Using Teleconsultation to Develop Independent Skills of School-Based Behavior Teams in Functional Behavior Assessment

ABSTRACT

The Iowa Department of Education (DE) has a history of partnering with the Biobehavioral Service (BBS) at the Center for Disabilities and Development to consult with educational teams in Iowa schools regarding students exhibiting challenging behavior. In 2009, the DE requested that BBS consultants improve behavior assessment skills of school-based behavior teams across the state. One aim of the DE was to develop school-based behavior teams who could independently conduct the full range of behavior assessments (i.e., indirect assessment, direct assessment, and experimental analyses). The BBS consultants worked with challenging behavior teams from eight Iowa Area Education Agencies, teaching them to independently design, conduct, and interpret a variety of behavior assessments (e.g., preference assessments, functional analyses). A three-stage teleconsultation model was developed during consultation visits to support and evaluate the independent assessment practice of consultees. The stages included in-person consultation, onsite teleconsultation, and remote teleconsultation. Consultees expressed satisfaction with the use of teleconsultation during the third stage of the model. Additionally, the use of videoconferencing addressed some of the barriers to conducting team-based behavior assessments in the school setting by creating observation and assessment rooms for team members. Consultees continue to use this method as they independently assess the behavior of students.     

Why are some universities better? An evaluation in terms of organizational culture and academic performance*

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between organizational culture and academic performance among higher education institutions. The sample was composed of 647 faculty members working in the colleges of education, health, engineering, law, economics, and administrative sciences in four central research universities in Turkey. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) was used to describe organizational culture, whereas University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) data were used to investigate academic performance. A multilevel analysis in which one unit of analysis (i.e., faculty member) was nested within another (i.e., college) was performed. The original contribution made to the literature by this research is its examination of the relationships between organizational culture and tangible performance indicators (e.g., the number of academic publications and citations). Results show that three different culture types were observed in the universities: Innovative team culture, competitive culture, and hierarchic culture. Although significant relationships were found between academic performance and both competitive culture and innovative team culture, the sole significant predictor of academic performance was competitive culture. One particularly interesting finding was that whereas competitive culture was effective on quantitative indicators (i.e., number of publications and number of citations), only innovative team culture affected the indicators related to effectiveness (i.e., article impact level and citation impact level).     

基于有效载荷大小的早期网络流量识别(英文)

为快速将网络应用的流量进行分类,以AucklandⅡ和UNIBS两个数据集的网络流量包为研究对象,选取网络应用程序流量中最初的8个有效载荷大小作为识别特征进行研究.由于这类特征可在早期流量阶段快速提取,因此效果显著.通过将早期载荷大小可视化的方式,分析了不同网络应用的行为模式.分析结果表明,多数网络应用程序可通过早期有效载荷大小显示出它们特有的行为模式,根据早期有效载荷大小的信息可对流量进行有效识别.在此基础上,选用3种典型的机器学习分类器,即朴素的贝叶斯分类器、朴素的贝叶斯树和径向基函数神经网络进行验证分析.实验结果显示,早期有效载荷大小可作为特征对流量进行有效识别.     

问题行为干预中的正向行为支持

对学生问题行为的干预方法有很多,本文介绍的正向行为支持(PBS)和功能性行为评价(FBA)对学生的问题行为干预具有重要作用。PBS以行为科学为基础,以关注学生的生活质量为目的,从系统观的角度,强调对学生直接观察来建立实践策略。PBS的目标是通过FBA收集资料,创设积极的学习环境和教学环境,以此来增加社会接受的正向行为,减少和消除问题行为。     

The contributions of parental management language to executive function in preschool children

This study investigated relations between preschoolers’ emergent executive function skills and their interactions with parents, with particular focus on the verbal utterances parents use to guide children's behavior (i.e., management language). Parent–child dyads (n = 127) were videotaped during a structured play task and the frequency of two types of management language, Direction (high control) and Suggestion (low control), was observed. Children's executive function was assessed using the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders (HTKS) task. Latent growth modeling was used to investigate relations between management language and the development of children's executive function. Direction language (i.e., commands) was negatively associated with children's age three executive function but not significantly related to the rate of executive function development over time. Conversely, Suggestion language (i.e., questions and statements that offer children some degree of choice) was positively related to executive function at age three but negatively related to growth. The potential importance of management language as a parenting behavior that contributes to various aspects of children's self-regulation during preschool and kindergarten is discussed.     

