Shanna Hagan-Burke

Percentage of All Non-Overlapping Data (PAND) An Alternative to PND

Although single-case researchers are not accustomed to analyzing data statistically, standards for research and accountability from government and other funding agents are creating pressure for more objective, reliable data. In addition, “evidence-based interventions” movements in special education, clinical psychology, and school psychology imply reliable data summaries. Within special education, two heavily debated single-case research (SCR) statistical indices are “percentage of non-overlapping data” (PND) and the regression effect size, R2 . This article proposes a new index—PAND, the “percentage of all non-overlapping data”—to remedy deficiencies of both PND and R2 . PAND is closely related to the established effect size, Pearsons Phi , the “fourfold point correlation coefficient.” The PAND/ Phi procedure is demonstrated and applied to 75 published multiple baseline designs to answer questions about typical effect sizes, relationships with PND and R2 , statistical power, and time efficiency. Confidence intervals and p values for Phi also are demonstrated. The findings are that PAND/ Phi and PND correlate equally well to R2 . However, only PAND/Phi could show adequate power for most of the multiple baseline designs sampled. The findings suggest that PAND/Phi may meet the requirement for a useful effect size for multiple baseline and other longer designs in SCR.

Overview of the Functional Behavioral Assessment Process.

The research literature is replete with examples that support the use of the functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process. In addition, the 1997 amendments to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act have recognized the importance of the FBA process for students who display significant problem behavior in schools. However, clarity about the specific definition and features of the FBA process is just beginning to be developed. The purpose of this article is to provide a general description of the features and steps of the FBA process.

Teacher Time Use in Special Education

How special education teachers spend their time is largely unknown. Yet conceptually, “time” is one of the most tangible and salient variables of the effective instruction literature, Carrolls model of school learning and many economic models of performance measures. This currently unknown use of teacher time has clear and important implications for special education research and practice that include teacher quality, the professional roles of educators, accountability and student achievement. 36 special education teachers representing 4 variations of instructional arrangements recorded 2200 hours of data in the spring of 2006. Special educators reported their time use via a web-based monitoring system while continuous and interval direct observation data were simultaneously collected. Data provide a snapshot view of teacher time use and reflect the percentages of a school day spent in academic instruction, non-academic instruction, instructional support, consultation/collaboration, assessment, planning/preparation, discipline, supervision, paperwork, and other responsibilities throughout the year.

The Efficacy of Function-Based Interventions for Students with Learning Disabilities Who Exhibit Escape-Maintained Problem Behaviors: Preliminary Results from a Single-Case Experiment.

This single-subject experiment explored the use of functional behavioral assessment to develop an intervention plan for a third-grade student with a learning disability, who exhibited high rates of problem behaviors during reading instruction. A functional analysis of the subjects behaviors revealed a relation between his problem behaviors and the nature of the academic tasks presented during reading instruction. The results provide preliminary evidence to support the use of functional behavioral assessment to influence instructional planning designed to improve the behaviors of students who exhibit escape-maintained problem behaviors related to academic tasks. The results are of particular relevance as researchers continue to explore effective interventions that support students with learning disabilities.

Predictive Validity of Early Literacy Indicators From the Middle of Kindergarten to Second Grade

Research has emphasized the importance of phonological awareness, phonemic decoding, and automaticity in reading development. Special and general education teachers need valid, efficient, and effective early literacy indicators for schoolwide screening and monitoring that adequately predict reading outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships and predictiveness of kindergarten early literacy indicators from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) within the context of a path analysis. The results support the validity of kindergarten DIBELS in predicting ever more complex reading skills in a developmental progression from the middle of kindergarten to second grade.

Academic Achievement and Class Placement in High School: Do Students with Learning Disabilities Achieve More in One Class Placement Than Another?

