Systematic Instruction for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities

About the Author

Belva C. Collins, Ed.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky, where she serves on the program faculty in the Moderate and Severe Disabilities Program. Dr. Collins began her career as a teacher of students with intellectual disabilities in rural Southwestern Virginia before coming to the University of Kentucky to work as a research assistant on several federally funded grants to validate the use of response prompting strategies in special education. She has continued this line of research throughout her career in higher education and has been successful in guiding the applied research of her students in investigating variations of systematic instruction in classroom and community settings. This work provides the foundation for this text. In addition to disseminating her own scholarly writing, Dr. Collins.

Contents

• Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
• Foreword Mark Wolery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
• Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
• Chapter 1: Using Effective Practices to Teach Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
• Chapter 2: Developing Data Sheets and Collecting Baseline Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
• Chapter 3: Using Graduated-Guidance, Most-to-Least Prompting, and System-of-Least-Prompts Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
• Chapter 4: Using Time-Delay and Simultaneous-Prompting Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . .53
• Chapter 5: Increasing the Efficiency of Instruction Through the Addition of Nontargeted Information and Through Instruction in Small-Group Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
• Chapter 6: Using Naturalistic Language Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
• Chapter 7: Facilitating Maintenance and Generalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
• Chapter 8: Teaching Functional Core Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
• Chapter 9: Working with Peers, Paraprofessionals, and Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
• Chapter 10: Setting up Instructional Schedules and Classroom Environments . . . . . . .147
• Chapter 11: Teaching with Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
• Appendix A: Procedural Flowcharts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
• Appendix B: Blank Data Collection Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
• Appendix C: Resources from the Professional Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
• Appendix D: Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

Chapter 1: CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

• List and describe the components of an instructional trial
• Task analyze a chained task, and describe how it can be taught across three instructional formats: forward chaining, backward chaining, and total task presentation
• State principles for presenting a consequence following a correct response
• Provide examples of general and specific attentional cues and responses, and describe the rationale for delivering one over the other

Basic Components of Systematic Instruction

Instructional programs using direct instruction are composed of individual instructional sessions, which comprise individual instructional trials. An instructional session may have as few as one instructional trial or as many as the instructor deems necessary for learners to have ample opportunities to perform a targeted behavior or skill.

Effective Teaching Practices

To envision systematic instruction, a simple formula can be used (Collins, 2007, p. 119): A → B → C (A = antecedent, B = behavior, C = consequence) or S → R → C (S = stimulus, R = response, C = consequence).

Discrete and Chained Behaviors

All behaviors taught to a learner can be classified as discrete or chained. A discrete behavior consists of a single step. A chained task consists of discrete behaviors linked together to perform a more complex behavior. A task analysis breaks down a chained task into small, discrete behaviors or steps.

Teaching Chained Tasks

There are three formats for teaching chained tasks:

1. Forward Chaining: One step of a task analysis is taught at a time.
2. Backward Chaining: The instructor performs all steps except the last, which is taught to the learner.
3. Total Task Presentation: The learner has the opportunity to perform every step of the chain during every instructional trial.

Antecedent

The antecedent is the stimulus preceding a behavior that the instructor wants a student to perform.

Consequence

The consequence follows every behavior or response and consists of feedback to inform the learner.

Attentional Cues and Responses

Before every instructional trial, securing the attention of learners is essential. This can be achieved through general attentional cues, such as calling out a learner's name, or specific attentional cues that require a specific response, like asking the learner to perform an action.

Trial Format

Each instructional trial consists of an antecedent or stimulus, a behavior or response, and a consequence. There are three basic trial formats: massed trial format, spaced trial format, and distributed trial format.

Phases of Learning

The phases of learning include acquisition, fluency, maintenance, and generalization. Each phase must be appropriately addressed in instruction.

Behavioral Objectives

Before beginning instruction, it is crucial that the instructor have a behavioral objective for each behavior to be taught, specifying the learner(s), observable and measurable behavior, conditions, and specific criteria for mastery.