Student outcomes after 1 year of front line staff implementation of the PEAK curriculum

Abstract

Systems‐level interventions built by behavior analysts often rely on others to implement, and this may be especially true in public education settings where behavior analysts are scarce. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Direct Training (PEAK‐DT) curriculum when implemented by school teachers and direct care staff. Thirty‐nine children with autism took part in the study (19 PEAK, 15 control), where the experimental group received applied behavior analytic instruction through the PEAK‐DT curriculum, and the quasi‐randomized control group received training as usual. The PEAK‐DT assessment was first administered to the participants at the onset of the study and again following 1 year. Participants who received PEAK training gained more skills on the PEAK‐DT assessment compared to the control group (PEAK: M = 16.0, SD = 17.8; control: M = 6.1, SD = 14.4, F(1,33) = 10.66, p < .05), suggesting that systems level implementation of behavior analytic procedures can be effective in teaching language skills as prescribed in a packaged curriculum designed by behavior analysts.

PEAK Relational Training System

“…The results suggested a statistically significant change in scores from pre-test to post-test for the PEAK training group, but not for the treatment as usual group. Another study evaluated the effectiveness of the PEAK-DT module when implemented by classroom teachers and direct care staff (Dixon et al 2018). In this study, an intervention group (19 participants) received PEAK instruction, while a quasi-randomized control group (15 participants) received treatment as usual (i.e., typical classroom instruction).…”

Applied Behavior Analysis in Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Scoping Review

“…Among the outcome measures defined in the current review, some records showed significant improvement in some but not all contributing measures (Eikeseth et al, 2002;Reed et al, 2007a;Zachor et al, 2007). Others had statistically significant improvement in all contributing measures of a given outcome (Dixon et al, 2018;Howard et al, 2005;Lovaas, 1987;Novack et al, 2019;Smith et al, 2000;Zachor et al, 2007).…”

A Cultural Generalization: An Effective Training for Staff Integrity on DTT in the Application of the PEAK in Brazil

“…The PEAK content is divided into six main skill domains: foundational learning, perceptual learning, verbal comprehension, verbal reasoning, memory, and mathematical skills (Rowsey et al 2015). Although research has supported the effectiveness of the PEAK (Dixon et al, 2017;Dunkel-Jackson & Dixon, 2018;Dixon, Belisle, Stanley, & Rowsey, 2018), the program's success rests on staff implementation of the protocol. The PEAK curriculum was designed to be user-friendly for parents, teachers, and direct-care staff, in addition to behavior analysts and other trained professionals, however training is required to establish the proper instructional skills to teach each of the skill domains (Hahs & Jarynowski, 2019).…”