The Who, How, and What of Educational Outcome Research for Autistic Students Published in the Last Decade: A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review

BackgroundEducational outcome research for autistic students has expanded rapidly over the past decade, reporting variable results. This variability may be partially due to differences in participants and methods. AimsThis review aims to examine a decade of quantitative research and identify who and what educational outcome research has reported on and how outcomes were measured.MethodsFollowing PRISMA guidelines, ERIC, Scopus, PsycINFO, and PubMed were searched with predefined keywords and updated in October 2023. Utilising systematic quantitative literature review methodology, 112 journal articles theses, and reports published 2012-2023 which quantitatively investigate academic, disciplinary, or school attendance outcomes in autistic students were included. Risk of bias was evaluated based on the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology checklist. Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions.ResultsIncluded items reported on 226,314 participants. Most (76%) examined academic achievement, with few items examining disciplinary or attendance outcomes. Research was largely conducted in North America. Reporting of co-occurring conditions and diverse gender presentations was limited. Ethnicity and socioeconomic status of participants were rarely reported. ConclusionsThe findings highlight gaps in reporting in the literature on educational outcomes of autistic students, which limit the practical utility of the findings for educators and researchers.