The purpose of this study was to examine classroom placement, inclusive versus non-inclusive, relative to the academic performance of students with specific learning disabilities in secondary content area classrooms. Fifty-seven high school students with learning disabilities were assessed using the Grade Level Short Form of the Multilevel Academic Survey Test (MAST). Their reading and math scores were examined relative to each student’s grade level, number of general and special education classes attended, and types of placement (i.e., inclusive or non-inclusive setting). The results revealed no statistically significant evidence to indicate that students’ academic achievement varied based on inclusive versus non-inclusive placement. The only statistically significant differences observed regarded participants enrolled in a general education literature class compared to those participants placed in a special education setting for literature. Implications for practice, limitations of the study, and considerations for future research are discussed.

Effects of Supplemental Reading Interventions in Authentic Contexts: A Comparison of Kindergarteners' Response

This study compared the effects of 2 supplemental interventions on the beginning reading performance of kindergarteners identified as at risk of reading difficulty. Students (N = 206) were assigned randomly at the classroom level either to an explicit/systematic commercial program or to a school-designed practice intervention taught 30 min per day in small groups for approximately 100 sessions. Multilevel hierarchical linear analyses revealed statistically significant effects favoring the explicit/systematic intervention on alphabetic, phonemic, and untimed decoding skills with substantive effect sizes on all measures except word identification and passage comprehension. Group performance did not differ statistically on more advanced reading and spelling skills. Findings support the efficacy of both supplemental interventions and suggest the benefit of the more explicit/systematic intervention for children who are most at risk of reading difficulty.

Concurrent Criterion-Related Validity of Early Literacy Indicators for Middle of First Grade

The purpose of this study was to examine the concurrent criterion-related (or convergent) validity of first grade measures from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good & Kaminski, 2002). The DIBELS subtests of Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Word Fluency, Oral Reading Fluency, Retell Fluency, and Word Use Fluency were administered to 213 first graders in the middle of the school year, along with the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE; Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 1997), a norm-referenced test with documented technical adequacy. Results from correlation, regression, and factor analyses indicated that the DIBELS subtests of Oral Reading Fluency and of Nonsense Word Fluency had the strongest associations with the TOWRE subtests.

Universal Screening for Behavioral Risk in Elementary Schools Using SWPBS Expectations

In this study, the authors examined the concurrent validity, predictive validity, and concurrent and predictive classification accuracy of using schoolwide behavior expectations as a universal behavioral screener. Three elementary schools implementing schoolwide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) participated. Within each school, the entire school population was screened using items derived from schoolwide behavior expectations. Structural equation modeling revealed moderate to strong associations between SWPBS expectations and constructs formed from the criterion measure. SWPBS expectations converged with the school problems, externalizing problem behaviors, and adaptive skills constructs but diverged from the internalizing construct. Concurrent classification with a norm-referenced screener was generally adequate but varied depending on school and index. Predictive classification analyses using office discipline referrals also yielded comparable results as the norm-referenced screener. Although not without limitations, this study provides initial evidence of the validity of using SWPBS expectations to screen for behavioral risk.

Replicating the Impact of a Supplemental Beginning Reading Intervention: The Role of Instructional Context

Abstract The purpose of this varied replication study was to evaluate the effects of a supplemental reading intervention on the beginning reading performance of kindergarten students in a different geographical location and in a different instructional context from the initial randomized trial. A second purpose was to investigate whether students who received the intervention across both the initial and replication studies demonstrated similar learning outcomes. Kindergarten students (n = 162) identified as at risk of reading difficulty from 48 classrooms were assigned randomly at the classroom level either to a commercial program (i.e., Early Reading Intervention; Pearson/Scott Foresman, 2004) that included explicit/systematic instruction (experimental group) or school-designed typical practice intervention (comparison group). Both interventions were taught by classroom teachers for 30 min per day in small groups for approximately 100 sessions. Multilevel hierarchical linear analyses revealed no statistically significant differences between conditions on any measure. Combined analyses that included students from both the initial and replication studies suggested that differences in the impact of the intervention across studies were largely explained by mean differences in the comparison group students’ response to school-designed intervention.