Renee O. Hawkins

A Comparison of iPads and Worksheets on Math Skills of High School Students with Emotional Disturbance

ABSTRACT: The authors used an alternating treatments design to compare the effects of a worksheet condition and an iPad condition on math fluency and active academic engagement during a high school math class in an alternative school setting. Following group instruction, the three participants engaged in independent seatwork either by completing problems on a worksheet or completing problems presented on an iPad. Based on visual analyses, students solved more math problems correctly in less time and demonstrated higher levels of active engagement in the iPad condition as compared to the worksheet condition. Social validity assessments indicated that the teacher and three students preferred the iPad condition to the worksheet condition during the math lessons. A discussion on study limitations, implications, and future research directions is included.

Opportunities to Respond: A Key Component of Effective Instruction.

B oth general and special education teachers face a variety of challenging student behaviors that interrupt instruction and impede learning. Teachers tend to rely on redirections and reprimands to address these student behaviors (Haydon & Musti-Rao, 2011; Madsen, Becker, & Thomas, 2001). Unfortunately, relying on consequences may contribute to a cycle of negative teacher behavior and challenging student behavior (Conroy, Sutherland, Snyder, & Marsh, 2008; Gunter, & Coutinho, 1997; Scott, Nelson, & Liaupsin, 2001), and result in a chaotic, noisy, and disorganized classroom environment. Instead, teachers should employ proactive classroom management strategies described throughout this special issue. Effective instruction is a key component of successful classroom management and includes practices that maximize the likelihood of student participation, active responding, and correct responding while minimizing errors (Scott et al., 2001). Researchers have established the connection between effective instruction and (a) increases in desired student behaviors, including classroom participation, on-task behavior, and academic performance, and (b) decreases in undesired student behaviors (e.g., calling out, walking around; Engelmann & Carnine, 1991; Gunter & Denny, 1998). One effective instructional strategy is providing high rates of opportunities to respond (OTRs; Sutherland & Wehby, 2001). An OTR is an instructional strategy (e.g., asking a yes/no question) that promotes student responding (e.g., holding thumb up for ‘‘yes’’ and thumb down for ‘‘no’’). OTRs may be conceptualized in a direct-instruction model (e.g., Carnine, 1976) as part of a learning trial. A learning trial consists of a three-term, antecedent–behavior– consequence (ABC) sequence (Skinner, Fletcher, & Hennington, 1996). An example of a learning trial is when a teacher presents a spelling word on a flash card (antecedent OTR), the student recites the word aloud (behavior), and the teacher then says, ‘‘Correct answer’’ (consequence; Skinner et al., 1996). A diagram depicting the process is provided in Figure 1. As seen in Figure 1, a teacher asks a question (antecedent), a student responds (behavior), followed by teacher feedback (consequence). Although the learning trial is a useful model, OTRs can be provided across a variety of instructional approaches. More broadly, OTRs include any teacher-delivered instructional stimuli (e.g., questions, prompts, cues) that occasion various forms (e.g., verbal, gestural, or production) of student response (Ferkis, Belfiore, & Skinner, 1997).

Use of Reading Pen Assistive Technology to Accommodate Post-Secondary Students with Reading Disabilities

ABSTRACT Reading pens are a form of assistive technology that may be used to bypass weak word decoding and vocabulary skills of students with reading disabilities. Only two known studies have examined the effects of reading pens on the comprehension of school-aged students, and no known studies have been published regarding post-secondary students. The present study investigated the effects of reading pen assistive technology on the comprehension accuracy and rate of three post-secondary students with university-recognized reading disabilities. An alternating treatments design was implemented to compare the effects of (1) a reading pen decoding accommodation, (2) concurrent reading pen decoding and vocabulary accommodations, and (3) a no-accommodation control condition on the comprehension of the three participants when provided college level difficulty reading passages. Results indicate that use of a reading pen did not uniformly improve the comprehension of the post-secondary students. However, the student with the poorest reading skills benefitted the most. Discussion focuses on explanations for the results, practical implications for post-secondary students with reading disabilities, and future directions for study.

Improving the Transition Behavior of High School Students With Emotional Behavioral Disorders Using a Randomized Interdependent Group Contingency

Abstract. The current study evaluated the effects of an interdependent group contingency with randomized components on student behavior during the transition from lunch to class. The study was conducted in three high school classrooms in an alternative school setting for students with emotional and behavioral disorders and used an ABAB withdrawal design. During the intervention, the teacher informed the students that it was time for class to begin and then scanned the room to count the number of students ready (i.e., seated at assigned desk, eyes directed at the teacher or front of the room, and not being physically or verbally disruptive). The teacher randomly selected a criterion number of students who needed to be ready to start instruction. If the class met the criterion, the teacher randomly selected a reward. Dependent variables included the percentage of students ready to begin instruction within 5 min of the official class start time and the number of minutes past the official start time that class actually began (i.e., teacher directed students to an academic task or explicitly stated that class was starting). Across all classrooms, results indicated significant improvements in student transition behavior. Discussion focuses on the practical implications for providing intervention supports to students with problem behavior.

