Working With Paraeducators: Tools and Strategies for Planning, Performance Feedback, and Evaluation

With continued emphasis on inclusive practices, paraeducators are increasingly relied upon as an integral part of instructional service delivery for students with disabilities. However, research consistently reveals that the effective use of paraeducators depends largely on teacher leadership and supervision. Currently, few teacher preparation programs offer meaningful coursework pertaining to managing paraeducators, leaving teachers unprepared for their supervisory role upon entering the field. Incorporating paraeducators into the instructional planning and delivery process requires that several considerations be made. This column shares several recommendations with teachers for designing, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of lesson plans that incorporate paraeducators in the inclusive setting. A lesson plan template is provided and discussed, and guidance is provided for teaching paraeducators evidence-based practices (EBPs) using behavioral skills training and supporting them in using EBPs during instruction.

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Evaluating Behavioral Skills Training as an Evidence-Based Practice When Training Parents to Intervene with Their Children

Behavior Modification ◽

10.1177/0145445520923996 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 014544552092399 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John M. Schaefer ◽

Natalie R. Andzik

Keyword(s):

Design Research ◽

Behavioral Skills Training ◽

Skills Training ◽

Single Subject ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Single Subject Design ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Evidence Based Practices ◽

Behavior Skills ◽

What Works Clearinghouse

The authors of this systematic review identified 20 individual single-subject studies examining the efficacy of Behavior Skills Training (BST) implemented with parents. Findings indicate that researchers have used BST to successfully train parents to implement a range of evidence-based practices (EBP) with their own children. Parents of children with autism or intellectual disability made up the large majority of participants in these studies. Applying the methodological quality standards set by What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), the authors detail the evidence from 67 individual cases provided by single-subject design research. Practitioners looking to train parents of children with disabilities to implement EBPs can be confident that BST is an effective training practice.

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Using Behavioral Skills Training to Support Caregivers Through Educational Telehealth

Teaching Exceptional Children ◽

10.1177/00400599211051007 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 004005992110510

Author(s):

Sara Werner Juarez

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Skills Training ◽

Skills Training ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Evidence Based Practices ◽

Her Family ◽

Home Support ◽

Use Of Technology

While the COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected families, it also accelerated the availability and use of video conferencing technology in their homes. Families will continue to experience challenges, even when children safely return to in-person instruction. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how practitioners can use behavioral skills training (BST) through educational telehealth to support caregivers’ implementation of evidence-based practices for children with disabilities. This article presents strategies on how to use synchronous and asynchronous technology to plan effective, efficient interventions that focus on families’ needs and preferences. BST procedures of instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback are discussed within a case study for Lucía, a young child with autism spectrum disorder, and her family as they learn effective antecedent-based and consequence interventions to improve Lucía’s compliance. Practical techniques with direct application, such as an Instructions handout and a Sample Schedule, support practitioners’ implementation of direct in-home support for caregivers through the use of technology.

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Thinking It Through

Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education - Instructional Strategies in General Education and Putting the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA) Into Practice ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-3111-1.ch006 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 167-195

Author(s):

Michelle Chamblin

Keyword(s):

Preservice Teachers ◽

Teacher Preparation ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Teacher Preparation Programs ◽

Exceptional Students ◽

Preparation Programs ◽

Evidence Based Practices ◽

Work Samples ◽

Differentiation Of Instruction

The concept of differentiating and adapting instruction for all students, including students with disabilities, is explored in this chapter. Preservice teachers, upon exiting their teacher preparation programs, are expected to be fully developed and know how to differentiate instruction for diverse learners and adapt instruction for exceptional students who require more. However, the plethora of information on differentiation of instruction and adapting instruction can be overwhelming, leaving the preservice teacher overloaded. Concrete approaches must be available. This chapter presents the ADAPT strategy, which models one approach of organizing information and thinking through a process. With the use of lesson planning, universal design guidelines, and evidence-based practices, the chapter presents a step-by-step teaching model. Examples, work samples, and data derived from teaching the strategy to preservice teachers are included. This strategy may help preservice teachers, as well as more experienced teachers, approach the task of varying instruction in a consistent, thoughtful, and manageable way.

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Training psychology interns to teach verbal and non-verbal repertoires in children with autism spectrum disorder

Research Society and Development ◽

10.33448/rsd-v9i7.3928 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. e116973928

Author(s):

Daniel Carvalho de Matos ◽

Flor de Maria Araújo Mendonça Silva ◽

Wellyson da Cunha Araújo Firmo ◽

Pollianna Galvão Soares de Matos

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Performance Feedback ◽

Behavioral Skills Training ◽

Skills Training ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Behavioral Skills ◽

Psychology Interns ◽

Performance Accuracy ◽

And Performance

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) represents an effective and efficient approach to train staff in implementing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) interventions to learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with the purpose of reducing undesirable behaviors and establishing more appropriate ones. It comprises the following components: (1) instructions on ABA basic principles, regarding the teaching of behavior targets; (2) modeling, with demonstration of behaviors to be emitted during the teaching; (3) behavioral rehearsal with a confederate; and (4) performance feedback. The goal of the current research was to evaluate the effects of BST training on the establishment of repertoires, in four undergraduate Psychology interns, to teach nonverbal (audiovisual pairing and motor imitation) and verbal (labeling and answering questions) skills to a confederate, who pretended to act like a child with ASD. Thereafter, it was also a goal to assess generalization of the teaching to a real child with ASD. The participants were unfamiliar with ASD and ABA, but the results of the study suggested that BST improved accuracy during the teaching of targets to the confederate. In baseline, the percentage of accuracy per participant were the following: P1 (4.55%); P2 (9.73%); P3 (13.76%); P4 (22.29%). All participants reached criterion when BST, with both immediate and delayed feedback, was implemented. Performance accuracy was above 90% for all. In the end, generalization probes were conducted during the teaching of targets to a real child with ASD, and performance accuracy was also above 90%.

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