational Settings (RUBIES) post coaching during the second year of study enrollment; and 2) an exploratory binary outcome where the educator achieves ≥60% in RUBIES fidelity ("1") or does not sustain RUBIES ("0"). Sustainment will focus on fidelity ratings of BSP Implementation.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Jill J Locke, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

818-384-3554

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Other

Collaborators

  • University of Washington

Registry information

Acronym: CLASS

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2030
Study completion
2030
First posted
Dec 11, 2025
Registry last updated
Apr 7, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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