All Validities are Not Created Equal: Determinants of Variation in SAT Validity Across Schools

Previous research has demonstrated that cognitive test validities are generalizable and predictive of academic performance across situations. However, even after accounting for statistical artifacts (e.g., sampling error, range restriction, criterion reliability), substantial variability often remains around estimates of cognitive test–performance relationships suggesting the presence of additional moderators. In the present study, we examine the sources of institutional variation in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) validity across a sample of 110 institutions. Institutional characteristics moderated the size of SAT validities, such that more selective schools and schools that emphasize traditional assessment techniques (i.e., school records, standardized tests) showed higher SAT validities while schools that were larger and where students demonstrated more financial need, schools that emphasized the usage of alternative assessment techniques (i.e., essays, letters of recommendations, extracurricular activities), and schools that enrolled higher percentages of historically disadvantaged minority students generally exhibited lower SAT validities. Future directions in the understanding of situational influences on SAT–grade point average validities are discussed.     

A behavior field approach to instrumental learning in the rat: II. Training parameters and a stage model of extinction

Three runway experiments tested a stage model of extinction which postulated an orderly succession of three qualitatively different stages: habit, trial and error, and resolution. The model predicted that Stage 1 should be characterized by perseveration of habitual routes (i.e., response persistence) and the absence of competing responses; Stage 2, by an increase in investigatory behavior (response variation and hole exploration) and biting behavior; Stage 3, by a decrease in the competing responses of Stage 2 and continued increase in goal avoidance and substitution behavior (e.g., sand-digging). These predictions were largely confirmed. Further, Experiments 1 and 2 showed that, as expected by the model, continuous reinforcement (CRF) resulted in more practice of habitual routes in acquisition and greater response persistence, while partial reinforcement (PRF) resulted in more route variation and hole exploration in acquisition and greater goal persistence which was attributable to prior reinforcement of a trial-and-error coping strategy. Results of Experiment 3, which combined training trials and reward magnitudes orthogonally, supported the prediction that response persistence was positively related to training trials, and goal persistence negatively related to reward magnitudes. All three experiments demonstrated an inverted-U function in investigatory and biting behavior, as predicted by the stage model.     

Contextual Factors Associated With the Validity of SAT Scores and High School GPA for Predicting First-Year College Grades

Prior research has shown that there is substantial variability in the degree to which the SAT and high school grade point average (HSGPA) predict 1st-year college performance at different institutions. This article demonstrates the usefulness of multilevel modeling as a tool to uncover institutional characteristics that are associated with this variability. The results revealed that the predictive validity of HSGPA decreased as mean total SAT (i.e., sum of the three SAT sections) score at an institution increased and as the proportion of White freshmen increased. The predictive validity of the three SAT sections (critical reading, mathematics, and writing) varied differently as a function of different institution-level variables. These results suggest that the estimates of validity obtained and aggregated from multiple institutions may not accurately reflect the unique contextual factors that influence the predictive validity of HSGPA and SAT scores at a particular institution.     

Disabling conditions: Investigating instructional leadership teams in action

This study investigated why and how principals selected members for their instructional leadership team (ILT) and how this selection criteria and process may have impacted team members’ understandings of, and behaviors on, the team. Qualitative methods, specifically interviews and observations, were used to explore team members’ perceptions regarding the team’s purpose, function, and selection criteria as well as how these perceptions seemed to impact team members’ behaviors. Data were collected for a period of 8 months during the 2011–2012 school year from ILT in four, in-district charter schools. Results suggest that principals had difficulty articulating their teams’ purposes and functions, with the latter remaining primarily informational or consultative; members were not given decision-making authority. Additionally, when selecting team members, principals prioritized broad representation of teacher groups over other criteria. This focus on role representation above expertise, coupled with teachers’ tendencies to embrace traditional professional norms, limited ILT members’ abilities to effectively work together to lead instructional reform.     

