writing interventions: implementing evidence-based practice for students with ebd in applied...
TRANSCRIPT
Writing Interventions: Implementing evidence-
based practice for students with EBD in
applied settings
Carlos J. Panahon, Ph.D.Alexandra Hilt-Panahon, Ph.D.Minnesota State University, Mankato
Lauren Arbolino, Ph.DNationwide Children’s Hospital
Introduction
• Writing is considered an essential skill for children’s success.
• Writing has been identified as a neglected skill (National Commission on Writing, 2003).
• The writing skills of children in the United States has been summarized as– “. . . not what it should be” (p. 7)
3
The Nation’s Report Card (2002) – Writing
4
The Nation’s Report Card (2002) – Writing
Two-thirds of students did not demonstrate solid performance in writing
Below Basic At Basic At Proficient Advanced0
20
40
60
80
100
Per
cen
t
72% 28%
Fourth-Grade Students
One-third of the students demonstrated solid or superior performance in writing
Academics & EBD
• The relationship between emotional and behavioral disorders and low academic achievement has been well documented in the literature (Wehby et al, 2003).
• Despite this, academic deficits of students with emotional and behavioral disorders is often secondary to behavior/emotional needs (Gunter & Denny, 1998)
Academics & EBD
• Historically, less emphasis on academics for EBD students
• Problem behaviors are mitigated when students are engaged in instruction
• Academic lesson and intervention must be instructionally appropriate
• Reinforcement that is often and specific is effective
Writing intervention for students with EBD• Recent research has sought to
identify interventions to remediate academic skills for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.
• Behavioral Disorders special issue– Reading – Writing
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The Nation’s Report Card: Implications
• Significant number of students have not developed mastery in basic writing skills
• Students at greatest risk for not developing mastery include:– Eligible for free/reduced price lunch
(83%)– English Language Learners (93%)– Eligible for special education services
(83%)
Research-Based Effective Teaching Strategies
• Students learn more when they are actively engaged in instructional tasks
• High success rates correlate positively with student learning outcomes
• The more content covered, the greater the potential for student learning
• Students become independent learners through instruction that is deliberate and carefully planned
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How Do We Improve Children’s Basic Writing Skills?• Lower-order writing skills:
– Handwriting and spelling– Capitalization, punctuation, and
grammar– Text generation
• Higher-order writing skills:– Planning processes– Text generation (increased
expectations for amount, nature, quality)
SOURCES: Berninger, V. W. et al. (2006). Tier 1 and Tier 2 early intervention for handwriting and composing. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 3-30. Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Improving the writing performance of young struggling writers. The Journal of Special Education, 39, 19-33.
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How Do We Improve Children’s Basic Writing Skills?• Writing
fluency:The total number of words written within 3 minutes
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How Do We Improve Children’s Writing Fluency?• Provide
instructional/performance feedback to promote children’s writing fluency
• Based on Thorndike’s law of effect (1898, 1911): Feedback serves to reinforce stimulus-response association
Classwide Performance Feedback Study
• 11 week study – 2 weeks for baseline; 9 weeks for
intervention
• 4 Middle School classrooms– 7 participants were assigned to the
No Feedback Condition– 8 participants were assigned to the
Performance Feedback Condition
• Participants were probed once a week at the beginning of the class
Results
Baseline Intervention
No Feedback
40.7 44.5
Feedback 28.8 48.1
Choice v. No Choice Study
• 6 week study• 1 Elementary School classroom
– 6 participants– Administered either Choice or No
Choice writing session
• All 6 participants performed better during the Choice condition
• 5 of 6 participants made more gains across time during the Choice condition
Evidence Based Strategies – Give choiceGive choice– Performance feedbackPerformance feedback– Student-interest driven
materials– Peer learning activities– Self-monitoring– Tie-in with reinforcement
Conclusions
• Performance Feedback Study– ROI
• No Feedback= 0.97• Feedback= 3.81
• Choice Study– ROI
• No Choice= 1.27• Choice= 3.83
Intervention Advantages
• Monitoring • Clearly defined • Already a component of the
classroom activities• Training • Length of time • Class-wide• Increased interest and motivation
Future Directions• Replicate in different settings
– Self contained class in public school– Inclusive
• Evaluate benefits of reinforcement in combination with other interventions
• Evaluate generalization of effects• Application of effective practices
with EBD population – Mason et al., 2010– Little et al., 2010
Contact Information
Carlos J. Panahon, [email protected]
Minnesota Sate University, Mankato
Mankato, MN
Alexandra Hilt-Panahon, [email protected]
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankato, MN
Lauren A. Arbolino, [email protected]
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Columbus, OH