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Naturalistic language interventions are commonly recommended to educators when teaching children to reliably share their wants, interests, and feelings with others. Recommendations include providing focused attention on a child and embedding multiple instructional opportunities within and across activities. Although such practices are commonly recommended, educators have multiple responsibilities throughout the day and need practical guidelines for implementing these relatively complex procedures in practice. The purpose of this review was to identify experimental studies where educators were trained to conduct naturalistic language interventions in schools for the purposes of improving verbal social communication in children with or at risk for disabilities. We identified a total of 38 experimental studies published in 19 articles. Most studies were conducted by classroom teachers with children with autism spectrum disorder. Inadequate methodological rigor limited the applicability of findings for guiding educators in practice. Practical implications for evaluating naturalistic language interventions in schools are discussed.

This study serves as an initial attempt to establish content validity for graphs likely to be included in trainings targeting progress monitoring for professionals serving learners with or at risk for disabilities. We created a survey containing 32 graphic displays of hypothetical learner data. These surveys were administered to a sample of special education teachers, behavior analysts, higher education faculty, and related service providers. Survey respondents rated each graph on its likelihood of being encountered in practice and whether a graph depicted a therapeutic effect. Results indicated that graphs displaying a therapeutic effect were most likely to be encountered and that graphs with variable data in either a baseline or intervention condition were associated with incorrect visual analysis determinations. Implications of our findings are discussed with respect to personnel who develop and provide trainings on analyzing learners' progress monitoring data.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a brief training plus e-mail-specific performance feedback (ESPF) on increasing preschool teacher's use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) statements. Quantity of BSP was measured using a frequency count, while voice intonation of BSP statements was measured using a voice recording system. A multiple probe design across four preschool teachers who taught in inclusive preschool classrooms was used to evaluate the effectiveness of ESPF on BSP delivery. As an outcome measure, researchers examined whether changes to the teacher's BSP affected children's task engagement during class activities. Results indicated a functional relation between ESPF and an increase in the quantity of BSP statements. Voice intonation of BSP statements increased for three participants following ESPF; however, a clear functional relation was not present in the data. Results also indicated that increased quantity and intonation of BSP statements resulted in a tendency for increased mean task engagement across all children; this finding may warrant further investigation. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of behavioral skills training (BST) that included video vignettes used for modeling and rehearsal to train preservice general educators how to collect accurate antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) data using a structured recording format. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated within the context of a multiple probe single-case research design. This study also assessed generalization of collecting correct ABC data across a narrative format, given that this format is commonly used in schools. BST was effective for training preservice general educators to collect ABC data using a structured recording format and participants also generalized this skill to a narrative recording format. These findings extend the literature on BST as an intervention that can improve preservice general educators' behavioral abilities. Practical implications and future areas of research are provided.

Multitiered systems of support provide a framework for matching the needs of a struggling student with an appropriate intervention. Experimental evaluations of tiered support systems in grade schools have been conducted for decades but have been less frequently examined in early childhood contexts. A recent meta-analysis of multitiered systems of support in preschool settings exclusively synthesized outcomes from group design studies. Our current review extends this review by synthesizing single-case research examining interventions implemented within tiered support system frameworks in preschool settings. Our data indicate that single-case evaluations of tiered support systems do not frequently meet contemporary standards for rigor or consistently identify functional relations. Recommendations and considerations for future research are discussed.