初探功能性行为评估

功能性行为评估是以鉴定儿童问题行为与其所在环境之间的关系为主的行为评估方法之一。20世纪90年代之后,国际上越来越多的行为评估和干预研究都开始探讨功能性行为评估在问题儿童行为干预中的优势和应用,而在我国尚缺少相关研究。在回顾以往研究文献的基础上,该文介绍了功能性行为评估的概念、假设、基本实施过程和常用测评工具,并对功能性行为评估与传统行为评估的区别和问题行为的功能作初步探讨。     

Breaking Down the Coercive Cycle: How Parent and Child Risk Factors Influence Real-Time Variability in Parental Responses to Child Misbehavior

Objective. Parent–child coercive cycles have been associated with both rigidity and inconsistency in parenting behavior. To explain these mixed findings, we examined real-time variability in maternal responses to children’s off-task behavior to determine whether this common trigger of the coercive cycle (responding to child misbehavior) is associated with rigidity or inconsistency in parenting. We also examined the effects of risk factors for coercion (maternal hostility, maternal depressive symptoms, child externalizing problems, and dyadic negativity) on patterns of parenting. Design. Mother–child dyads (N = 96; M child age = 41 months) completed a difficult puzzle task, and observations were coded continuously for parent (e.g., directive, teaching) and child behavior (e.g., on-task, off-task). Results. Multilevel continuous-time survival analyses revealed that parenting behavior is less variable when children are off-task. However, when risk factors are higher, a different profile emerges. Combined maternal and child risk is associated with markedly lower variability in parenting behavior overall (i.e., rigidity) paired with shifts toward higher variability specifically when children are off-task (i.e., inconsistency). Dyadic negativity (i.e., episodes when children are off-task and parents engage in negative behavior) are also associated with higher parenting variability. Conclusions. Risk factors confer rigidity in parenting overall, but in moments when higher-risk parents must respond to child misbehavior, their parenting becomes more variable, suggesting inconsistency and ineffectiveness. This context-dependent shift in parenting behavior may help explain prior mixed findings and offer new directions for family interventions designed to reduce coercive processes.     

What do Children Think about the Drawing Process?

This study presents young children’s hypotheses about the process of drawing, i.e., it deals with the construction of knowledge in drawing from the child’s perspective. Using both a longitudinal and an exploratory design, the author followed the processes of production and ‘reading’ of drawings developed by six young children, aged 2 to 6, for three years. The author relates constructive studies about children’s drawings with their ideas in each stage of drawing. The results indicate that children conceive of drawing as an object in which action and thought are related.     

DISTANCE TRAINING IN FUNCTION‐BASED INTERVENTIONS TO DECREASE STUDENT PROBLEM BEHAVIOR: SUMMARY OF 74 CASES FROM A UNIVERSITY COURSE

In this study, 188 master‐level students received training through a distance education course to conduct functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) and behavior support plans with 68 boys and six girls (aged 3–20 years) displaying persistent behavior problems in inclusive preschools, elementary, and secondary schools. In the course, master‐level students’ scores on an FBA knowledge test increased from 13.2% to 68.8% correct. Changes in pupils’ target behaviors were evaluated with a total of 114 AB single‐subject designs and combined data with one‐group pretest–posttest designs. Comparing medians of means, disruptive behaviors decreased by 77.8% and aggressive behaviors by 88.7%, whereas task engagement increased by 91.5% after intervention. Nonparametric Wilcoxon signed‐ranks tests for related samples showed that changes were statistically significant for all groups with sufficient sample sizes. Adjusted effect sizes ranged from d = .5 to 1.6. Results indicate that positive changes in student behavior problems can be attained with function‐based interventions conducted by teams trained through a distance education course.     

The effect of team feedback and guided reflexivity on team performance change

Providing teams with feedback has been forwarded as a powerful practice to improve their learning and performance. Yet, this learning potential may not be realized unless teams actively process this feedback by stepping back from their team activity, building plans, and ultimately putting them into action. In an experimental study (N = 212 undergraduate students), we compared the effects of team-level feedback with or without an intervention prompting shared reflection on the feedback (i.e., guided reflexivity) to a no feedback control group on team performance growth. The results showed that only the combination of team performance feedback and guided reflexivity lead to performance change, at the beginning of team activity. These findings suggest that prompting feedback processing at an early stage of collaborative work has the power to help teams benefit from their past experiences and improve performance.     

