Players Instructional aides Teachers Staff Trainer Related service providers Director & Supervisor Supervisors Consultant Administrators Secretarial Medical Financial/Business Others?
Hiring What is the interview process?
Who should the candidate interview with?Administrative AND clinical
Hiring (cont) Interview
Face to face• where did they hear about the position• Interest in position• long & short term goals• Describe program AND requirements
• Minimally ONE year commitment
Have candidate work with child • Model, have candidate imitate, provide feedback,
have candidate implement feedback
Staff training ~ Workshops/Lectures
Monthly Workshop Various topics of ABA
• Teaching procedures (activity schedules, discrete trial, incidental) reinforcement, prompting, generalization
Pre-service: 3-4 days prior to beginning of school year autism, basic principles of ABA &
professionalism Staff development days
3-4 days per year (no students)
Staff Training~ Hands-on Training
Observation Paired with staff trainer
Model, have staff imitate, provide feedback, have staff implement feedback
Alternate independence with training Use of video?
Other training opportunities
Provide training to a new staff member
Attend conferences Present at conferences other?
Program Make-up
Allocation of staff across school program
Allocation of individualized programs across instructors
Allocation of Staff Across School Program How do you allocate your teachers across
program?Skills Career
• Move around program so can gain experience with multiple skill and age levels
How do you allocate your instructors across program? Skills Career
• Move around program so can gain experience with multiple skill and age levels
Allocation of Individualized Programs Across Instructors Teachers teach all foundational learning skills
Contingency management On-task behavior Reinforcement system
Easier programs for newer staff members E.g., gross/fine motor, matching
Same programs across students
Other?
Supervision What is the hierarchy?
E.g., Director Consultant Teacher Instructor
Related service providers?
Supervision (cont) Director Consultant
Be sure the role of Director and role of Consultant is well delineated
Teachers In terms of teachers supervising instructional
staff, check union rules for a public school Consultant & director should always empower the
teachers with the instructional staff and parents
How else can you increase accountability?
Communication among the Staff Classroom communication
Ongoing hands-on training• Effective for teacher to spend whole day with one
child and train all staff members -this ensure consistency
Brief after-school meeting about that student Weekly classroom meetings Systems in place to:
alert teacher when student is not making progress and observation/training is needed
alert teacher when student needs new sets
Communication among the Staff
Teacher collaborationGrade level teachers should
collaborate minimally weeklyBiggest asset in a program are your
colleagues!!!!!
Communication among the Staff Program communication
Weekly grade-level meetings with director
• Problem solving• Ensure consistency across program• Why is consistency important????
Weekly management meetings• Consultant, trainers, director
Documentation
For all meetings, notes should be taken and stored for future referenceE.g., when consultant provides
recommendations to a teacher, an e-mail is sent to all other consultants, teacher, and director
Evaluating Staff (cont)
Annual evaluations of all staff memberscontract contingent on successful
evaluation Ongoing brief evaluations of all staff Ongoing data notebook evaluations External programmatic review
Ongoing brief staff evaluation
In one session, collect data on:On-taskOpportunities to respondContingency managementIncidental teaching
Annual staff evaluation Professionalism On-Task Opportunities to respond Behavior-descriptive praise Teaching new skills Incidental teaching Programming generalization Teaching social competence Relationship building Decreasing problem behavior Understanding intervention
technology Maintaining the physical environment Assessing personal appearance
Ongoing data notebook evaluation Sufficient data collection Progress Generalization probes IOA Explanatory statements Consent Accurate graphing techniques Neat and professional
Can administrator do this?
Annual Notebook evaluation Number of programs reviewed
Number of individualized programs Percentage of individualized programs
Number of programs rated effective Percentage of programs rated effective
Number of programs rated appropriate Percentage of programs rated appropriate
Percentage of programs with current consent Percentage of programs with some/any interobserver
agreement
External Programmatic Evaluation
Objective professional evaluates program by evaluating data notebooks
Who does this evaluate?
Retention
How do you keep morale high and retain your staff?
Preps/lunch Daily hours Teacher support Appropriate resources Professionalism Open communication
Hiring
Interview Face to face
• where did they hear about the position• Interest in position• long & short term goals• Describe program AND requirements
• Minimally ONE year commitment• 10 hours per week with child
• 2 hrs per day 5 days per week• No more than 4 staff members with child
Have candidate work with child • Model, have candidate imitate, provide feedback,
have candidate implement feedback
Staff training Workshops/Lectures
Monthly WorkshopVarious topics of ABA
• Teaching procedures (activity schedules, discrete trial, incidental) reinforcement, prompting, generalization
Staff TrainingHands-on Training
Observation of skilled staff member Paired with staff trainer
Model, have staff imitate, provide feedback, have staff implement feedback
Alternate independence with training Consultant/trainer needs to train with each
staff member minimally weekly Use of video?
Other training opportunities
Provide training to a new staff member
Attend conferences Present at conferences other?
Program Make-up
Allocation of staff across home program
Allocation of individualized programs across instructors
Allocation of Staff Across Program
How do you allocate your instructors across home program?
SkillsCareer
Allocation of Individualized Programs Across Instructors Consultant/trainer teaches all foundational
learning skills Contingency management On-task behavior Reinforcement system
Easier programs for newer staff members
Other?
Supervision What is the hierarchy?
E.g., Consultant Trainer Instructor
Parents? Related service providers?
Communication among the Staff
Home program communicationOngoing hands-on training
• Effective for trainer to see all staff members minimally weekly to ensure consistency
Communication among the Staff
FrequentlyOverlap sessions to allow for
collaboration
Necessity of team meetings???
Documentation
For all training, notes should be taken and stored for future referenceE.g., when consultant provides
recommendations to a staff member, an e-mail is sent to staff member and consultant
Communication book among staff members?
Evaluating Staff (cont)
Annual staff evaluation
Ongoing brief evaluations of all staff
Ongoing data notebook evaluation
External programmatic review??
Ongoing brief staff evaluation
In one session, collect data on:On-taskOpportunities to respondContingency managementIncidental teaching
Annual staff evaluation Professionalism On-Task Opportunities to respond Behavior-descriptive praise Teaching new skills Incidental teaching Programming generalization Teaching social competence Relationship building Decreasing problem behavior Understanding intervention
technology Maintaining the physical environment Assessing personal appearance
Ongoing data notebook evaluation Sufficient data collection Progress Generalization probes IOA Explanatory statements Consent Accurate graphing techniques Neat and professional
Can parent do this?
Annual Notebook evaluation Number of programs reviewed
Number of individualized programs Percentage of individualized programs
Number of programs rated effective Percentage of programs rated effective
Number of programs rated appropriate Percentage of programs rated appropriate
Percentage of programs with current consent Percentage of programs with some/any interobserver
agreement
External Programmatic Evaluation
Objective professional evaluates program by evaluating data notebooks
Many times, home programs wind up in due process –there will be an expert witness, as well as a judge evaluating the data notebook