ADDRESSING BEHAVIOR IMPROVEMENT AS A WAY

TO IMPROVE READING

HOW BEHAVIOR IMPACTS THE LEARNING PROCESS

Sarah Crawley, Ed.DJanice Hooker-Fortman, EdD

THE CHALLENGE OF GROWING UP

Every 8 seconds of the school day, a child drops out. Every 26 seconds a day, a child runs away from home. Every 67 seconds, a teenager has a baby. Every day 1206 teenagers have abortions Every 7 minutes, a child is arrested for a drug offense. Every 30 minutes a child is arrested for drunk driving. Every 36 minutes, a child is killed. Every day, 6 teenagers commit suicide. Every day, 3989 children see their parents divorced.

Children’s Defense Funds, “Children__________________A Report Card, Briefing Book and Action Primer,” ___________

The Challenge of Growing Up

Every day 7000 children drop out of school day. As many as eight out of 10 incarcerated juveniles suffer from learning

disabilities. 1.7 million children run away from home each year 820,000 children become pregnant each year, 66% will not complete

high school. 200,000 children get abortions each year In a 5 year period, 1.9 million youths were arrested for drug offenses Suicide is the 4th leading cause of death for children ages

10-14

The Challenge of Growing Up

Problem behavior is the single most common reason why students with disabilities are removed from regular schools, work and home settings. (Reichle)

Three years after leaving school, 70% of youth viewed as behavior problems in school get arrested.

(U.S Department of Education)

POINTS TO PONDER…A NATIONAL DILEMMA

Temper Tantrums Aggression

Social Skills Problems Poor Play Skills

Hyperactivity

CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS

Behavior is observable and measurable, whether it is raising a hand or getting out of a seat, behavior serves some "function" or the other.

Behavior

Thinking Feeling Behavior Goal

Attention Teacher smart kids

IrritatedWorriedannoyed

Make funny noises

Undue attention(keep busy with me)

Power AngryMadChallenged

Power to be boss

Revenge HurtUpsetSaddisappointed

Revenge to get even

Avoidance Hopelesshelpless

Give up and be left alone

4functions of behavior-regular ed.

To obtain something. a preferred item or activity.

Escape or avoidance. to escape from a setting or activity that he or she doesn't want.

To get attention. From adults, parents, or peers.

To communicate. True with disabilities that limit ability to communicate.

Self Stimulation. behavior provides reinforcement.

Control or Power. Some of our students feel particularly powerless and a problem behavior may give them a sense of power or control.

6 functions for Special Ed students

An approach to modifying behavior that seeks to find the "function" of an inappropriate behavior in order to find a replacement behavior to replace it. Every behavior serves some function, and provides a consequence (reinforcement) for the behavior.

Applied Behavior Analysis…

  Step 1. Identify the context and the predictable behavior

(where and when the misbehavior occurs);   Step 2. Specify expected behavior (what we want instead);   Step 3. Systematically modify the context (e.g., changes in

instruction, tasks, schedules, seating arrangements);   Step 4. Conduct behavior rehearsals (have students practice

the appropriate behavior);   Step 5. Provide strong reinforcement such as frequent and

immediate teacher praise;   Step 6. Prompt expected behaviors; and   Step 7. Monitor the plan (collect data on student performance).

7 Major Steps for Correction…

Defining Misbehavior By How It Looks

calling out, hitting, getting out of seat

Mistake # 1

 Ask: "What was the function of this misbehavior?“

"What did the student gain from the misbehavior?“

All misbehaviors serve a purpose, otherwise they would not occur.

Off task to get our attention

Instead: Define by function…

Sensory Integration 16% ADHD 10% Other Health Impaired 2.2% Speech and Language Impaired 20.5% Specific Learning Disabilities 20% Hard of Hearing 1.3% Intellectual Disabilities 11.6% Emotional Behavior Disorders 8.6%

90.2% of your classroom

Likely Typical Classroom…

This is based on a classroom of 25 students and data from the most current sources:

Center for Disease Control, (2014).

90.2% Your Classroom…

CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR

MAINTAIN OR PERCEPTIONS OF INCREASE NONCOMPLIANCECHALLENGING BEHAVIOR

LOOK TO CONTROL OR PUNISH

STUDENT’S NEEDS REMAINUNADDRESSED DESIGN INTERVENTION TO HAVE POWER OVER THE STUDENT

TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO “MANAGING CHALLENGING

BEHAVIORS

“Use a process for gathering information to understand the function or purpose of a behavior in order to develop an effective intervention plan.”

TOOL…

Problem Identification Is there a problem? What is it?

Problem AnalysisWhy is it happening?

Plan DevelopmentWhat shall we do about it?

Plan EvaluationDid our plan work?

