Updates

1. Updates • Check The Wiki -Epilepsy/Seizure article on Specialized Techniques Page (Coulter, 1997) • Week 5 readings are posted choose either Carter & Kennedy, 2006 OR Johnson et al., 2004 • Functional Curriculum (Wed Class) • Article Review #2 Due on April 27th, Next Week • Article Review #3 Due May 11th

2. Article Reviews • Use APA format for citations for articles Authors. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, XX, XXX-XXX. • Make sure you answer all of the questions in the template • Treatment Integrity= how the authors noted that the intervention/treatment was delivered with fidelity (e.g., did they do the training the way it was designed) • Please re-read your work before submitting it.

3. Today’s Agenda • Entry Activity • Designing effective instruction • Introduction to Task Analysis

4. What do students with intellectual disabilities need to learn? • Curriculum Goals? • Putting pegs into pegboards? • Several weeks on learning the 50 states and their capitals? • Goals should be: 1. Individualized (i.e., person-centered) 2. Based on state content standards. 3. Measurable & Observable

5. Goals & Objectives • Write complete objectives • Use task analysis to write behavioral (instructional) objectives

6. Behavioral Objectives • Defined • Description of anticipated change in behavior • Who will do what under specified conditions/ contexts • Levels • Goals • Change in behavior over a year. • Behavioral Objectives • Change in behavior over a 1-4 month period. • Short-term vs Long-term • Short term = intial skills • Long-term= terminal skills

7. Behavioral Objectives • Why Write Behavioral Objectives? • Facilitate curriculum design • Assist in assessing progress • Improved communication • Among multiple instructors • Among multiple evaluators (staff, family) • Legal/professional accountability • Legal requirement in special education

8. Elements of Objectives • Learner (who) • Behavior (what) • Condition (when, where, with whom) • Criterion (how much, how fast) • Given a 15 min daily snack period with seven other children, Darin will use a “please-statement” to verbally request an itemat least two times across 4 of 5 snack periods.

9. Writing Objectives • Behaviors are observable • Conditions are replicable • can be presented multiple times • Criteria are measurable • acquisition (accuracy) • speed (fluency)

10. More Helpful Hints • be sure that the criterion matches the behavior • be sure that the conditions are clear and make sense • be sure that the objective is stated in positive terms • be sure that baseline rates have been used to set criteria • be sure that filler words are avoided (e.g., will be able to, will demonstrate) -- just say will behavior

11. Behavioral ObjectivesExamples • Given a 15 minute free time activity, Polly will keep her hands engaged in appropriate activities (drawing, playing with toys) or to her sides during 90% of that period for 8 of 10 days by the end of the month. • Given a teacher direction to sit down, Franklin will take a seat at his desk within 10 seconds of the direction, during 85% of opportunities for 3 consecutive days by the end of the week. • When presented with pictures, Sid will correctly state the emotion in the picture with 80% accuracy over 3 consecutive trials by the end of this learning section.

12. Non-ExamplesWhat’s wrong with these objectives? • Jethro will raise his hand before speaking, 100% of the time for 2 consecutive days by the end of the week. • Given a rolling pin and a recipe, Wilma will think of 3 ways to use the rolling pin for 3 of 5 trials within month. • Each time that Hugh is directed to say he’s sorry, he will do so with 80% accuracy over 2 consecutive days by the end of the school year. • When confronted by an angry peer after falling off of the bars during a rainstorm and tearing a hole in his pants, Benny will tell the teacher 100% of the time for 4 consecutive days by the end of the quarter.

13. Improve this example • Ovid will raise his hand instead of yelling out during math seat work. • Is this objective intended to • teach hand raising? • teach asking for help? • teach to request teacher attention less often? • Learner: • Condition: • Behavior: • Criteria:

14. How do I know what the right objectives are? • Each skill must be broken down into smaller steps which are teachable - this is known as task analysis (think of chaining) • A task analysis is • the process of breaking skills into teachable steps • the product (teaching sequence) that is created by the task analysis process

15. Task Analysis: Why do it? • Create instructional objectives of teachable size • Facilitate a high success rate because the student is presented with, critically important yet achievable objectives • Ensure learner success • Allows the student to be successful . . . and initial success is predictive of longer range success

16. Steps in Ecological Assessment Process Step 1: Plan with Student & Family Step 2: Summarize what is known about the student Step 3: Encourage Self-Determination/ Assess Student Preferences Step 4: Assess student’s instructional program Step 5: Develop ecological assessment report

17. Step 4- Assess Student’s Instructional Program • Remember ADAPT framework • Ask: what am I requiring? • Determine: prerequisite skills of the task • Analyze: student’s strengths & needs • Propose & implement adaptations • Test: determine if adaptations helped • Task Analytic Assessment is an assessment method of breaking down complex activities into smaller, teachable units into a series of sequentially ordered steps.

