David L. Lee

Promoting generalization and maintenance in augmentative and alternative communication: A meta-analysis of 20 years of effectiveness research

This synthesis aimed at determining the effectiveness of interventions in augmentative and alternative communication with particular emphasis on strategies that induce generalization and/or maintenance. Fifty single-subject experimental studies, including 232 comparisons of experimental phases, yielded quantitative outcome measures. Interventions were effective in terms of behavior change, generalization, and, although to a lesser degree, maintenance. Using predefined quality indicators to arrive at a best evidence data set, interventions remained effective in changing behavior, whereas generalization and maintenance data could not be interpreted due to the small n. This lack of sufficient best evidence data, along with the prominence of “train and hope” approaches, calls for training of clinical researchers in the breadth of available strategies and training as to how these strategies may be incorporated into treatment procedures. Directions for future research are presented based on identified research gaps and methodologic issues.

Effects of Corrective Feedback Delivered via Wireless Technology on Preservice Teacher Performance and Student Behavior.

In teacher preparation most supervisory feedback is deferred, allowing learners to perform skills incorrectly and delivery of on-site immediate feedback may interrupt instructional flow. This study used a multiple baseline design to examine effects of immediate, corrective feedback delivered via wireless technology on completion of three-term contingency trials. Participants were five preservice special education teachers working on academic skills with students with special needs in elementary and middle school classrooms. Corrective, immediate feedback was shown to be an effective way to increase completion of three-term contingency trials by teachers. During baseline, percentage of completion ranged from 30-92. With corrective, immediate feedback, all five teachers reached criterion level of 90% completion. Overall, mean percentage of correct student responses increased 3 to 17 percentage points over baseline results for four of the five teachers. All teachers rated the method as beneficial. Implications for practice are discussed.

Using Technology to Deliver Immediate Corrective Feedback to Preservice Teachers

Teacher preparation programs are under scrutiny for their role in the troubled American educational system. If American education is to improve, teacher educators must identify and encourage teachers to use effective teaching practices. A promising technique for increasing use of teaching practices is providing feedback to teachers on newly acquired behaviors. The focus of this study was to examine the effects of immediate corrective feedback on one specific teaching behavior, use of three-term contingencies, to preservice teachers. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of immediate corrective feedback, delivered via a wireless FM listening system. Immediate corrective feedback (as compared with delayed feedback) was shown to be an effective way to increase preservice teacher completion of three-term contingency trials by all participants. These findings and other considerations for additional research using feedback are addressed.

Application of the percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) in systematic reviews and meta-analyses: A systematic review of reporting characteristics

The percentage of non-overlapping data (PND; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & Casto, 1987) is one of several outcome metrics for aggregating data across studies using single-subject experimental designs. The application of PND requires the systematic reviewer to make various decisions related to the inclusion of studies, extraction of data, and analysis and interpretation of data. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the reporting characteristics associated with the application of PND in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The authors engage in a discussion of the reporting characteristics found in the data set and propose several directions for future applications and reporting of PND in systematic reviews.

Mentoring in Organizations: A Social Judgment Perspective for Developing Tomorrow's Leaders

Executive Summary Mentoring has been identified as an effective means of leadership development in organizations. This paper presents a theory of mentoring that proposes that effective mentorship fundamentally depends on the mentors ability to help solve various complex social problems that arise in the protégés career. The social judgment capacities (e.g., wisdom, social perceptiveness, moral and social reasoning) that enable complex social problem solving in a mentoring context are discussed. A framework of relationships between social judgment capacity, mentoring functions and protégé outcomes is presented along with implications of these observations for mentoring research and for development of human potential in organizations.

Facilitating Transitions Between and Within Academic Tasks: An Application of Behavioral Momentum

Transitions are critical times for both teachers and students. Efficient between-task and within-task transitions can greatly improve academic learning time. The purpose of this article was to review one intervention, high-probability (high-p) task sequences, as a method to promote more effective transitions. High-p sequences involve presenting a student with a series of brief requests with a history of compliance immediately prior to a request to complete a task that generally results in noncompliance. The results of this review indicate that high-p sequences are an effective method to make academic transitions more efficient. Ideas for application and future research are discussed.

The Social Functions of Antisocial Behavior: Considerations for School Violence Prevention Strategies for Students with Disabilities

Research on school social dynamics suggests that antisocial behavior is often supported by peer group processes particularly during late childhood and adolescence. Building from a social interactional framework, this article explores how information on the social functions of aggressive and disruptive behavior may help to guide function-based interventions to prevent the involvement of students with disabilities in antisocial behavior. The conceptual foundations of a functional perspective of problem behavior are reviewed along with empirical research on the social factors and processes that contribute to the development and maintenance of antisocial patterns. From this background, the social problems that may occur among students with disabilities are examined as potential risk factors for involvement in antisocial behavior and implications for assessment and intervention are considered from a social functions perspective.

Using High-Probability Request Sequences to Increase Journal Writing

Written expression is a key aspect of academic success. Programs to enhance writing skills often rely on a feedback loop that consists of student production (i.e., get something on paper) and teacher feedback. Unfortunately, some students fail to produce enough written product so that the teacher can give constructive feedback. The purpose of this study was to examine two methods to increase the written word production of four students with difficulties in written expression. In the verbal prompt condition, students were given verbal prompts by their teacher to resume writing in their journals after the student stopped writing for approximately one min. In the high-p request condition, the teacher asked students to write a series of three words that typically occasioned compliance prior to asking the student to resume journal writing. Both interventions were assessed within the context of verbal praise and no verbal praise. Results suggested that both interventions increased the number of words written, particularly in the verbal praise condition. However, the high-p request sequence was more efficient and produced writing behavior that was more persistent across sessions. Results are discussed within the context of the theory of behavioral momentum.

High-Probability Request Sequences and Young Children: Enhancing Compliance

ABSTRACT High-probability request sequencing is an emerging ABA technique. Increasingly, studies are being conducted on the use of this technique as a means to increase compliance in persons with and without disabilities. Sixteen published empirical studies are reviewed in which high-probability request sequencing was used to increase compliance to requests in children 8 years of age and younger; results across the studies show effectiveness of the technique. A theoretical framework, methodological adequacies, utility, and implications for research are addressed.

Directed Consultation, the SEALS Model, and Teachers' Classroom Management.

Directed consultation is presented as a professional development framework to guide and support teachers in the implementation of evidence-based interventions that involve contextual and process-oriented approaches designed to be incorporated into daily classroom management. This approach consists of four components: pre-intervention observations and interviews with school professionals, professional development workshops, online training modules, and team- and individual-level implementation meetings. In the current study, directed consultation was used to train sixth-grade teachers to use the Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Support (SEALS) program, a multicomponent intervention model, to promote productive and supportive classroom contexts during the transition to middle school. The current report involved classroom observations in 14 schools (7 interventions, 7 controls) as part of a broader cluster-randomized control trial. A total of 144 classrooms were observed in late fall of the sixth grade during ongoing professional development training activities and again in the spring at the completion of the SEALS training. As compared with control classrooms, teachers in intervention classrooms used more positive feedback and less negative feedback and redirection. Furthermore, teachers in intervention classrooms provided more effective use of classroom structure, feedback to students, behavior management, communication with students, groups and social dynamics, and motivation strategies. Results are discussed in terms of implications for professional development activities aimed at enhancing classroom management.