Using Behavior Principles to Improve Quality of Services: Increasing Time-on-Task and Quality of Interactions in Ten Classrooms Serving Children with Low Incidence Disabilities Excellence Initiative

Designed and implemented to increase on- task behavior of students and quality of staff to student interactions. Excellence Initiative

The Hope School Therapeutic Learning Center (THSLC) is a 40,000 square foot school designed to provide educational and clinical services to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related developmental disabilities.

Excellence Initiative Children attending day educational programs experience significant physical, developmental, neurological, and/or other severe and profound cognitive impairments. Resulting in severely limited communication, imitation, and attending skills

Excellence Initiative The THSLC is equipped with: 12 individual classrooms containing sensory and observation rooms; individual and group playgrounds designed by occupational and physical therapists; a way finding system to promote independence; a sensory sensitive lighting system;

augmented hallway and classroom acoustics to minimize the traveling of sounds; greenhouse; vocational center; and, a central observation area enabling video monitoring and/or recording of up to four classrooms at one time Excellence Initiative

On-task Behavior the ability to sustain attention specific to a given task Staff-Student Interactions Quality of interactions between staff and children Excellence Initiative

On-task Behavior on-task when the observer noted the student oriented toward the task and performing relevant responses. neutral on-task when the observer could not determine whether the student was on or off- task neutral on-task whenever the student was alone with no staff direction and none of the behaviors incompatible with on-task were observed, they were alone but engaged in an activity. Excellence Initiative

Positive verbal/staff behavior use of student name, politeness, use of tones of respect, and calmness while controlling volume and intensity of utterances Excellence Initiative

Positive Staff Behavior body posture, facial expression indicating attention and interest, use of gestures, hand over hand prompting, touch and gesture prompts, as well as physical demonstrations (modeling). neutral - those behaviors of teacher/staff directed to managing the schedule of activities and communicating about management of the classroom environment

Excellence Initiative Challenges Process Definitions/observations Buy in Use of video cameras Collective bargaining

Excellence Initiative Intervention Stage One: Data Made Available to Staff Baseline collected Data shared with teachers Teachers afforded opportunity to change class structure/schedule

Excellence Initiative Intervention Stage Two: Reward Top Classes, Train Bottom Classes CCS scores shared with all teachers Top two and bottom two classrooms identified Top two given $50 reward Bottom two, provided training/consultation

Excellence Initiative Training/Consultation Provided Classroom structure/schedules Classroom physical plant Lesson Plans Use of Materials Management of inappropriate behaviors/ implementation of BSPs ParaProfessional Training

Excellence Initiative Intervention Stage Three: Increase Number of Trainers for Increased Effect Didatic training In vivo training

Excellence Initiative Results Classroom Comparison Scores for each classroom were weighted by multiplying the percentage of negative staff interactions (NSI) observed in a given month by two and adding this coefficient to the percentage of intervals of student behavior coded as off-task (OFT), thus creating one score [(NSI)2+OFT=CSS]. Explicitly indicating that quality of staff to student interactions was twice as important as on-task behavior.

Excellence Initiative Results continued A school wide performance (SWP) statistic was developed and reviewed during and at the completion of each month and phase of the Excellence Initiative. The SWP statistics was calculated as the average of CSS each month across all classrooms

Excellence Initiative

Excellence initiative

Excellence Initiative Observation data coupled with detailed feedback and targeted training and consultation, improved both target behaviors for all classrooms, thus school-wide. The project demonstrated the benefits of incorporating: (1) positive behavior interventions of performance feedback: (2) rewards for increased student on-task behavior and quality of staff-to-student interactions: and, (3) targeted consultation and resulting training.