Progress-monitoring data collection is an essential skill for teachers serving children for whom the general curriculum is insufficient. As the field of early childhood education moves toward tiered service provision models, the importance of routine data collection is heightened. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of a training package on preschool teachers' implementation of progress-monitoring strategies to collect data on children in need of supports beyond those provided through the general curriculum. This study employed a single-case experimental design in which generalized teacher behavior was collected within the context of the design. In addition, masked reliability data collectors were used throughout the study and an analysis of bias was conducted by a researcher unaffiliated with the study. Social and ecological validity data were collected using a multi-method approach.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a brief training plus e-mail-specific performance feedback (ESPF) on increasing preschool teacher's use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) statements. Quantity of BSP was measured using a frequency count, while voice intonation of BSP statements was measured using a voice recording system. A multiple probe design across four preschool teachers who taught in inclusive preschool classrooms was used to evaluate the effectiveness of ESPF on BSP delivery. As an outcome measure, researchers examined whether changes to the teacher's BSP affected children's task engagement during class activities. Results indicated a functional relation between ESPF and an increase in the quantity of BSP statements. Voice intonation of BSP statements increased for three participants following ESPF; however, a clear functional relation was not present in the data. Results also indicated that increased quantity and intonation of BSP statements resulted in a tendency for increased mean task engagement across all children; this finding may warrant further investigation. Limitations and future research directions are discussed., Author(s): Kathryn Gorton [sup.1], R. Allan Allday [sup.1], Justin D. Lane [sup.1], Melinda J. Ault [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.266539.d, 0000 0004 1936 8438, Department of Early Childhood, Special Education [...]

Professionals working with individuals at risk for, or with, disabilities are required by federal legislation to select, implement, and formatively and summatively evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based practices in typical settings. Although multiple resources related to graph construction and visual analysis are available in the literature, studies on training pre-service and in-service professionals to visually analyze data are lacking. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a multi-component visual analysis training for pre-service professionals enrolled in a behavior management course. The training explained the importance of graphing and visually analyzing data, taught participants how to visually analyze data, and included guided practice visually analyzing sample A-B graphs. Results indicated that participants were likely to display difficulties visually analyzing complex data paths and, following the training, were able to increase their accuracy of visual analysis. Limitations and implications for future research and pre-service and in-service training are discussed.

A visual activity schedule (VAS) was used with a 7-year-old African-American (Non-Hispanic) male at-risk for school failure. An ABAB withdrawal design was used to assess the effectiveness of a VAS on decreasing latency during transitions. Results indicated that a VAS decreased transition latency between activities and reduced teacher prompting associated with the transitions. Limitations of this study and implications for practitioners and researchers are provided.

The social and ecological validity of a body of research may impact the degree to which interventions will be used outside of research contexts. The purpose of this review was to determine the extent to which social and ecological validity were demonstrated for interventions designed to increase social skills for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Results indicated that although the percentage of studies including social validity assessment has remained stable over the 20-year review period, subjective assessments of social validity have increased and objective assessments have decreased. Acceptability was measured more often than feasibility or importance. Approximately half of the studies included indigenous implementers, typical social partners, or typical settings. Suggestions include additional research on the validity of measures, explicit reporting by researchers, and the use of multiple, objective, and psychometrically sound social validity assessments.

The system of least prompts response prompting procedure has a rich history in special education research and practice. Recently, two independent systematic reviews were conducted to determine if the system of least prompts met criteria to be classified as an evidence-based practice. Both reviews used single-case design standards developed by What Works Clearinghouse to evaluate the rigor and effects of studies; however, findings and implications varied significantly across reviews. We examined the data supporting each review and discuss how two reviews on the same topic area using the same standards for evaluating studies could arrive at different conclusions. Results indicate that varying search parameters, visual analysis protocols, and the flexibility allotted by the design standards may have contributed to differences. We discuss the importance of multiple literature reviews on the same topic area with regard to replication research in special education. In addition, we highlight the necessity of open data in such reviews. Finally, we recommend how practitioners and researchers should collectively interpret the differing findings and conclusions from the reviews examining the system of least prompts.

We evaluated the effects of a multicomponent intervention to address food selectivity issues of 3 preschoolers with developmental disabilities. The intervention comprised strategies evidencing ecological validity in both research and practice. All sessions took place during typical mealtimes in children's classroom or lunchroom, with peers present, and a school-based staff member serving as the instructor. A multiple probe design across behaviors (touch, smell, taste, and eat), with a nested changing criterion design in the final tier, was used to evaluate changes in eating behaviors. Exploratory behaviors related to eating increased for all children; however, the designed intervention did not result in increased consumption of nonpreferred foods. Modifications resulted in one child demonstrating consistent increases in the consumption of nonpreferred foods, but these modifications did not result in increased consumption for other children. Challenges and future directions in treating food selectivity using resources typically available during mealtimes in preschool settings are discussed.

