Preparing Behavioral Objectives Chapter 2

Rationale for behavioral objectives 1) “…the objective serves as an agreement among school personnel, parents, and students about the academic or social learning for which school personnel are taking responsibility. An objective may also serve to inform students of what is expected”.

Rationale for behavioral objectives 2) “a clearly stated target for instruction facilitates effective programming by the teacher and ancillary personnel. A clearly stated instructional target provides a basis for selecting appropriate e materials and instructional strategies.

Rationale for behavioral objectives 3) Checkpoints for success provide formative data about the progress of a student. “Ongoing evaluation and measurement enable the teacher, the student, or a third party to monitor progress continuously and to determine when goals have been reached”.

…pinpointing behavior. “Before an objective can be written or a behavior change program initiated, the target behavior must be described clearly. Referral information may often be vague and imprecise. To write effective objectives the applied behavior analyst must refine broad generalizations into specific, observable, measurable behaviors. This process is frequently referred to as… …pinpointing behavior.

Mainstream Assistance Team A procedure for assisting teachers with their “hard to teach” students. Evaluated by Nashville schools Described by Fuchs, Fuchs, & Bahr (1990) in “Mainstream Assistance Teams: A Scientific Basis for the Art of Consultation”

Abstract “The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether a consultant-driven prereferral intervention may be shortened in duration, thereby improving its efficiency, without reducing its effectiveness. Subjects were 60 general educators; their 60 most difficult-to-teach pupils without disabilities; and 22 consultants, representing 17 elementary schools in a large metropolitan school system. The teachers were assigned randomly to a short and long version of the prereferral intervention and to a control group.

Abstract Analysis indicated that the two variants of the prereferral intervention improved teacher perceptions of their difficult-to-teach students and decreased referrals for testing and possible special education placement. Moreover, results suggested that the short and long versions were equally effective.

MAT Procedure Introduction - PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION A. Describing the Target Child 1. Describe your most… 2. What does he (she) do… 3. (…describe at least 1 behavior and, if appropriate, at least 1 academic problem) 4. How severe are… (see rating scale) 5. Mild problems are not…rate each of these problems (manageability)

MAT Procedure Introduction - PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION -PINPOINTING A. Describing the Target Child 6. I’m also interested =…how tolerable are each of these problems (see rating scale) 7. Pick a second student of the same sex… 8-9. On which level in Ginn 20 (Nashville curriculum) 10. Have your referred for assessment (MDT)? In your opinion, how appropriate would would it be to refer the target child for some type of specialized professional help,…

MAT Procedure Introduction - PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION B. Specifying the Problem 1. Earlier…(Restate the teacher’s response to A-2.) 2. Rank order these problems… 3. From the above list, select the one behavior problem… 4. Describe this…as carefully and specifically… 5. In the past, have your taken any step to addres this problem behavior? If yes, Specifically, what have you tried to do

MAT Procedure Introduction - PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION C. Summarizing the Target Child’s Problem Behavior 2. Have I got it right? If not, please help me. 3. Do we agree that this will be the problem… 1. Let’s see if I have this clear… D. Describe when you will be coming to collect data; what will be occurring in class and process for identifying the student.

MAT Procedure Introduction - PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION D. Identifying Class times and Days to Observe the Target Student 1. When during the day (twp academic activities and times) does… 2. I would like to observe…two times. 3. When I come…please identify her/him inconspicuously…under typical circumstances. 4. Describe this…as carefully and specifically…

MAT Observation System Directions Observation Worksheets Observation Recording Form Summary of Data Across Two Observation Periods

Goals & Objectives Objectives should be derived from a set of educational goals that provide the framework for the academic year. …goals are statements of annual program intent, whereas behavior objectives are statements of actual instructional intent.

Goals & Objectives Goals are based on background information and assessment data that appear in the ‘current level of performance’ (a.k.a. PLOPs) segments of the IEP. (OYO see p. 28)

Goals & Objectives Goal Domains Behavior Cognitive Communication Motor Self-help Social Vocational

Goals & Objectives - Considerations Realistic rate of development for student; Reflects current communication/physical capabilities; Inappropriate behaviors that may influence learning; Skills that generalize to other settings; Availability of personnel, equipment, and materials; Acceptable antecedent behaviors; and Functional utility of target skills. (OYO see p. 28)

Goals & Objectives Objectives have 4 components: They… Identify the learner (Who) Identify the target behavior Use action verbs (p. 33) Operationalize ambiguous terms (p. 31) (What) Identify conditions of intervention (Situational - When, where, with whom) Identify criteria for acceptable performance (Note: Can be quantity/ quality and time by which objective will be met.)

Other Considerations Objectives typically follow a sequence: Acquisition Fluency Maintenance Generalization Act.: Be able to write a 4-component behavior objective for each level in this sequence.