Patricia M. Barbetta

Classroom Behavior Management: A Dozen Common Mistakes and What to Do Instead

This article presents a dozen common classroom management mistakes that teachers make, followed by suggestions as to what we should do instead. The mistakes presented are committed frequently at many grade levels and in all types of learning environments. The recommended suggestions are relatively easy to implement and useful for all types of learners.

A Comparison of Active Student Response and On-Task Instruction on the Acquisition and Maintenance of Health Facts by Fourth Grade Special Education Students

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of active student response (ASR) and on-task (OT) instruction on the acquisition and maintenance of health facts during small-group lessons. Five students with learning difficulties (4 students identified as developmentally handicapped and 1 student identified as learning disabled) participated in daily instruction on weekly sets of 20 unknown health facts (10 facts assigned to the ASR condition and 10 to the OT condition). During ASR instruction, the teacher modeled the correct response to a health question that was presented visually on a health fact card, and the students immediately repeated the correct response in unison three times. During OT instruction, students attended visually to the health fact card as the teacher modeled the correct response. All 5 students made more correct responses on end-of-day tests on health facts taught with ASR instruction than they did on health facts taught with OT instruction. ASR instruction also produced consistently superior results on maintenance tests administered 2 weeks after instruction.

Effects of active student response during error correction on the acquisition and maintenance of geography facts by elementary students with learning disabilities

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of Active Student Response (ASR) error correction and No Response (NR) error correction during instruction of the capitals of states and countries. Three students with learning disabilities were provided one-to-one daily instruction on four sets of 14 unknown capitals (7 ASR capitals and 7 NR capitals). Student errors during instruction on ASR capitals were immediately followed by the teacher stating the capital and the student repeating it (an active student response). Errors on NR capitals were immediately followed by the teacher stating the capital while the student visually attended to a geography card with the correct capital handwritten on it (an on-task response). During instruction each of the three students correctly stated more capitals taught with ASR instruction than he or she stated with NR error correction. Results of same-day and next-day tests show that all three students learned more capitals with ASR error correction than with NR error correction The students also correctly stated more ASR error correction capitals on 1-week maintenance tests.

The effects of word prediction and text-to-speech technologies on the narrative writing skills of students with specific learning disabilities

A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used to investigate the effects of word prediction and text-to-speech alone and in combination on four narrative composition-writing skills (writing fluency, syntax, spelling accuracy, and overall organization) of six fifth-grade Hispanic boys with specific learning disabilities (SLD). Participants were divided randomly and equally into Cohorts A and B. During baseline, both cohorts wrote for 15-minute sessions using word processing only. During intervention, Cohort A participants used word prediction, and then word prediction with text-to-speech. Concurrently, Cohort B participants used text-to-speech followed by text-to-speech with word prediction. The results indicated that word prediction alone or in combination with text-to-speech had a positive effect on the narrative composition-writing skills of the targeted students. With text-to-speech alone, inconsequential results were observed.

The Effect of Active Student Responding during Computer-Assisted Instruction on Social Studies Learning by Students with Learning Disabilities

An alternating treatments design with a best treatments phase was used to compare two active student response (ASR) conditions and one on-task (OT) condition on the acquisition and maintenance of social studies facts during computer-assisted instruction. Each week for six weeks, five students were provided daily computer-assisted instruction on 21 unknown facts divided randomly into Clicking-ASR (active responses with computer mouse), Repeating-ASR (active oral responses) or Listening-OT (on task or passive responses). For all five students, Repeating-ASR resulted in more facts correct on same-day, next-day, and one-and two-week maintenance tests. During weeks 7 and 8 with implementation of the best treatment condition, Repeating-ASR produced higher scores than all conditions (including Repeating-ASR) during the first 6 weeks.

The Effects of Computer Graphic Organizers on the Persuasive Writing of Hispanic Middle School Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

A multiple baseline design investigated the effects of computer graphic organizers on the persuasive composition writing skills of four Hispanic students with specific learning disabilities. Participants reviewed the elements of persuasive writing and then developed compositions using a word processing program. Baseline planning was done with a paper and pencil, while intervention planning was done using a computer graphic organizer program. With variation, the use of computer graphic organizers during planning resulted in an increase in the total number of words written, time spent planning, number of supporting details planned, percentage of planned supporting details transferred to the composition, and syntactical maturity as measured by the number of T-units. Also observed was an improvement in the overall organization of the compositions as measured by an analytical scoring guide or rubric.

Comparison of Repeated and Non-Repeated Readings on the Reading Performances of Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

This study used an alternating treatments design to compare the effects of three conditions on the reading fluency, errors, and comprehension of four, sixth-grade students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) who were struggling readers. The conditions were (a) repeated readings in which participants read three times a passage of 100 or 150 words, (b) non-repeated readings in which participants sequentially read a passage of 100 or 150 words once, and (c) equivalent non-repeated readings in which participants sequentially read a passage of 300 or 450 words, equivalent to the number of words in the repeated readings condition. Also examined were the effects of the three repeated reading practice trials per sessions on reading fluency and errors. Overall, the results showed that with repeated readings, participants had the best outcomes in reading fluency, errors per minute, and correct answers to literal comprehension questions. Under an enhanced phase (i.e., increased reading levels and/or passage length), the positive effects during repeated readings were more demonstrative. During repeated readings, from Practice Trial 1 through Practice Trial 3, all participants improved their reading fluency and reduced their reading errors.

The Effects of Computer Graphic Organizers on the Narrative Writing of Elementary School Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

This study used a multiple baseline across subjects design to explore the effects of using a computer graphic organizer program during planning on the narrative writing compositions of four fourth- and fifth-grade boys with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). Four dependent variables were measured: total number of words, total minutes planning, number of common story elements, and overall organization. Baseline planning was done with paper and pencil, while intervention planning was done using the computer graphic organizer program Kidspiration 3.0 (2011). Compositions in both conditions were written and edited using paper and pencil. The results indicated that computer graphic organizers used during planning had a positive effect on three of four dependent measures. When looking at mean scores, participants wrote more words (from 20.25 to 41.86 more), planned for longer periods of time (from 1.00 to 5.00 more minutes), and included more story elements in their compositions (from 0.80 to 3.10 more out of a possible 6.00). There were nominal to no improvements in overall organization across the four participants. The results suggest that teachers of students with SLD should consider using computer graphic organizers for narrative writing planning. Future research should investigate the effects of computer graphic organizers with other writing genres, across multiple writing days per composition, with participants of varied demographics, and/or in combination with other remedial composition instruction.