18. Do you use task analysis (TA) in your daily life? • To learn new skills • Recipe for a complicated dish (Mac & Cheese!) • Using a map to go someplace that we have never been (GPS to tell me when to turn) • Following instructions to build a piece of furniture (IKEA!!) • For individuals with disabilities, TA is a foundational approach for teaching (Taber et al., 2003) • Taught 6 secondary-school-age students with cognitive disabilities to use a cell phone if and when they became lost in the community

19. Teaching a student to answer a cell phone to get assistance: • Press the top-left (blue) button to turn on the phone. • Place phone in pocket, on belt, or in hand. • When the phone rings, remove the phone from pocket or belt (if in hand, hold up to visually check that it is ringing) • Press “YES” (or blue button) to answer the phone. • Put phone to ear to say, “Hello” • Listen for directions • Verbally describe the location an surroundings • Stay put • Continue to speak to the caller until found. • Once found, press, “No” (or red button) to hang up.

20. TA: Assess student performance & used to teach student • Next class we will discuss a number of strategies for teaching using a task analysis. • Ex: chaining strategies, prompt-fading strategies, interrupted chain strategies

21. Increase success in conducting task analyses • Select a needed skill by using ecological inventory results (remember activity analysis/ADAPT) to identify a functional and age-appropriate skill that is an important target for a particular student. • Define the target skill simply, including a description of the settings and materials most suited to the natural performance of the task. • Perform the task and observe peers performing the task, using the chosen materials in the natural setting.

22. Increasing success cont’d… • Adapt the steps to suit the student’s abilities; employ as needed the principle of partial participation • Validate the task analysis by having the student perform the task, but provide assistance on steps that are unknown so that performance of all of the steps can be viewed. • Revise the task analysis so that it works; explore adding simple, nonstigmatizing adaptations to steps that appear to be unreasonable in an unadapted form

23. Writing the Task Analysis on the data collection form • State steps in observable terms. • Steps are ordered in logical sequence. • Written in second-person singular (“You”) so that they could serve as verbal prompts. • Use language that is not confusing to the student, with the performance details that are essential to assessing performance enclosed in parentheses e.g., Walk down the hallway (thru lobby to the left).

25. Ways to increase the relevance & utility of TA • Component Model of Functional Life Routines (Brown et al., 1987) • Found areas of concern of traditional TA for assessment • Limited in scope: -Traditional: tasks into observable motor skills (e.g., pick up hairbrush, bring brush to head, brush down, etc.) -Component Model: related skills associated with meaningful performance in the natural environment (e.g., choosing a hairstyle, what to do if you have a knot in your hair, etc.) -other ex: initiating an activity, socializing during the activity, communicating about the activity, problem solving as needed, making choices related to the activity, & monitoring the quality of the activity.

26. Other ways to improve TA • Consider the natural cues in the environment & ways that typical people perform tasks • Eg., lunch bell vs teacher prompt • The way a task is ended • For students with physical disabilities, ending a task may mean indicating when they would like the activity to end. • TA should include the expectation of performing in ways that reflect typical performance and/or allow meaningful participation so that skills are more functional and complete.

27. More improvement in TA • Sample the range of behaviors necessary for functional use of the routine. • E.g., “wash hands and face” • 1. washes hands and face with soap & water without prompting • 2. washes hands with soap • 3. washes face with soap • 4. washes hands and face with water • 5. dries hands and face. • Does the completion of these steps imply mastery? • Should also learn: when hands need to be washed, check to make sure that they are clean, & where to find more soap when the soap runs out.

28. Task Analysis Assignments • Complete the Task Analysis Recording Form • Designed to be a continuous data collecting tool after baseline data collection • You will be conducting a task analysis by observing a focus student through a routine/skill that requires multiple steps • Be sure to include teaching schedule & location (some routines may be able to be performed in multiple settings and times, please note those) • Note any adaptive materials needed for the student to complete the task • List relevant features to vary (to promote generalization) • Outline the steps in backwards order (top: last step, bottom, first step) • Make sure the steps are logical and in the order they naturally occur. • By the end of the task analysis you will complete an objective and criteria for achieving that objective

29. TA assignments continued • Continue working with the student that you conducted the preference assessment with. • Outline the steps needed to complete an important routine/skill • Observe the student attempting to complete the routine, unassisted, at least 3 times (sessions, days) • Record these data on the TA recording form • Add up the number of steps performed independently, circle, and graph. • Be sure to note anecdotal comments on the back of the TA recording form for qualitative information.

30. Task Analysis Planning • First Task Analysis due: May 2nd -For a functional skill Examples of functional skills: Self-care skills, community involvement skills, transportation, job skills, purchasing skills Activity: Take the time now to identify a functional skill within a school routine for your focus student that you can do a task analysis on. Start completing the information on the task analysis recording form. Please ask any questions you may have about this assignment.

31. Academic Curriculum • Programs for all students with intellectual disabilities should include the basic skills for reading, writing, & math (Al Otaiba & Hosp 2004; Bradford, et al., 2006; Jolivette et al., 2006). • Functional academics considered to be the “most useful parts of the 3 R’s” (Browder & Snell, 200; p. 497). • Must carefully assess each student’s current routines to find those skills that the student requires and/or could use often.

