INFLUENCE OF CONTEXT RELATED FACTORS ON SAUDI SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING OF EVIDENCE, EVIDENCE-BASED, AND EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICES

The complexity of special education and the variability among students Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) require special education teachers to make a concerted effort to provide validated supports that contribute to their students' learning outcomes. Among the most important considerations for teachers is the use of teaching practices supported as effective by evidence. There is a broad consensus that the use of Evidence Based Practices (EBPs) can lead to significant improvements for students with ASD and their families. The research to practice gap is widely recognised in special education in relation to the selection and implementation of EBPs, with several studies finding that teachers used unsupported teaching practices as frequently as those supported by empirical evidence. Thus, in order to utilise EBPs, teachers must first understand what EBPs mean and how a particular practice comes to be evidence-based. Aligning with this emphasis and the increasing introduction of EBPs in special education globally, this study explored special education teachers' understanding of evidence, evidence-based, and EBPs in one centre of autism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In this study, a qualitative approach was used. Within this approach, a single case study design was adopted. The data were collected from six special education teachers of students with ASD using interviews. The findings revealed that teachers referred to their own individual experiences or the experiences of other teachers as evidence. In addition, they referred to their superiors' advice as being evidence-based and the perceived EBPs as technical tools handed to them by the Centre. This indicated that teachers' understanding of evidence-based, and EBPs was constructed based on the culture of the Centre. The findings of this study suggest several courses of action for future research, and policymakers and teacher education.