Assessing Generalization in Single-Case Research Studies Teaching Core Academic Content to Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

One concern raised about teaching content from the general education curriculum to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities is whether they generalize the skills learned to typical performance settings. We conducted a literature review of research studies that taught content from the general education curriculum and assessed generalization of the target skill to determine (a) whether the studies demonstrated a causal relationship between the intervention and the generalization-dependent variable(s), (b) what forms of generalization were assessed, and (c) what strategies were incorporated into the interventions to promote generalized responding by study participants. We identified 31 studies that met the initial selection criteria. However, only 22 demonstrated a causal relationship between the intervention and the acquisition-dependent variable(s), and only four of these studies demonstrated a causal relationship between the intervention and the generalization-dependent variable(s). The implications of the findings for future research are discussed.