Training of Paraprofessionals by Their Classroom Teachers: A Descriptive Evaluation of Pyramidal Training Outcomes
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Training of Paraprofessionals by Their Classroom Teachers: A Descriptive Evaluation of Pyramidal Training Outcomes Dorothea C. Lerman1 · Kally M. Luck1 · Stephanie Smothermon1,2 · Brittany A. Zey1,4 · Taylor Custer1,3 · Leah D. Smith1,2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Pyramidal training may offer an efficient approach for disseminating behavior analytic teaching practices into public schools serving students with autism. In this study, we evaluated 16 teachers’ use of behavioral skills training (BST) while they trained paraprofessionals to use discrete-trial teaching (DTT). All paraprofessionals demonstrated high levels of procedural integrity following the training, although six of the 16 teachers received experimenter feedback to increase the integrity of the paraprofessional’s performance. A descriptive assessment of the training indicated that the majority of teachers used vocal instructions, modeling, and role play while training their paraprofessionals to implement DTT but only half of the teachers collected procedural integrity data to monitor the paraprofessionals’ performance. Although all teachers provided feedback to their paraprofessionals during the in situ portion of the training, the teachers were more likely to deliver feedback for errors than for correctly implemented components. These findings suggest that training teachers to implement BST with their paraprofessionals is an effective and socially valid approach to dissemination. Keywords Acceptability · Behavioral skills training · Discrete-trial training · Paraprofessional training · Pyramidal training · Teacher training
* Dorothea C. Lerman [email protected] 1
Department of Clinical, Health, and Applied Sciences, University of Houston – Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Campus Box 245, Houston, TX 77058, USA
2
Present Address: Texana Center, Rosenberg, TX, USA
3
Present Address: Garden Academy, West Orange, NJ, USA
4
Present Address: Action Behavior Center, Spring, TX, USA
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Behavioral Education
Introduction The number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) receiving special education services in public schools has increased by more than 480% since 2000 and now surpasses that of students with intellectual disabilities (Snyder et al. 2019). These statistics suggest that the majority of children with ASD are receiving most, if not all, of their education in public schools. Research has identified a variety of effective behavior analytic strategies for instructing students with ASD, including discrete-trial training, naturalistic teaching, shaping, and chaining [see Odom et al. (2010) for reviews]. Nonetheless, results of surveys indicate that many public school teachers and paraprofessionals feel inadequately prepared to teach students with ASD and other disabilities (Carter et al. 2009; Riggs and Mueller 2001). Training paraprofessionals to provide instruction to students with ASD is particularly vital given the amount of instructional time
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