Teachers are responsible for providing opportunities for children to learn, succeed, and grow academically and socially. Small group instruction is one effective option for encouraging academic and social skills in young children. Young children often display difficulties sitting and listening to a teacher or waiting for peers to take a turn, but these behaviors are often highly valued by kindergarten teachers. Small group instruction prepares children for elementary school and later grades, specifically by teaching children how to learn. This article discusses targeting academic and social skills during small group instruction using sight words, response prompts, and a data sheet.

Small group instruction in classrooms provides children opportunities to collaborate on academic tasks, as well as opportunities for social interactions. Although such arrangements are common for children with typical development, children with moderate to severe disabilities (MSD) may receive few or no opportunities to participate meaningfully in small group instruction with same-age peers with typical development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a progressive time delay procedure for teaching children with MSD (autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability) and those with typical social development, but at-risk for academic failure, to name sight words during small group instruction. In addition, children had multiple opportunities per session to provide tokens to peers, praise peers for correct responses, and initiate conversations and respond to a peer's conversation initiations. Results indicated that children with and without disabilities can learn to name sight words, as well as learn to initiate conversation when tokens include pictures or photographs of each child's preferred items or activities. Implications for teachers and future studies are provided.

We systematically reviewed more than 25 years of applied research examining the system of least prompts response prompting procedure with individuals with disabilities. We identified 123 peer-reviewed studies including 413 participants receiving instruction with the system of least prompts. A total of 252 experimental designs were evaluated, with 51 designs indicating a functional relation and the presence of 154 demonstrations of effect across 91 individuals. Our data indicate that the system of least prompts is an evidenced-based practice for teaching chained responses related to community, self-care, and vocational skills to individuals with moderate intellectual disability who are 13 years of age or older. In addition, we present and discuss a method for analyzing and aggregating data from single-case studies to account for noneffects and publication bias when identifying if an intervention meets standards as an evidence-based practice.

Teachers in inclusive preschool classrooms are required to provide supports and instruction to children with and without developmental delays. In addition, teachers are required to use research and evidence-based practices, such as naturistic instructional procedures. Despite a plethora of research on the effectiveness and utility of naturalistic instructional procedures, few studies have examined the training and coaching practices used to prepare teachers to use these procedures. In addition, few studies have examined the extent to which teachers view common training and coaching practices as ecologically valid or naturalistic instructional procedures as socially valid. The authors trained two preschool teachers of inclusive classrooms to use naturalistic instructional procedures within the context of their daily activities. The training package consisted of the most commonly utilized teacher training and coaching practices. Teachers evaluated the social and ecological validity of the training and coaching practices throughout the study. Results indicated that both teachers acquired target naturalistic instructional procedures with concomitant decreases in the number of unrelated task demands presented to children. Teachers reported idiosyncratic differences across social and ecological validity ratings. Implications for future research and teacher training are discussed.

The percentage of children with special needs receiving academic instruction at home has substantially increased since a resurgence of homeschooling during the 1990s. In light of this information, the purpose of this article was to provide an overview of the history and laws related to homeschooling, the characteristics of homeschool families, and the relevant issues that parents of children with disabilities encountered when choosing to homeschool. This is followed by a discussion of the reasons parents chose to homeschool their children with special needs, as well as the current state of research on homeschooling students with disabilities. Finally, suggestions related to homeschooling students with disabilities were made for future researchers, parents, and public school educators.

In this study we examined the applicability of personality measures to assessing God representations, and we explored how the overlap between personality judgments of self and God relate to strength of (dis)belief and closeness to God among atheists and agnostics. Using sample of 1,088 atheists/agnostics, we applied Goldberg’s Big Five bipolar markers as a standardized measure of personality dimensions, along with measures of identity fusion with God, belief strength, and sociosexuality, as this trait has been shown to be relevant in predicting religiosity. Our study revealed that personality measures can be used for research on the personality of supernatural agents. We also found that personality self-assessments were related to the assessments of God personality. Agreeableness was positively related to the perception of emotional stability of God, while conscientiousness and surgency were negatively related to perceived intellect and surgency of god, respectively. Also, intellect of the participants was related negatively to perceptions of God’s emotional stability and intellect. Perceived distance between the assessment of one’s own personality and the personality of God predicted the strength of (dis)belief, thus opening new interpretations into possible sources of belief and disbelief. Finally, echoing previous studies, we found that conscientiousness of God had a negative effect on SOI-R score.

