Kate Algozzine

What's Happening in Self-Contained Special Education Classrooms?

The purpose of this research was to illustrate and compare the nature of instruction provided in 40 self-contained special classes for students with different categorical classifications. Few differences were indicated in the extent to which teacher communication patterns, learner involvement, and instructional methods were different in classes containing students classified as learning disabled, emotionally handicapped, or educable mentally retarded. The outcomes of this research raise questions about the appropriateness of categorical grouping of students for instruction and relate to issues of personnel training in categorical programs.

Effects of Team-Initiated Problem Solving on Decision Making by Schoolwide Behavior Support Teams

The authors examined the problem-solving practices of school teams engaged in implementing and improving schoolwide behavior support implementation. A multiple baseline design across 4 elementary school teams was used to assess the effects of the Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) training program (1 day of team training plus 2 coached meetings). A direct observation data collection protocol—Decision Observation, Recording, and Analysis—was used to index if teams followed “meeting foundations” practices for effective problem solving (e.g., predictable agenda, stable participants, clear roles for facilitator, minute taker, data analyst) and “thorough problem solving” practices for building interventions (e.g., problem definition, use of data, solution development, action planning). Direct observation results indicate that 3 of the 4 teams demonstrated improved meeting foundations and problem-solving skills after TIPS training. The fourth team also performed well, but documented baseline patterns that were either at optimum levels (meeting foundations) or with an increasing trend (problem solving) that prevented demonstration of an intervention effect. Team members perceived their meetings after TIPS training as resulting in more effective problem solving. Collectively, the results are interpreted as demonstrating a functional relation between TIPS training and improved problem solving practices by school teams. Implications address how to improve team-based consultation and problem solving in schools.

Effects of Multi-Tier Academic and Behavior Instruction on Difficult-to-Teach Students

This article addresses the effects of 3-tiered comprehensive reading and behavior interventions on K-3 student outcomes in 7 urban elementary schools with a high prevalence of students considered difficult to teach. Specific features of each level of the implementation are described including screening and tier placement procedures, scheduling and personnel supports, procedures for ensuring strong implementation with fidelity, procedures for student progress monitoring, and guidelines for instructional decision making. Early literacy skill outcomes for students were the primary dependent measures in reading; schoolwide office discipline referral rate was the dependent measure in behavior. Significant improvement was evident in phoneme segmentation and nonsense word fluency in reading and significant decreases were documented in office discipline referrals across treatment and comparison schools. Significantly higher outcomes were also recorded on required statewide end-of-grade assessments in treatment schools. Implications and caveats concerning effective implementation of the model in other settings are provided. The article emphasizes that changing schoolwide reading and behavior risk requires effective intervention, instruction, and support in both areas.

Facilitating Academic Achievement Through Schoolwide Positive behavior Support

Two pieces of federal legislation—the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002—put forth the idea that education should be an evidence-based field of practices for which verifiable information exists to support adoption and sustained use (cf. Fuchs & Deshler, 2007; Kratochwill &. Shernoff, 2004; Merrell & Buchanan, 2006; National Research Council, 2005). As a result, the search for and development and use of evidence-based practices has become the driving force in school improvement efforts across the country. Schoolwide positive behavior support (SW-PBS) is an evidence-based practice with broad applicability for improving academic and behavior outcomes in schools.

Using a Problem-Solving Model to Enhance Data-Based Decision Making in Schools

Making decisions is a core activity in schools. Every school has faculty teams that meet regularly to make decisions concerning logistical, administrative, academic, and social issues. The thesis of this chapter is that team decisions will be more effective and efficient when they occur in the context of a formal problem-solving model with access to the right data, in the right format, at the right time.

A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Analysis of the Implementation Integrity of Team-Initiated Problem Solving Processes.

Members of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) teams from 34 elementary schools participated in a Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Workshop and follow-up technical assistance. Within the context of a randomized wait-list controlled trial, team members who were the first recipients of the TIPS intervention demonstrated greater implementation integrity in using the problem-solving processes during their team meetings than did members of PBIS Teams in the Wait-List Control group. The success of TIPS at improving implementation integrity of the problem-solving processes is encouraging and suggests the value of conducting additional research focused on determining whether there is a functional relation between use of these problem-solving processes and actual resolution of targeted student academic and social problems.

Building Local Capacity for Training and Coaching Data-Based Problem Solving With Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Teams

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Teams use data to guide decisions about student social and academic behavior problems. In previous evaluation and research efforts, the authors taught team members to use Team-Initiated Problem Solving, a model that embeds data-based decision making into a broader problem-solving framework. In this study, the authors taught local trainer/coaches to deliver the problem-solving workshop to Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Team members. Trainer/coaches delivered the workshop and follow-up technical assistance with fidelity, and team members subsequently (a) used the problem-solving procedures in their meetings and (b) perceived positive differences between their pre- and postworkshop meetings. The study provides support for developing local capacity to deliver training and coaching, in particular as it concerns data-based decision making and problem solving.

Development and Technical Characteristics of a Team Decision- Making Assessment Tool: Decision Observation, Recording, and Analysis (DORA)

Problem solving is fundamental to psychoeducational assessment practices and generally grounded in activities related to identifying problems, developing and refining hypotheses, generating solutions, developing and implementing actions, and evaluating outcomes. While the process is central to response-to-intervention practices as well, little research has addressed the form, content, or outcomes of decision-making teams as they operate in schools. One barrier to building a program of research on team problem solving has been the absence of a credible and feasible measure of team performance. We developed the Decision Observation, Recording, and Analysis (DORA) tool to document problem-solving behaviors during team meetings. We were interested in evaluating problem solving during team meetings that focus on academic and behavior concerns in school. We describe the development and preliminary psychometric data for DORA in this article. Our discussion focuses on the implications of DORA for expanding the study of team processes and for improvement of problem-solving practices in schools.

Current State Practices in Educating Students Who Are Gifted and Talented.

In most states, more gifted and talented students are served each year than any other group of exceptional students other than those with learning disabilities (Ysseldyke & Algozzine, 1990). For this survey, information about identification practices, the nature of certification programs, and the history of providing services and special funding to gifted students was requested from chief state program administrators. Directors of gifted and talented programs in 38 states responded to the Gifted Practices Survey. Most states began providing special support for gifted and talented students after 1970; federal assistance to these special education programs ended in 1981. As demonstrated in previous research, most states reported using a widely known definition (Marland, 1972) in identification practices. In most states, program administrators reported that regular classroom teachers and teachers of gifted students participate in identification practices; school psychologists, prinicipals, and parents partic...

Classroom Effects of an Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Partnership.

We evaluated an Early Childhood Educator Professional Development (ECEPD) project that provided high-quality, sustained, and intensive professional development designed to support developmentally appropriate instruction for preschool-age children based on the best available research on early childhood pedagogy, child development, and preschool learning. Participating teachers in ECEPD classrooms received extensive, intensive, and continuous professional development and coaching on critical features of evidence-based early literacy practices essential to school success. Evidence from comparisons of classroom instructional variables indicated consistent differences for teachers participating in project-directed professional development compared with their peers who did not participate in similar programs. Anticipated benefits of participating in high-quality, sustained, and intensive professional development designed to support developmentally appropriate instruction for preschool-age children based on the ...