Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

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Science for Students with Severe Disabilities Because science instruction is a new direction in education for students with severe disabilities, ongoing discussion is needed about the outcomes proposed and achieved. One possible goal would be increased access to the educational opportunity of science content. Students in the current study did not have regularly scheduled science lessons prior to the implementation of this study, but had three lessons per week once intervention began. In the following school year, science instruction became a school system and state requirement for this population to prepare for upcoming NCLB-related assessments. This study provided an early model for how to structure this instruction to build on long standing principles of task analytic instruction. In contrast, one of the three parents who returned the social validation survey was “not sure” about the importance of his/her child receiving science instruction. The need exists to articulate clearer outcomes for science learning for this population beyond simple access. One such outcome might be for students to acquire the skills involved in an inquiry process. Students in the current study were learning to focus their attention on novel materials, compare and contrast them (“What is the same/different?”), make predictions, and drawn conclusions. The generalization of these skills across a variety of materials was an important outcome. In contrast, what future research and practice should target is the generalization of these skills to non-instructional contexts. For example, could the student be taught to apply these skills in visiting a museum, going on a nature hike, setting up job parts, and so on? For this to occur, teachers might need additional training in teaching this generalization. In this study, there were some “not sure” responses from the teachers about their confidence in using inquiry. Similarly general educators trained to use inquiry in their classrooms have sometimes expressed a lack of confidence (Keys & Kennedy, 1999; Roehrig & Luft, 2004). Two teachers indicated that the more they conducted the lesson, the more “comfortable/confident” they felt. Similarly, teachers may have needed training, practice, and possibly a planning template to prepare for teaching students to generalize the inquiry skills across contexts. Although this study focused primarily on the process of inquiry, the goal of students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities mastering science concepts may be a topic for future research. One option might be to teach students to recognize science terms as sight vocabulary and then apply this vocabulary to perform an activity. For example, Browder and Minarovic (2000) taught supported employees to recognize job words and use them to follow a job schedule. Students might learn a term like “erosion” and then use a model to demonstrate how this occurs or find an example in a community setting. Besides access to science curricula, learning inquiry, and mastering science concepts, a fourth goal of science education might be increased opportunity to learn in general education science classes. Some studies have shown that students with severe intellectual disabilities and their peers without disabilities can benefit from inclusion in general education settings (Cushing & Kennedy, 1997; Kennedy, Cushing, & Itkonen, 1997; Kennedy & Itkonen, 1994). Future researchers may want to try combining instruction in inquiry with the embedded trials demonstrated by Mc- Donnell et al. (2002) to create an adaptation of the current intervention with utility within general education science classes. Summary and Recommendations for Future Research This study was the first to train teachers to use a form of inquiry with students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. The task analysis the teachers used was applicable across science content and promoted student responding. One limitation of the current study to address in future replications is that students’ performance was constrained by the teachers’ skill in following the task analysis. There were no baseline data showing how students may have responded to a teacher experienced in inquiry prior to receiving instruction. In contrast, student data showed gradual vs. immediate change once intervention began; indicating the change in student Inquiry-Based Science Instruction / 397
data was not simply an artifact of the teachers offering opportunities. To prevent this limitation, future studies should include a baseline for students conducted by a teacher experienced in inquiry who creates the opportunity for all steps of the task analysis to be performed. Future research may also give more consideration to inquiry as an independent variable. For example, if students master the steps of inquiry are they able to gain information on a new topic with minimal teacher guidance? Do they generalize communication skills gained during inquiry to other contexts? Future research may also want to consider how to promote student’s acquisition of concepts within inquiry. For example, can students learn a concept like chemical reactions and apply it across materials and contexts? References Alberto, P. A., & Troutman, A. C. (2009). Applied behavior analysis for teachers (8 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Pearson. American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990). Project 2061: Science for all Americans. New York: Oxford University Press. Bannerman, D. J., Sheldon, J. B., & Sherman, J. A. (1991). Teaching adults with severe and profound retardation to exit their homes upon hearing the fire alarm. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 571–578. Billingsley, F. F., White, O. R., & Munson, R. (1980). Procedural reliability: A rationale and an example. Behavioral Assessment, 2, 229–241. Browder, D. M., & Minarovic, T. J. (2000). Utilizing sight words in self-instruction training for employees with moderate mental retardation in competitive jobs. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 35, 78–89. Courtade, G., Spooner, F., & Browder, D. (2007). A review of studies with students with significant cognitive disabilities that link to science standards. