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The use of ecobehavioral assessment to identify naturally occurring effective procedures in classrooms serving students with autism and other developmental disabilities

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Abstract

A real need exists for the development of effective instructional procedures for students with autism and other developmental disabilities in community-based settings. The purpose of the present project was twofold: a) to conduct an ecobehavioral analysis of classroom instruction in order to provide a description of naturally occurring effective procedures; and b) to experimentally validate the effectiveness of those procedures across teachers and classrooms. Twenty-four subjects from six different classrooms participated in Study 1. An ecobehavioral analysis model was implemented with systematic observations to measure environmental effects on student performance. These observations, along with informal observations conducted by the experimenters, were used to provide data-based and qualitative descriptions of naturally occurring classroom procedures and events. Study 2 sought to experimentally determine functional relationships between the identified effective procedures from Study 1 and levels of student academic responding and learning. Twenty-one subjects from 5 classrooms participated in a series of single-subject designs to test the intervention procedures during small group instructional sessions. Intervention groups were characterized by a variety of media materials interspersed with verbal interactions, frequent rotations of materials, fast-pacing, group (choral) responding, and student-to-student interactions. Results, based on procedural checklist data and criterion-referenced assessments, indicated reliable replications across teachers and students for the identified naturally occurring effective procedures with increased student learning during interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autism Research Project, Juniper Gardens Children's Project (JGCP), University of Kansas, USA

    Debra M. Kamps Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)

  2. Autism Research Project, JGCP, USA

    Betsy R. Leonard M.A. (Program Consultant) & Erin P. Dugan M.A. (Program Consultant)

  3. Kansas Public School District, Kansas City

    Brenda Boland B.S. (Special Education Teacher)

  4. University of Kansas, USA

    Charles R. Greenwood Ph.D. (Director and Senior Scientist for Juniper Gardens Children's Project)

Authors
  1. Debra M. Kamps Ph.D.
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  2. Betsy R. Leonard M.A.
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  3. Erin P. Dugan M.A.
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  4. Brenda Boland B.S.
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  5. Charles R. Greenwood Ph.D.
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Kamps, D.M., Leonard, B.R., Dugan, E.P. et al. The use of ecobehavioral assessment to identify naturally occurring effective procedures in classrooms serving students with autism and other developmental disabilities. J Behav Educ 1, 367–397 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00946773

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