1. Gary L. Cates, Ph.D., NCSP Illinois State University
Linking Assessment to Intervention: What Today’s School Psychologist Should Now for Tomorrow’s Practice
Gary L. Cates, Ph.D., NCSP
Illinois State University

3. School psychologists will survive based on the extent to which we can offer something that general and special educators and clinical psychologists do not.

4. A Change in IDEA? The IQ-Achievement discrepancy focus
Advantages?
Disadvantages?
Shortcomings?
The Response to intervention focus

5. Future Concerns
Must have training and knowledge in academic intervention and consultation
Must provide interventions that are evidenced based
Must have training in monitoring and evaluating intervention implementation

6. A Potential Methodology: Brief Experimental Analysis of Academic Responding
Quickly alternating between multiple interventions to facilitate intervention selection
Has been demonstrated to facilitate intervention selection for Mathematics and Reading fairly well

7. Current Experimental Analysis of Reading Intervention Methods
Focuses on reading Rate as primary decision rule
Treatment Selection Validity has not been validated over time
Function of reading is to comprehend text
Treatment Selection Validity has not been assessed with regard to comprehension

8. Purposes of Study 1
Replicate earlier studies related to Experimental Analysis of Reading Interventions
Extend earlier research by investigating comprehension
Extend earlier research by expanding the number of treatment decision rules

9. General Information
6 2nd grade students referred for slow reading rate problems (<110wrcpm)
All receiving Title I services
2 males (1 Hispanic; 1 Caucasian)
4 females (1 Hispanic; 1 Caucasian)
None had been retained nor were receiving special education services

10. General Procedures - Student
Students instructed to read a grade level passage
Students were instructed to read and answer 10 comprehension questions at the end of the passage (5 inferential, 5 factual)
1 daily trial of each IV for 5 consecutive days. IV administration randomized daily.

11. Reading Fluency Interventions
Contingent Reinforcement (CR)
Repeated Readings (RR)
Listening Passage Preview (LPP)
LPP/CR
RR/CR
RR/LPP

12. General Procedures - Experimenter
Recorded reading rate for first minute of reading
Scored number of comprehension questions answered correctly
Errors: Substitutions, omissions, & pauses >3 sec resulted in the word being supplied
Insertions were ignored

13. Intervention Selection Decision Rules – Reading Rate
Must have the most points above school district criterion
* 110 WRCPM
Must have the highest mean level
Must have steepest trend (based on VI)

20. Intervention Decision Rule for Comprehension
Largest mean comprehension level across all 5 trials of a given condition.

22. Mark LPP/CR LPP or LPP/CR Renee RR/LPP RR Steve RR/CR* LPP or CR
Table 1
Summary of the interventions that resulted in the greatest performance as a function of words read correctly per minute (WRCM) and mean percent comprehension levels (MPCL) for all participants
WRCM MPCL
Kathy CR** RR
Karla RR/LPP RR/LPP
Mark LPP/CR LPP or LPP/CR
Renee RR/LPP RR
Steve RR/CR* LPP or CR
Adena LPP* LPP
CR = Contingent Reinforcement, RR = Repeated Reading, LPP = Listening Passage Preview * Did not meet target criterion
** Multiple interventions met target criterion

23. Conclusions Different interventions for different students
Comprehension and Reading rate matched up for three of the 6 students
Brief Experimental Analysis needs more research over time
Brief Experimental Analysis needs more research with regard to comprehension

24. How is this Relevant to a Response to Intervention Model of Service Delivery?
Demonstrates empirical evidence for intervention implementation
Does not simply rely on “trying something” approach.
Emphasizes the importance of intervention specificity by person and by variable (i.e., problem area).

25. What about other reading Behaviors?
One method for increasing reading fluency might be to decrease the rate of reading errors
Substitutions, Omissions, Insertions, and Pauses
Is intervention specificity important here?

26. Purpose of Study 2
Investigate utility of BEA with error correction procedures
Determine if treatment conditions affect intra-individual student reading behavior consistently
Determine if treatment conditions affect inter-student reading behavior consistently

27. General Information
3 3rd grade students referred for high level of “reading error problems”
1 male (Caucasian)
2 females (1 African American; 1 Caucasian)
None had been retained nor were receiving special education services

28. General Procedures - Student
Students instructed to read a grade level passage
1 daily trial of each IV for 5 days. IV administration randomized daily.

29. Error Correction Interventions
Word Supply
Word Drill
Sentence Repeat

30. General Procedures - Experimenter
Recorded reading rate for entire passage
Implemented Error correction procedures
Noted Errors on an examiner probe

34. Conclusions: . 1. Extension: Investigated error correction
procedures (consequence procedure)
2. Extension: Investigated error types and error rate in addition to reading rate
3. Effects of intervention on error rates did not
affect each student in the same manner.
4. Effects of intervention on reading rates did
not affect each student in the same manner.
5. Within each participant, an error type by
treatments interaction existed.

35. How is this relevant to a Response to Intervention Model of Service Delivery?
We may need to rethink about error correction procedures as potential interventions.
BEA is a tool that needs to be fully investigated with regard to it’s utility.
We need to consider assessing the carry over effects of interventions to other related reading behaviors.

36. Predictions for the Future?
A Response to Intervention Model Focus is on the Horizon.
We need school psychologists trained in single case research design, useful academic assessment, academic intervention, consultation
We need to advance existing intervention evaluation procedures and develop new
We need to better understand current interventions and develop new

37. School psychologists will survive based on the extent to which we can offer something that general and special educators and clinical psychologists do not.