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 32, 43–49. Cushing, L., & Kennedy, C. (1997). Academic effects of providing peer supports in general education classrooms on students without disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20, 139–151. Demchak, M. (1987). A review of behavioral staff training in special education settings. Education and Training in Mental Retardation, 22, 205–217. Demchak, M. (1990). Response prompting and fading methods: A review. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 94, 603–615. Demchak, M., Kontos, S., & Neisworth, J. T. (1992). Using a pyramid model to teach behavior management procedures to childcare providers. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 12, 458– 477. Gast, D. L., Winterling, V., Wolery, M., & Farmer, J. A. (1992). Teaching first-aid skills to students with moderate handicaps in small group instruction. Education & Treatment of Children, 15, 101– 124. Germann, P. J., Aram, R., & Burke, G. (1996). Identifying patterns and relationships among the responses of seventh-grade students to the science process skill of designing experiments. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 79–99. Horner, R. D., & Baer, D. M. (1978). Multiple-probe technique: A variation of the multiple baseline. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 189–196. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq. (2004). Jahr, E. (1998). Current issues in staff training. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 19, 73–87. Kazdin, A. E. (1977). Assessing the clinical or applied significance of behavior change through social validation. Behavior Modification, 1, 427–452 Kazdin, A. E., Kratochwill, T. R., & VandenBos, G. R. (1986). Beyond clinical trials: Generalizing from research to practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 17, 391–398. Kennedy, C. H. (2005). Single-case design for educational research. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Kennedy, C., Cushing, L., & Itkonen, T. (1997). General education participation improves the social context and friendship networks of students with severe disabilities. Journal of Behavioral Education, 7, 167–189. Kennedy, C., & Itkonen, T. (1994). Some effect of regular class participation on the social contact and social networks of high school students with disabilities. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 19, 1–10. Keys, C. W., & Kennedy, V. (1999). Understanding inquiry science teaching in context: A case study of an elementary teacher. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 10, 315–333. Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41, 75–86. Marchand-Martella, N. E., Martella, R. C., Christensen, A. M., Agran, M., & Young, K. R. (1992). Teaching a first aid skill to students with disabilities using two training programs. Education & Treatment of Children, 15, 15–31 Magnusson, S. J., & Palincsar, A. S. (1995). The 398 / Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities-September 2010
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Education and Training in Autism an
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Education and Training in Autism an
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Manuscripts Accepted for Future Pub
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dents in classes that included stud
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TABLE 1 Summary Descriptors of Meli
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tions were conducted at their work
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her function more independently wit
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eluctant to engage in interactions.
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ehaviors were consistent with Phill
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disabilities. Second, it has promot
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youth with severe disabilities. Min
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parents of students with intellectu
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tributed to such PSE program compon
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TABLE 2 Mean Scores of the 7 PSE Pr
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Page 33 and 34: ing the total score of the Family A
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Page 41 and 42: TABLE 1 Demographic Characteristics
Page 43 and 44: ways in the same interviews where s
Page 45 and 46: In a number of comments, respondent
Page 47 and 48: practitioners assigned both issues
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Page 53 and 54: TABLE 2 EQCA Adaptive Behaviors: Me
Page 55 and 56: TABLE 5 ERDCP: Means, SDs, and t Te
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Page 67 and 68: TABLE 2 (Continued) 9. Guide studen
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Page 71 and 72: TABLE 3 (Continued) Student Steps D
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Page 111 and 112: TABLE 1 Task Analysis for Cooking R
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Page 115 and 116: Figure 2. Percentage of steps perfo
Page 117 and 118: Figure 4. Percentage of steps perfo
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Page 121 and 122: M. (1992). The effects of self oper
Page 125 and 126: TABLE 1 Stages of The Halliwick’s
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Martin, J. (1981). The Halliwick Me
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systematic instruction to teach fou
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also extremely low with a standard
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Procedural reliability probes measu
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Discussion The purpose of this stud
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(1986). Stanford-Binet Intelligence
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focus on the important adults in th
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cording to the current environment
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that “she felt very inadequate in
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tive research. (2 nd Ed.). New Jers
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