The provision of progress monitoring is mandated under federal law for children receiving special education services. In recent years, professional organizations have recommended that this provision be extended to include children receiving services within multitiered systems of support. Organizations representing the field of early childhood education have embraced this focus on progress monitoring to include all children, regardless of ability or disability. To understand how to effectively prepare preschool educators to engage in progress monitoring practices, we conducted a systematic review of the literature. Results of repeated and extended search methods identified only four studies. We present our findings and stress the need for researchers and funding agencies to work toward establishing a rigorous body of literature devoted to professional development and teacher training surrounding progress monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Assistive Technology Act of 2004 (29 U.S.C. Sec 2202(2)) defines AT as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities." Instructional Technology (IT), a term not specifically defined by the Assistive Technology Act of 2004, refers to teaching "practices that encompass elements of electronic media (i.e., pictures, videos, sounds) to facilitate acquisition of a novel skill to be performed in the absence of said elements" (Ayres, Shepley, & Douglas, 2015). The primary method for differentiating AT and IT is determining whether technology will be a temporary or static accommodation (Ayres, Shepley, & Douglas, 2015). When selecting interventions incorporating AT or IT, it is of paramount importance to select the technology that will promote the most independence for students across materials, peers, adults, and settings, thus increasing the social validity of the intervention. Whether seeking to utilize AT or IT in typical environments, teachers and practitioners who work with young children with special needs should be cautious when selecting technologies.

Young children with disabilities are less likely to display age-appropriate social behaviors than same-age peers with typical social development, especially children who display social-communication delays. In this study, two concurrently operating single case designs were used to evaluate the use of progressive time delay (PTD) to teach children with disabilities to share and to name peer preferences during dyadic instruction. PTD was effective for teaching children to share and to identify peer preferences. All participants generalized 50 to 100% of peer preference targets to typical classroom activities (e.g., selecting their peer's preferred snack before mealtime), with mixed results regarding sharing during an art activity.

A multiple probe design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a SMART Board used in conjunction with teacher delivered constant time delay (CTD) to teach environmental text to three young students with disabilities and minimal group learning experience during small group direct instruction. Observational learning, instructive feedback, and generalization were also assessed. Initially, reinforcement was presented to the group via the SMART Board, but was modified to a token economy to address challenging behavior and non-responding in some students. Results suggest that using a SMART Board and CTD was effective for one participant when group reinforcement was used and effective for all participants when an individualized token economy was added to sessions. Teachers should be cautious when using group reinforcement strategies with young students who may not have extended learning histories with small group instruction and reinforcement other than token economies. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are provided.

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related social-communication delays may display difficulties commenting on actions that occur in their natural environment. One method for increasing early conversation skills is direct instruction. Using video examples of actions may increase the salient features of instructional targets and, as such, may be an effective stimulus for presenting actions during instruction. The present study used a multiple-probe design across participants replicated across behaviors to evaluate the effectiveness of a 0- to 4-s progressive time-delay (PTD) procedure using video presentation of actions to teach three preschool-aged children with ASD and related social-communication delays to label actions. In addition, the teacher provided language expansion on all instructional targets, as well as assessed generalization to novel stimuli (videos and pictures or photographs). Results indicate that all participants acquired action labels. Two of the three participants generalized responses to novel videos and pictures while expanding their responses without direct instruction. Implications for teachers targeting action labels in early childhood settings are provided.

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate delays in expressive communication, impacting their ability to independently function in typical environments. Individuals with ASD who develop expressive language during early childhood experience better outcomes later in life; therefore, examination of naturalistic language interventions (NLIs) remain an important area of investigation. The current study used a multiple probe design across participants to examine the effects of a classroom-based NLI on various expressive language targets in three preschool-aged children demonstrating characteristics of ASD. Findings suggest the intervention had positive and maintained effects on trial-based use of language targets, as well as concomitant changes in commenting, requesting, and phrase complexity. Implications regarding implementation of NLIs within typical classroom play activities are discussed.