AN EVIDENCE‐DRIVEN,SOLUTION‐FOCUSED APPROACH TO FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT REPORT WRITING

School‐based practitioners are to implement and report functional behavior assessments (FBAs) that are consistent with both the research literature and the law, both federal and state. However, the literature regarding how best to document the FBA process is underdeveloped. A review of applied behavior analytic and school psychology literature as well as legislation and case law informs FBA reporting practices regarding (a) required content, (b) graphing of data, (c) organization of reports, and (d) clarity of language. The purpose of FBA reports is discussed, and this discussion explicitly informs the use of a solution‐focused approach to improve clarity in report writing. Recommendations for best practices in FBA report writing are provided, and future research needs are highlighted.     

Understanding teacher design practices for digital inquiry–based science learning: the case of Go-Lab

Designing and implementing online or digital learning material is a demanding task for teachers. This is even more the case when this material is used for more engaged forms of learning, such as inquiry learning. In this article, we give an informed account of Go-Lab, an ecosystem that supports teachers in creating Inquiry Learning Spaces (ILSs). These ILSs are built around STEM–related online laboratories. Within the Go-Lab ecosystem, teachers can combine these online laboratories with multimedia material and learning apps, which are small applications that support learners in their inquiry learning process. The Go-Lab ecosystem offers teachers ready–made structures, such as a standard inquiry cycle, alternative scenarios or complete ILSs that can be used as they are, but it also allows teachers to configure these structures to create personalized ILSs. For this article, we analyzed data on the design process and structure of 2414 ILSs that were (co)created by teachers and that our usage data suggest have been used in classrooms. Our data show that teachers prefer to start their design from empty templates instead of more domain–related elements, that the makeup of the design team (a single teacher, a group of collaborating teachers, or a mix of teachers and project members) influences key design process characteristics such as time spent designing the ILS and number of actions involved, that the characteristics of the resulting ILSs also depend on the type of design team and that ILSs that are openly shared (i.e., published in a public repository) have different characteristics than those that are kept private.

     

Missing the Mark: A New Form of Honorary Authorship Motivated by Desires for Inclusion

As scientific teams in academia have become increasingly large, interdisciplinary, and diverse, more attention has been paid to honorary authorship (i.e., giving authorship to those not making a significant contribution). Our study examined whether honorary authorship occurs because of the desire to include all or many team members. Interviews with project principal investigators (n?=?6) and early-career project members (n?=?6) from 6 interdisciplinary environmental science research teams revealed that principal investigators frequently employed inclusion-motivated honorary authorship but that this practice had some negative impacts on early-career team members with less power and status, thereby undermining true inclusion of those from underrepresented groups. We believe our findings are of import not only for environmental scientists, but also for scholars who are interested in issues of authorship decision-making regardless of disciplinary affiliation.     

Group Social Context and Children's Aggressive Behavior

Very little is known about the influence of the social-psychological context on children's aggressive behavior. The purpose of this research was to examine the interrelations of group contextual factors and the occurrence of aggressive behavior in 22 experimental play groups of 7- and 9-year-old African-American boys. Group context was examined before, during, and after an aggressive act as well as during nonaggressive periods. The results showed that there are dimensions of group context (i.e., negative affect, high aversive behavior, high activity level, low group cohesion, competitiveness) that were related to the occurrence of aggressive behavior between 2 children in the group. Group context influenced how children reacted to aggression between its members (e.g., siding with the victim), which in turn influenced the quality of the postaggression group atmosphere. This study suggests that individual-within-context information be incorporated into theories of aggression among children.     

Longer Fixation Times During Reading Are Correlated With Decreased Connectivity in Cognitive‐Control Brain Regions During Rest in Children

Dyslexia, or reading difficulty (RD), is characterized by slow, inaccurate reading and accompanied by deficit in executive functions (EF) and altered functional connectivity (FC) in the related networks (i.e., cingulo‐opercular). Individuals with RD also present with altered oculomotor gaze patterns that include longer fixation times. The researchers examined the relationship between fixation times and FC of neural circuits related to EF during rest in children with RD and typical readers. Nineteen children participated in a 10‐min resting‐state scan. FC analysis was performed with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), related to cognitive control, chosen as a seed. Fixation time during word reading was used as a covariate of interest. Results demonstrated that FC between the ACC and the left inferior frontal cortex pars triangularis and left inferior prefrontal cortex during rest were negatively correlated with fixation times during word reading. These exploratory results support the critical role for the cingulo‐opercular network, which is related to cognitive control, in the reading process, and likely also in reading impairment.