No abstract

Children with or at risk of disabilities, however, often demonstrate delays in play skills, which deleteriously affect their engagement in classroom activities including social interactions with peers (Barton, 2010). The effects can be cumulative because playful interactions with caregivers, peers, and teachers are a primary context for learning new skills (Barton, 2014; Dunst, Hamby, Trivette, Raab, & Bruder, 2000), including social skills that can be used across typical classroom activities, materials, and settings (Schneider & Goldstein, 2008). The relation between social skills acquired through play and school readiness highlights a critical need to address play and social competence as early as possible (Lee & Bierman, 2015; Stormont, Herman, Reinke, King, & Owens, 2015). Social competence in children predicts important outcomes such as academic achievement, job retention, and relationship success (Christakis & Fowler, 2011; Jones, Greenberg, & Crowley, 2015). Effective interventions for addressing child social competence exist (Hemmeter, Snyder, Fox, & Algina, 2016) and primarily involve adult systematic prompting (Joseph, Strain, Olszewski, & Goldstein, 2016). The best outcomes have been associated with interventions in which adults intentionally plan and facilitate social interactions between typically developing children and children with disabilities (Odom & Strain, 1986). In fact, this type of peer-mediated instruction-when intentional and systematic-has been effective for teaching the broad range of discrete skills needed to positively affect the frequency and quality of peer-related social interactions (Odom et al., 1999; Strain & Bovey, 2015).

Contingency management systems have been used to successfully improve behaviors since the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) were first introduced in mid-20th century and have been shown to be effective in school settings with diverse populations (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). These systems create targeted, meaningful stimulusresponse contingencies and might be helpful for children for whom typically available classroom reinforcers are not effective. Individual contingencies can be effective for modifying multiple behavioral subsets (e.g., inappropriate/ appropriate behavior, stuttering, social skills) when used in preschool settings, either informally or within more structured individualized behavior plans (Bryant,

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using text messaging to deliver performance-based feedback (PF) to preservice teachers working in inclusive early childhood classrooms. A multiple baseline across behaviors single-case research design was replicated across four participants to examine the relation between PF delivered via text message and preservice teachers’ use of self-selected target behaviors. Results indicated text messaging was an effective method for delivering PF and subsequently increasing teacher target behaviors when individualized to meet the needs of teachers; however, results were variable across teachers.

A multiple-baseline across behaviors design was utilized to examine the relation between performance-based feedback (PF) and the frequency of teaching teams’ use of target behaviors during observation sessions with six teachers in three inclusive preschool classrooms. Teachers increased their use of target behaviors when feedback was provided and maintained their use over time when feedback was withdrawn; however, there was considerable variability across teachers. Furthermore, teachers did not increase their use of target behaviors during covert observations—when they did not know they were being observed. The current study replicates and extends the research in this area by examining the provision of PF to teaching teams and with complex behaviors (e.g., play expansions, promoting social interactions).

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of performance-based feedback (PF) delivered via email on early childhood teachers’ sustained use of recommended practices within inclusive early childhood classrooms. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was replicated across three teachers to examine the relation between PF delivered via email and teachers’ use of target recommended practices across settings, over time, and during covert observations. Results indicated PF delivered via email was an effective method for increasing teachers’ use of target behaviors; however, generalization and maintenance varied across teachers.

Punishment-based procedures are used to reduce challenging behavior in both special education and applied behavior analytic practices. Although commonly effective, these interventions are associated with an increased level of risk, making their use controversial. However, no research has specifically analyzed the extent to which researchers comply with the ethical standards of the professional organizations for special educators and behavior analysts (i.e., Council for Exceptional Children [CEC] and the Behavior Analyst Certification Board [BACB], respectively) when implementing punishment-based procedures. This might be especially important for young children with disabilities, who are a highly vulnerable population. We systematically analyzed the use of punishment-based procedures with this population to determine (a) characteristics of included children and treatments and (b) the degree to which researchers adhered to ethical standards during implementation. Results indicated a variety of punishment-based procedures have been used with this population and have generally resulted in decreased challenging behavior; these results were demonstrated across age, diagnosis, target behavior, and treatment type. However, researchers demonstrated minimal adherence to ethical standards, with no improvements over time. This indicates a need for improved ethical rigor of researchers implementing punishment-based interventions. Recommendations include (a) the creation and validation of an ethics code to assess the degree to which researchers demonstrate ethical practices, and (b) the development of tools to help practitioners recognize the ethical implications of punishment-based interventions and choose/implement appropriate interventions for behavioral interventions.

For children with complex communication needs (CCN), augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices offer a means to communicate and participate in daily activities. Effective implementation and intervention practices are needed for supporting teaching teams working with children with CCN to improve child use of AAC. The purpose of this article is to describe two studies examining these issues. Study 1 examined the effects of a behavior skills training (BST) approach to professional development to support a classroom teaching team in the implementation of a behavior support plan for a child with CCN; Study 2 evaluated the effects of a single behavior (adult modeling) on AAC use. Results indicated teachers increased their fidelity with training and coaching, but not with training alone. Further, unprompted use of the AAC device occurred more frequently when an adult modeled use of the device.