PROBLEM SOLVING METHODOLOGY

THE COMPETING BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

SLOW FAST PROBLEM MAINTAINING

TRIGGERS TRIGGERS BEHAVIOR CONSEQUENCES

SLOW TRIGGERS

SLOW TRIGGERS

Medical ConditionsMedication

DietSleep Patterns

Home EnvironmentStaff Patterns and Relationships

Adult Expectations

SETTINGEVENTS

ANTECEDENTSINFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOR

Setting events are anything that happened in the near distant past. These are very hard for classroom teachers to grasp because they are invisible. Take this scenario for example:

Setting Events

A child oversleeps a bit and is running late in the morning. They have autism and routines are important. Their favorite cereal bowl is dirty and they have to eat out of a non-preferred cereal bowl. They put their jeans on and they don’t fit quite right for some reason today and they can’t find their belt to keep these pants feeling proper. The seam on their sock is crooked and they cannot get the seam just right in their shoe. They get in a small argument with their parent as they get out of the car that morning (Mom overslept too). The child goes in and the first activity of the day is a new math concept that just doesn’t make sense. The student wads up the math paper and begins to cry. The teacher will think this is a math problem, when in reality it was the culminating effect of all the setting events erupting into one meltdown because it just all seemed to overwhelming to the child.

Scenario…

Irritation someone blew up near him

student calling them a name

Dropping papers on floor

A fight with someone

Routines gone awry

Loud noises

Smells Infections Lack of sleep

Not being able to find something

Irritating noises

Person on bus talkative

Running late

A wreck cause bus to be delayed

Forgetting something

Barometric pressure change

Full moon Excitement over an upcoming event

Anxiety over an upcoming event

Autistic Child-setting events

IMMEDIATE ANTECEDENTS

FASTTRIGGERS

IMMEDIATE SPECIFIC SITUATIONS THAT PREDICT THE BEHAVIOR:

MAKE IT LIKELY VS. UNLIKELY

INSTRUCTIONAL MATCHTASK DIFFICULTY

DIRECT INSTRUCTIONPEER PROVOCATION

IMMEDIATE ANTECEDENTSIMMEDIATE INFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOR

Instructional Match

Student Understanding of Goals and Expectations

Classroom Management

Clarity/Precision of Instructional Procedures

Instructional Support

Student Responding Opportunities

Frequent Progress Monitoring and Student Evaluation

Positive School Environment

INTERVENTIONSINCREASE ANTECEDENTS

CONSEQUENCESTHORNDIKE’S LAW OF EFFECT

If the event that occurs after the behavior is something a person will work to avoid, the occurrence of the event will likely decrease the occurrence of the behavior.

If the event that follows the behavior is something that a person will work to gain, the occurrence of the event after the behavior will end to increase the occurrence of the behavior.

If no meaningful event follows a behavior, the behavior will tend to decrease in frequency.

TEACH APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR

You want to reward the student for the behavior that you want to see, rather than punishing the behavior you do not want to see.

Research has proven conclusively that punishment doesn't work: it makes a behavior disappear temporarily, but the minute the punisher leaves, the behavior will reappear.

What to do…

Change antecedents Increase positive antecedents Decrease negative antecedents

Change consequences Decrease undesirable reinforcement

Increase desired reinforcement Avoid punishment

Teach competing behaviors

INTERVENTIONS

Keep it short and sweet Don’t expect too much too soon

Be clear about what is not acceptable Establish good communication now

Look for the cause Set your child up for good behavior

Tailor discipline to the age of your child

Intervention Tips

MEASURING THE EFFECT

Just as you assess and measure a student’s response to academic intervention through progress

monitoring, it is important to assess and measure the student’s response to

the intervention through progress monitoring.

DATA BASED DECISION MAKING THROUGH PROGRESS

MONITORING

COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE

Parent Power

#1 Important tool for parents…

Build Vocabulary Dynamic Sandwich

Dynamic Sandwich Technique

Ingredients 7 slices of bread = words you know 3 slices of meat = words you don’t know How To Make The Sandwich 3 slices of bread = words you know 1 slice of meat = word you don’t know 2 slices of bread = words you know 1 slice of meat = word you don’t know 2 slices of bread = words you know 1 slice of meat = word you don’t know How To Play The Game

Write all ten words on 3x5 index card using the “Sandwich Technique.”

Say all ten words as the child repeats the words. Then the child says the ten words alone. Say the word for child/child gives a sentence. Child says all ten words.

At the end of the session, assess student’s performance by asking what three words he or she has learned. When a student a student reads a word correctly on two consecutive days, make it a “known” and remove one of the previous “known” words to keep the number of words per session to 10.

Keep record of all discarded “unknown” words that became “known.”  

Top Secrets to Learning to Read…

1. Hearing2. Sounds3. Memory

3 Secrets to learning to reading…

The important bit is to teach the children what to do with them. How to blend them together for reading and how to listen for them in a word to spell it. Start simply with CVC words [consonant vowel consonant words, such as cat, hat, hop] and gradually introduce longer and more complex words."

Letter sounds…Phonics

Vocabulary is the Door to Success.

F-f-f-f-f-f-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-n-n-n-n-n

Teach 10 minutes a day…Phonics

Dyslexics think in pictures…not words:

Putting a few simple strategies into action will make a significant difference in helping children develop into good readers!!!

Assessment drives interventions

Antecedent interventions

Preferences for interventions

Parent Power

Reading Strategies

Summary

Janice Hooker-Fortman, Ed.D J H Fortman & Associates

Phone: 877-66-SPEAKS

Speakersforalloccasions.com Drjanicespeaks.com

Contact Information