Theoretical Framework Science & Values Chris Borgmeier, PhD Portland State University

Questions How should special educators make decisions about choosing practices to support student needs? Why are research, theoretical frameworks and data each important for guiding decision making and choosing professional practices in special education? How does research inform practice? How do I identify research based practices when I need interventions for a student challenge?

Research Based Theoretical Framework What if there isn’t really a research-based curriculum or intervention for the individual needs of my student? – No random control trials; no group research – Look to single case research Application of Research Based Principles Grounding in a sound theoretical framework

Behavioral or Learning Theory Assumptions of Behavioral Theory Behavior is Learned Focus on the observable and measurable Behavior is related to the environment in which it occurs Behavior serves a purpose Focus on how environmental variables can be manipulated to effect changes in behavior & learning Measure student outcomes & learning Educational approaches that have emerged from behaviorism include: – applied behavior analysis – Functional assessment – curriculum based measurement and progress monitoring, and – Direct instruction have emerged from this model – Discrete Trial Training – Modeling, shaping, fading, reinforcement, contract, extinction, etc.

RTI & SW-PBIS Effective InstructionPBS Conceptual Foundations Behaviorism ABA Laws of Behavior Applied Behavioral Technology Social Validity All Students

Foundations of Behavior

Behavior Identify the Target Behavior – Desired Behavior or Non-desired Behavior Behavior must be identified so that it is observable & measurable – Define the behavior so that someone else could go into the room and both of you could measure the behavior without question

Operational Definition EXAMPLES What the Behavior Looks Like NON-EXAMPLES What the Behavior Does NOT Look Like Provide a range of examples try to provide examples that delineate the boundaries of what the behavior looks like Provide a range of non-examples try to provide examples that delineate the boundaries of what the behavior does not looks like Behavioral Definition: Observable & Measurable definition

Operational Definition EXAMPLES What the Behavior Looks Like NON-EXAMPLES What the Behavior Does NOT Look Like Student is: Sitting at desk working with feet on floor and hands on work Standing in line with hands at side and without bumping into other students Sitting on floor and gently nudges another student by accident Teacher asks students to hand out books to class Playing tag at recess and gently tags another person to be it Student is: Kicking peer under the desk or poking the peer to get their attention Hold on to another students arm so they can’t get away from them in line Purposefully run into or push a student sitting next to you on the floor Throws a pencil at another student when the student needs a pencil Chases a peer during recess and touches them after the peer asks you to stop Hands, Feet and Objects to Self: Student does not touch other students with their hands, feet or objects, with intent to hurt, bother or get peers attention at inappropriate times

ABC’s of Understanding Behavior Operant Conditioning What happens before (A or antecedent) the behavior occurs ? – Trigger What is the behavior (B)? What happens after (C or consequence) the behavior occurs? – Response or Outcome of the Behavior A  B  C

Antecedents What triggers the behavior? What happens immediately preceding the problem/target behavior? What triggers the behavior, be specific... – What activity? – What peers? – What tasks? – Describe in detail If you wanted to set up the student to engage in the problem behavior, what would you have do?

Consequence What is the response to the behavior? What happens immediately following the behavior? – How do peers respond? – How do the adults respond? – What are the consequences for the student? – How many times out of 10 do each of these responses occur following the problem behavior? What is the student gaining as a result of engaging in the behavior? – How is it paying off for the student?

Learning A  B  C Student Learns through repeated experience, that under these specific A ntecedent conditions, if I engage in this B ehavior, I can expect this C onsequence

Learning & A  B  C ABC Student is asked to do a math problem in front of the class Student tries to do the problem at the board, but struggles Peers laugh at student and one says aloud, “that one is so easy” NEXT DAY Student is asked to do a math problem in front of the class What happens today???

Reinforcing Consequence A  B  C If the consequence is rewarding/desired, the subject learns the behavior is functional for getting what they want Behavior Increases in the Future Rewarding or Desired Consequence

Punishing Consequence A  B  C If the consequence is punishing/undesired, the subject learns the behavior is not functional for getting what they want Behavior Decreases in the Future Punishing or Undesired Consequence

ABC’s of Instruction Across the Continuum of Learners AntecedentBehaviorConsequence InstructionPromptStudent ResponseTeacher Feedback Mainstream“What is the capital of Sweden?”…. Bueller, Bueller Student thinks “Stockholm” Sporadic verbal praise Student self reinforcement “I got it right!” Direct Instruction Reading Showing card with word “cat” – saying “this word is ‘cat’, what word?” “cat” “c-ar” Yes – that word is cat; No, this word is cat Significant Disabilities “Choosing food at lunch” Most to least prompting -physical guidance (hand over hand) -Physical -Gestural -verbal Student Response Reinforce response -tangible reinforcer -verbal praise -access to natural reinforcer “get lunch” DIFFERENCES across Continuum - # of trials to mastery - explicitness of instruction

Reinforcing Consequence A  B  C If the consequence is rewarding/desired, the subject learns the behavior is functional for getting what they want Behavior Increases in the Future Rewarding or Desired Consequence

A-B-C

Instruction & Support Student Independence

Phases of Learning/Teaching Alberto & Troutman, 2009 Acquisition – student’s ability to perform a newly learned skill/response to some criterion of accuracy Fluency – describe the rate at which students accurately perform a response; learner begins to build speed & efficiency in use of the skill or knowledge (but may not remember skill/knowledge over time without prompting) Maintenance – student is able to recall & use the skill/ knowledge with a high rate of accuracy over more extended spans of time with limited review Generalization – student generalizes skill or knowledge to novel contexts and as prior knowledge for learning new information

Acquisition Phase Acquisition – student’s ability to perform a newly learned skill/response to some criterion of accuracy – Strong use of reinforcers – Regular prompting & error correction – Modeling & Guided practice Model-Lead-Test/Model-Prompt-Check/I do-We do-You do Important to have critical background knowledge & prerequisite skills A-B-C

Fluency Following skill acquisition -- focus on improving the RATE at which the learner performs the behavior What is an appropriate rate required for functional performance? – Reading, bus money, small talk, etc. Teaching Strategies – Frequent structured practice – Fading to intermittent reinforcement A-B-C

Maintenance Once learners can perform a skill fluently, it is important to maintain the skill over time – What Teaching Strategies – Make sure you are teaching functional/useful skills – Student access to natural reinforcers – Over-learning – Delayed reinforcement A-B-C

Generalization Learners can use skill across settings other than the initial instructional conditions – Train for generalization v. Train & Hope Teaching Strategies – Vary training across (Antecedent stimuli): Settings People Signals/Prompt types – Teach the universe of examples – Intermittent reinforcement w/ link to natural reinforcers (Consequences) – Reinforce occurrences of generalization – Reinforce response across settings A-B-C

Reinforcement Continuum & Phases of Teaching Stages of Learning/Teaching Acquisition  Fluency  Maintenance Continuous  Intermittent…………fading… Rates of Review & Reinforcement Continuous – provide reinforcement/corrective feedback on every occurrence of behavior – reinforcement may be tangible paired w/ verbal praise Intermittent – fade tangible, continue w/ intermittent verbal praise Can usually anticipate that academic success or social benefits will continue to maintain desired behavior. A-B-C

Instruction & Support Student Independence Acquisition Fluency Maintenance Generalization