32. Functional Curriculum • Learning activities that will maximize a student’s independence, self-direction, health and fitness, and enjoyment in everyday school, community, & work environments. • E.g.: Purchasing, Shopping, ordering in a restaurant(, cooking, telling time, and nutrition & fitness (Ayres et al., 2006; Mechling et al. 2005; Graves et al., 2005; Horn et al., 2006; Simpson et al., 2006)

33. How to determine functional skills: • Does the content focus on necessary knowledge and skills….(so that the student can) function as independently as possible in home, school, or community? • Does the content provide a scope and sequence for meeting future needs? • Do the parents (student) think it is important? • Is the content appropriate for the student’s chronological age and current performance level? • What are the consequences to the student of not learning the concepts and skills • (Clark, 1994)

34. Self-determination • Teaching learners to set goals, plan, and implement a course of action. • Evaluate their performance & make adjustments • Teaching skills such as: • Choice/decision making • Goal setting • Problem solving • Self-evaluation, self-management • Self-advocacy, self-awareness

35. Work as collaborative teams • Decisions are made at numerous points, but only after team members share their different perspectives on the student, engage in relevant discussion, problem solving, and then reach consensus as a team (Friend & Cook, 2010) • Nonconsensual decisions tend to reflect a narrower range of information and risk being of poorer quality (Snell & Janney, 2005)

36. Effective Instruction “ “Holding a student responsible for assigned material is not teaching, even though it is a large part of modern school and university practice.” B.F. Skinner, 1968

37. Understanding the Stages of Learning • Acquisition • (build initial stimulus control) • Fluency • (develop speed, accuracy) • Maintenance • (durability of skill across time) • Generalization • (performance of behavior under appropriate, non-trained conditions)

38. Stages of Learning • Acquisition: new at task, instruction crucial, student not accurate • Fluency: accurate and increase in speed • Maintenance: skills retained over time • Generalization: skill in new contexts (discriminate) • Adaptation: modify skill for new situation

39. Adaptation Generalization Maintenance Fluency Acquisition Stages of Learning

40. Acquisition • Teaching discriminations • Positive examples • Maximally different negative example • Minimally different negative example • Positive examples • Teach what to do, and when to do it. • The behavior • The signal (discriminative stimulus) • Prompting, fading, shaping, rewarding

41. Learner characteristics at acquisition stage • Student performs none or up to about half of the task • May need to cue or prompt initiation • May need a low-error prompt system • Possibly break skill down into smaller components • Give frequent positive feedback

42. Fluency • Improved rate of responding • But fluency is more than just rate • Fluid motions • Absence of pausing • Speed in decision-making • Rhythmic • Build fluency through practice • Math facts, chromatic scale, second language • Fluency is an index of the power of stimulus control that has been established.

43. Fluent learner characteristics • Student performs more than half of the task • Add realistic speed and quality criteria • Add to skill to make it more functional (e.g., monitors speed & quality) • Enrich skill with communication choice, or social behaviors • Drop all intrusive requests • Fade intrusive prompt • Shift attention to natural cues and prompts • Thin out reinforcement • Shift to natural reinforcement

44. Maintenance • Stability of responding over time • Variables that affect maintenance • Building fluency with initial instruction (level of stimulus control • Regular opportunity to perform • On-going access to contingent rewards (reinforcement) • Access to competing alternative behaviors that are contingently reinforced.

45. Learners at the maintenance stage • Student performs more than half of the task • “Schedule it” and expect student to perform • Add to the skill to make it more functional (e.g., initiates, prepares) • Enrich skill with communication, choice, social behaviors • Drop all intrusive requests • Fade intrusive prompts • Shift attention to natural cues • Thin out reinforcement • Shift to natural reinforcement

46. Generalization • Defined: • Target behavior is performed under conditions beyond those used during instruction. • Generalization can be desired (e.g.“greeting skills”) or undesired (saying /b/ in the presence of “d”). • Build generalized skills through selection and sequencing of teaching examples

47. Characteristics of learners at the generalization stage • Student performs more than half of the task • Vary settings • Vary instructors, supervisors, others • Vary materials • Vary conditions and teach problem solving • Enrich skill with communication, choice • Drop all intrusive requests • Fade intrusive prompt, reinforcement • Shift attention to natural cues & natural reinforcement

48. Adaptation Generalization Maintenance Fluency Acquisition Stages of Learning

49. Review • 4 basic elements of behavior • Response, Antecedent stimulus, Consequence, Setting Event • 9 principles of behavior • Stimulus control, Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement, Positive punishment, Negative punishment, Transfer, Generalization, Maintenance • Applications to teaching • Prompting, Fading, Shaping, Task Analysis, Design of Instruction, Instructional objectives, Behavioral objectives.

50. Examples • Teaching reading in second grade • Objective: Hailey will read at 100 words correct per min with the Open Court text. • Acquisition: • Fluency: • Maintenance: • Generalization: