Effects of collateral peer supportive behaviors within the classwide peer tutoring program

Peer Tutoring of Below Average Secondary School Readers Using Pause, Prompt, and Praise: The Successive Introduction of Tutoring Components

Five tutor-tutee pairs of 13-year-old students who were below average in reading participated in a program of remediated reading using the Pause, Prompt, and Praise procedures. Whereas previous research has shown that these procedures can be learned concurrently by peer tutors, this study showed that the procedures can also be learned successively. Data indicate that the five tutors readily learned to implement all components of the procedure, and that both tutors and tutees made major gains in reading accuracy and comprehension.

Teaching math skills to at-risk students using home-based peer tutoring

Home-based peer tutoring was used to teach math skills to 4 girls with deficits in mathematics and histories of abuse or neglect. Girls living in the same home formed tutoring dyads, and each participant served as both the peer tutor and the tutee during the course of the study. At the initiation of the tutoring intervention, an expert tutor provided multiple 3-min tutoring sessions to the designated peer tutor on three or four mathematics skills. The peer tutor concurrently provided 3-min tutoring sessions on the same skills to the tutee using a multiple baseline design. Results showed that participants improved their performance on all target skills. Additional interventions were implemented for some skills to improve accuracy further. Maintenance tests were also administered after 3 to 5 months of no practice on the skills. Results showed that tutors and tutees maintained their accuracy on 7 of the 12 skills assessed.

Análise do comportamento e a habilidade de leitura: um levantamento crítico de artigos do JABA

O presente trabalho pretendeu, por meio de uma análise de revisão de artigos sobre habilidade de leitura no ensino regular no Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis - JABA nos anos de 1968 a 2002, identificar as formas de atuação propostas pela Análise do Comportamento para ensinar ou remediar esta habilidade. Montando-se um banco de dados de artigos encontrados e utilizando-se palavras-chave que nortearam a busca na web site do periódico, foi possível identificar os delineamentos experimentais utilizados nas intervenções, as variáveis experimentais manipuladas pelo experimentador, as variáveis de observação que foram tanto um comportamento apresentado pelo sujeito quanto uma modificação ambiental expressando esse comportamento, os tipos de reforçadores empregados e o objetivo de cada intervenção. O espectro das variáveis analisadas indicou múltiplas possibilidades interventivas que podem ser aplicadas em uma sala de aula do ensino regular de leitura aumentando a performance do aluno nesta habilidade. Na condição de prática do professor em procedimentos operantes pode ser possível aumentar a performance de ler do aluno e os procedimentos de tutoria apresentados mostraram-se como alternativa efetiva para classes numerosas, o que se aproxima da realidade do ensino regular.

Evaluation of cognitive-behavioral group treatments for childhood anxiety disorders

Undertook an evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral group family-based intervention for childhood anxiety disorders in Brisbane, Australia. The treatment aimed to provide children and their families with skills in the management of anxiety and avoidance, problem solving, and mutual family support. Children (n = 60) ranging from 7 to 14 years old who fulfilled diagnostic criteria for separation anxiety, overanxious disorder, or social phobia were randomly allocated to 3 treatment conditions: group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GROUP-CBT), group cognitive-behavioral therapy plus family management (GROUP-FAM), and wait list (WL). The effectiveness of the interventions was evaluated at posttreatment and 12-month follow-up. Results indicated that across treatment conditions, 64.8% of children no longer fulfilled diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder in comparison with 25.2% of children on the wait list. At 12-month FU, 64.5% of children in the GROUP-CBT group and 84.8% of children in the GROUP-FAM group were diagnosis free. Comparisons of children receiving GROUP-CBT with those receiving GROUP-FAM on self-report measures and clinician ratings indicated marginal added benefits from GROUP-FAM treatment. Results show that CBT interventions for childhood anxiety disorders can be effectively administered in a group format.

Effects of cooperative learning groups during social studies for students with autism and fourth-grade peers

We investigated the use of cooperative learning groups as an instructional strategy for integrating 2 students with autism into a fourth-grade social studies class. Baseline consisted of 40 min of teacher-led sessions including lecture, questions and discussion with students, and the use of maps. The intervention condition consisted of 10 min of teacher introduction of new material, followed by cooperative learning groups that included tutoring on key words and facts, a team activity, and a whole class wrap-up and review. An ABAB design showed increases for target students and peers for the number of items gained on weekly pretests and posttests, the percentage of academic engagement during sessions, and durations of student interaction during the intervention.

Using a group-oriented contingency to increase social interactions between children with autism and their peers. A preliminary analysis of corollary supportive behaviors

The effects of a group-oriented contingency on the social and supportive interactions of three preschoolers with autism and their socially competent peers were examined. Children participated in daily manipulative play activities in groups of three (including one target child and two peers). A group reinforcement contingency increased all three target children's social interactions with peers (e.g., share, assistance, and play organizers) but produced few or no corollary supportive exchanges within the playgroups (e.g., one socially competent youngster tells another to "Ask [target child] to share the Lego toys with us"). After a withdrawal of treatment phase in which social interactions decreased to low levels, children were taught to direct supportive comments to other members of their playgroups. Following this brief training, the interdependent group contingency was reinstated to reinforce the share, assistance, and play organizer exchanges between the target children and peers. In addition to interacting with the target children, socially competent youngsters also used supportive prompts to facilitate the social exchanges between their remaining group members. Children's social and supportive interactions decreased and increased again during subsequent baseline and group contingency phases. These results are discussed with regard to the efficacy of group-oriented contingencies and the function of supportive peer behaviors.

Classwide peer tutoring: an integration strategy to improve reading skills and promote peer interactions among students with autism and general education peers

A multiple baseline design across subjects with a reversal was used to examine the effects of classwide peer tutoring relative to traditional reading instruction on reading skills and social interaction time for 3 high-functioning students with autism and their typical peers in integrated, general education classrooms. Traditional reading instruction consisted largely of teacher-led instruction with individual student participation and seat work. Classwide peer tutoring consisted of 25 to 30 min of well-specified instruction in which tutor-learner pairs worked together on a classwide basis on reading fluency and comprehension skills. All students participated in 15- to 20-min unstructured free-time activities immediately following reading instruction. Results of reading assessments demonstrated that classwide peer tutoring increased reading fluency and correct responses to reading comprehension questions for students with autism and their peers. The procedure further increased the total duration of free-time social interactions for students with autism and typical peers, with individual variation in performance.

Training supervisors in a collaborative team approach to promote peer interaction of children with disabilities in integrated preschools

Three supervisors of integrated preschools were trained in a collaborative team approach to encourage resource and classroom teachers to develop strategies that promote peer interaction of all children, including children with disabilities. The focus of classroom teachers' behaviors and the interactive play of children with disabilities were measured daily in both a training (indoor play period) and a generalization (outdoor play period) setting. In a multiple baseline design, supervisors were individually trained in a collaborative team approach using a manual, modeling, and role playing; then they implemented the approach with classroom and resource teachers. We found that after supervisor training, classroom teachers increased their behaviors directed towards children with disabilities and decreased their behaviors directed towards nondisabled children. Moreover, we found a doubling of the interactive play of children with disabilities and, for two of the three classes, an increase in the interactive play of comparison children, randomly selected by the classroom teachers. Changes in both teachers' and children's behaviors were also found in the generalization setting. The implications of the results for interventions in community settings are discussed.

The classwide peer tutoring program: implementation factors moderating students' achievement

We conducted a study designed to assess implementation of the classwide peer tutoring program and the relationship between implementation variation and student outcome. A clinical replication design was used. Five volunteer elementary teachers were trained to implement the program; their implementation was monitored for 19 consecutive weeks during 1 school year. Overall, the results indicated that specific variations in program implementation were associated with students' responses to treatment. It was also demonstrated that different teachers' applications of the program produced differential levels of student outcome. Implementation factors related to lower spelling achievement were (a) reduced opportunities to receive program sessions, (b) reduced probabilities of students' participation in program opportunities, (c) too many students assigned unchallenging spelling words, and (d) reduced rates of daily point earning reflecting lower levels of spelling practice during tutoring sessions. The implications of these findings and methods of preventing these implementation problems are discussed in the context of quality assurance and social validity.