Symposium: Innovative Approaches for Teacher Training in Behavior Supports

Chair: Anu Dutt (National Institute of Education – Nanyang Technological University)
Discussant: David P. Wacker (University of Iowa)
The use of functional behavior assessment (FBA) and positive behavioral interventions in the management of challenging behavior (e.g., aggression, non-compliance, self-injury, property destruction, tantrums etc.) within the school systems, has gained empirical support over the last three to four decades. FBA is grounded in the discipline of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and it aims to understand the underlying function or purpose of behavior to inform behavioral intervention planning. In this symposium, three teams from different countries (i.e., Singapore and the United States) will discuss their process of training educational staff in various FBA and behavioral intervention technologies. Resulting outcomes for the targeted school-based professional trainees who were trained by each model will be discussed. Concomitant outcomes of the students and the schools who benefited by increased access and usage of FBA technologies will also be discussed. Finally, implications will center on the broader implications of these teacher training models.
 
Paper 1: Training School-Based Behavior Teams to Identify Potential Reinforcers for Student Behavior Plans
Authors: Brenda Bassingthwaite, Janelle Peck, Jayme Mews, Julie St. John, Brooke Natchev, and Tory Christensen (University of Iowa, United States) 
The Behavioral Outreach Center at the Center for Disabilities and Development has spent the past eight years offering apprenticeships to behavior teams in how to conduct functional behavior assessments for students who engage in challenging behaviors (e.g., aggression, self-injurious behaviors, and destruction) in the school setting.  The apprenticeship model included didactic lectures and onsite modeling of skills during an evaluation of students’ behavior.  Behavior assessments targeted within the apprenticeship included descriptive assessments (Lalli et al, 1993), preference assessments (e.g., Fisher et al., 1992), choice assessments (e.g., Harding et al., 1999), antecedent analyses (e.g., Carr and Durand, 1985), and functional analyses (e.g., Iwata et al., 1994).   Since 2013, apprenticeships in function-based assessments were provided to eight different behavior teams with between three and eight members.  Baseline measures were taken of apprentices’ skills in designing, conducting, and analyzing all assessments through self-report and direct observation of skills.  Apprentices were successfully taught how to conduct free operant preference assessments, paired-choice preference assessments, and multi-stimulus preference assessments.  This presentation will include a description of the apprenticeship model, outcome measures, progress of the apprentices, and their use of preference assessments within their practice.  
 
Paper 2: Considerations of Baseline Classroom Conditions in Conducting Functional Behavior Assessments in School Settings
Authors: Stephanie Peterson, Katherine Kestner, Rebecca Eldridge, and Lloyd Peterson (Western Michigan University)
Research has shown that environmental classroom variables affect academic performance and student behavior, and appropriate behavior is often related to the presence of effective teaching practices and classroom management (Moore Partin, Robertson, Maggin, Oliver, & Wehby, 2010). For behavior analysts consulting in elementary education, some referrals for assessment and treatment of individual student behavior can be resolved by helping teachers establish effective class-wide practices. For this reason, some researchers suggest that behavior analysts should assess baseline classroom conditions as part of a functional behavior assessment (FBA; Anderson & St. Peter, 2013; Sutherland & Wehby, 2001). Through a literature review on effective classroom practices, we identified four specific classroom variables that have large effects on both learning outcomes and student behavior; we suggest consultants consider these four variables in baseline classroom assessments: (1) rates of active student responding (ASR), (2) appropriateness of the curriculum, (3) feedback and reinforcement, and (4) effective instructions and transitions. In this paper, we will discuss each of these variables, describe how they can affect classroom behavior, and provide recommended targets from the research literature. We also provide a data-collection form for practitioners to use in their assessments of baseline classroom ecology, and for situations when these practices are not in place, we suggest potential resources for antecedent- and consequence-based interventions to decrease challenging classroom behavior.
 
Paper 3: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Web-Based Training Program in Functional Behavioral Assessment and Interventions with Special Education Schools in Singapore
Authors: Anu Dutt (NIE-NTU Singapore), Rahul Nair (University of Adelaide - Australia), Alison Cheng (NIE-NTU, Singapore) & Brenda Bassingthwaite (University of Iowa, United States)
The primary aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a web- based training program in FBA and behavioral interventions. As higher levels of challenging behavior are observed across students in special education (SPED) schools in Singapore, this training program was offered to special educators that are involved in the direct care of these children. To cater to a larger target audience, the training program was offered across two instructional modalities: a) traditional face to face workshops and b) Web Based Instruction (WBI). Specifically, the study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of each instructional modality in meeting the professional development needs of SPED school teachers in FBA and behavioral interventions. We hypothesized that both instructional modalities would be equally effective in meeting professional development needs of SPED school teachers. The descriptive and quantitative outcomes of this study would suggest that WBI could be used as an alternative sustainable tool for conducting future training workshops in FBA and behavioral interventions for in-service teachers in Singapore and worldwide via online learning platforms. Thus, building human resource capacity for meeting unserved needs.