How Effective is Smooth Sailing?

What we found

In a recent test of the Smooth Sailing program, known as a randomized controlled trial, 32 teachers from Massachusetts and California completed the PD program. Based on their experiences, we found that the program enhanced relationships and autism knowledge for general education teachers and improved school adjustment for their autistic students. Participants were all general education teachers (kindergarten through 2nd grade) and their autistic students (one participating student per teacher).

Regarding the program’s effectiveness, the program led to medium to large improvements in teacher-reported student-teacher relationship quality, teachers’ autism knowledge, confidence to teach autistic students, and parent-teacher relationship quality, relative to a comparison group of teachers who had not yet received the program. There were also effects on the young autistic students involved, including medium to large improvements in child emotional-behavioral, social, and academic adjustment. These teacher and child benefits were generally sustained at 2-month follow-up, suggesting that the benefits of the program persisted over time.

Furthermore, based on Smooth Sailing staff observations and teacher self-reports, teachers found the program to be feasible, relevant, and useful. As evidence of its feasibility, we found that all participating teachers completed the Time2Connect sessions, or one-on-one interactions, with their autistic students. In fact, even two months after the program ended, most teachers were still holding regular Time2C sessions with their students, with an average frequency of 2.5 sessions each week. Teachers also reported that they planned to continue to enhance relationship with their autistic students after the intervention ended.

We are now evaluating the program on a larger scale with 120-150 teachers, who will be enrolled over three years between 2023-2026.