Expanding the Impact of Behavioral Staff Management: A Large‐scale, Long‐term Application in Schools Serving Severely Handicapped Students

Abstract

Experimental evaluations of behavioral staff management procedures usually have been limited to relatively small-scale demonstration studies. We evaluated a large-scale, long-term application of a staff management program designed to improve the functional utility of educational services for severely handicapped persons. The intervention, involving a brief in-service program followed by supervisory prompts and feedback, was implemented by three principals in four schools involving 21 classrooms. Implementation of the management procedures was consistently accompanied by increases in student involvement in functional educational tasks in each classroom. Further, the improved services continued throughout a 2-year follow-up period. Staff responses to a questionnaire indicated a high degree of staff acceptance of the management program. Results are discussed in terms of expanding the use of behavioral supervisory procedures from experimental demonstrations to actual adoption by existing human service agencies.

Training Supervisors in a Collaborative Team Approach to Promote Peer Interaction of Children With Disabilities in Integrated Preschools

“…One promising possibility is training educators to design their own strategies through a collaborative process. A collaborative consultation process has been used to assist teachers in the implementation of functional curricula for children with developmental disabilities in elementary schools (Parsons, Schepis, Reid, McCarn, & Green, 1987), in the development of programs to manage the behavior of students (Fuchs, Fuchs, Bahr, Fernstrom, & Stecker, 1990), and in the incorporation of individualized educational objectives for disabled preschoolers in regular programs (Peck, Killen, & Baumgart, 1989). In the Peck, Killen, and Baumgart (1989) study, a consultant assisted individual teachers in generating strategies to address the specific language objectives of a child with disabilities during regular dassroom activities, and in modifying those strategies after implementation.…”

“…Teacher behavior categories were adopted from the "teacher focus" subcategory of the Eco-behavioral System for the Complex Assessment of Preschool Environments (ESCAPE) (Carta, Greenwood, & Atwater, 1986 At the end of the study, both resource and dassroom teachers completed a five-item survey adopted from Parsons et al (1987) on which they rated the acceptability of the intervention in the study on a 5-point Likert scale. The specific items listed were:…”

Applied Behavior Analysis: Teaching Procedures and Staff Training for Children with Autism

“…Staff training procedures that are well-established and accepted in the research literature, include: verbal, written, and video instructions; modeling; role-playing; in-vivo practice; and performance feedback (Cullen, 1988;Delamater, et al, 1984;Demchak et al, 1992;Fielding, et al, 1971;Fleming, et al, 1996;Gardner, 1972;Gladstone & Spencer, 1979;Greene, et al, 1978;Harchik, et al, 1989;Harris, et al, 1975;Johnson & Fawcett, 1994;Krumhus & Malott, 1980;Matson, 1990;Neef, et al, 1986;Page, et al, 1982;Parsons & Reid, 1995;Parsons, et al, 1996;Parsons, et al, 1987;Reid & Green, 1990;Richman, et al, 1988;Sepler & Meyers, 1978;Touchette & Howard, 1984). These established training methods can be used alone or in conjunction with more than one method to promote skill development.…”

Participatory Management: Maintaining Staff Performance in a University Housing Cooperative

“…Although the efficacy of management systems using these components is well documented, the conditions under which they were Parsons, Schepis, Reid, McCarn, and Green (1987) demonstrated the continued effectiveness of a management system over a 2-year follow-up period, but virtually all other studies of staff management procedures report follow-up for substantially shorter periods of time.…”