Comparing Versions of the Good Behavior Game Can a Positive Spin Enhance Effectiveness

Disruptions can prevent the classroom from being an effective learning environment. The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a group contingency that has been proven to effectively prevent disruptions and increase engagement. However, the traditional methods of the GBG include teacher scanning for negative student behaviors, and may not align with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), which is becoming widely adopted in many schools. Extending the findings of Wright and McCurdy, the current study compared the effects of the GBG and a positive version of the GBG, called the Caught Being Good Game (CBGG), on student behavior, including engagement and off-task behaviors, as well as teachers’ use of positive and negative statements. Results showed both the GBG and the CBGG improved student behavior, with data not clearly indicating one was superior. Neither intervention led to an increase in positive teacher statements. Implications for teachers and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Comparing the Efficiency of Repeated Reading and Listening-While-Reading to Improve Fluency and Comprehension

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of two reading fluency interventions on the oral reading fluency and maze accuracy of four fourth-grade students. Also, by taking into account time spent in intervention, the efficiency of the two interventions was compared. In the adult-mediated repeated reading (RR) condition, students read a grade-level passage aloud to an adult. The adult provided the students with error correction of oral reading miscues. In the listening-while-reading (LWR) condition, students read along aloud with audio recorded readings of passages using an MP3 player. The RR and LWR conditions had similar effects on reading fluency for three participants and the RR was more effective for one participant. When accounting for instructional time, the LWR condition was more efficient at improving reading fluency for three of the four participants. The same pattern of results was evident in Maze comprehension data. Discussion will emphasize the need to consider instructional time when selecting interventions.

Using Computer-Assisted Instruction to Build Math Fact Fluency: An Implementation Guide.

Research findings support the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) as a curriculum supplement for improving math skills, including math fact fluency. There are a number of websites and mobile applications (i.e., apps) designed to build students’ math fact fluency, but the options can become overwhelming. This article provides implementation guidelines to help teachers plan for CAI, including criteria for selecting a program and recommendations for monitoring student progress. In addition, free resources for CAI are discussed.

Using Video Modeling and Mobile Technology to Teach Social Skills.

There has been growing interest in the field of education regarding the use of technology in classrooms to improve student outcomes. Specifically, researchers have demonstrated positive outcomes for using mobile technology with students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Fewer studies have used mobile technology with students with emotional and behavioral disability (EBD). The purpose of this article is to discuss the effectiveness of video modeling as an intervention package and highlight the benefits of using video modeling and mobile technology to teach behavioral skills to students with EBD. The article provides guidelines and resources for teachers to implement video modeling instruction using mobile technology in the general education setting.

The effects of two assistive technologies on reading comprehension accuracy and rate

ABSTRACT This study compared the effectiveness of two assistive technologies to accommodate the word reading skills of four middle school students with reading learning disabilities. Kurzweil 3000 is a continuous text-to-speech (TTS) computer software program that allows students to follow along on a computer monitor while passages are read aloud. A reading pen is a discontinuous TTS assistive technology (AT) device that allows students to scan and hear selected words read aloud. An adapted alternating treatments design was implemented to compare the effects of listening-while-reading using continuous TTS AT, discontinuous TTS AT, and silently reading without accommodation on reading comprehension accuracy and rate. Results indicate that in three of the four participants, continuous TTS technology led to the greatest improvements in both comprehension accuracy and rate when compared to silent reading with effect sizes reaching 0.70 and 0.99, respectively. The fourth participant demonstrated the highest comprehension accuracy and rate in the discontinuous TTS condition. The discontinuous TTS condition led to the lowest comprehension rates across all four students. Additionally, participants generally found the continuous TTS AT to be the more acceptable of the two accommodations. Discussion focuses on possible theoretical explanations for the results and implications for future research.

Evaluation of an After-School Obesity Prevention Program for Children

Dissemination of obesity prevention programs in different settings is needed. Moreover, new outreach tools to teach parents healthy eating and exercise lessons provided in these programs are important to develop. The pilot studies presented in this paper examined the implementation of the Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise Program in two different after school programs in 2015 and 2016. Participants were elementary school-age children and their parents. Eight lessons were presented at each school. Child perceptions of healthy eating and exercise goals were examined as well as child knowledge retention and perceptions of behavior change. Parent perceptions of the program were analyzed. Results indicated that children reported improved knowledge and behaviors. Parents reported satisfaction with the program, but remained hard to reach. Children recalled key components of the healthy eating lessons at long-term follow-up assessments. In the second pilot study, children served as health coaches for teaching parents about family goals. Children believed they were successful at coaching parents, but they requested help in developing family eating and exercise goals. Improving outreach to parents and involving siblings remains a goal for future studies as does beginning to examine changes in eating and physical activity using food diaries and accelerometry.