PREVENT TEACH

PREVENT TEACH REINFORCE for Young Children

The Early Childhood Model of Individualized Positive Behavior Support

FOREWORD BY ERIN BARTON

Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children

The Early Childhood Model of Individualized Positive Behavior Support

Second Edition

by Glen Dunlap, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Reno Kelly Wilson, M.A., ECC Pyramid Model Consortium Phillip Strain, Ph.D. University of Denver and Janice K. Lee, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Reno

Foundations of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children

Introduction to Prevent-Teach-Reinforce

This book is the second edition of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC). The first edition was published in 2013. The authors remain the same, as do the basic model and procedures of PTR-YC. However, in the years since the first edition was published, we have learned a great deal about the workings of PTR-YC from our own experience and from the feedback we have received from thousands of people who have read the book and implemented the PTR-YC process. We received some valuable recommendations for improving the descriptions of the process and about aspects of the model that could be emphasized.

Although the PTR-YC model has not changed, the second edition incorporates worthwhile suggestions for increasing fidelity and for addressing certain points in the process that have been tricky for some implementers. Most of the book’s contents are unchanged, but updates and revisions have been made in every chapter and in the tools and forms that are used in the process. In addition, the second edition includes two new chapters: Chapter 3 on readiness and classroomwide procedures and Chapter 4 on emergency procedures. We believe that the changes that appear in this second edition will help to make the PTR-YC process even more efficient and helpful as we seek to improve the social-emotional well-being of young children with challenging behaviors.

Understanding Challenging Behavior

When challenging behaviors occur to the degree that a team determines that intervention is required, it is extremely helpful if members of the team have knowledge regarding the natural laws that explain how the environment influences behavior. This is the case because effective behavioral interventions are based on the principles that define the relationships between events in the environment and occurrences of a child’s behavior.

Principle 1: Challenging Behaviors Are Communicative

This basic principle simply means that most challenging behaviors serve the same purpose as other forms of communication, such as speech, nonverbal gestures, and facial expressions. In this sense, challenging behaviors may often be the same as requests or demands. For instance, the loud tantrum of a 4-year-old boy may be communicating a request for food.

Principle 2: Challenging Behaviors Are Maintained by Their Consequences

The law of reinforcement is perhaps the most basic law of behavioral science. It states that a behavior will be maintained if it is followed by a positive reinforcer. For our purposes, a positive reinforcer can be considered a reward. For challenging behavior that is communicative in nature, the reward would likely be the object or action that is being requested.

Principle 3: Challenging Behaviors Occur in Context

Challenging behaviors occur at different rates or intensities in different contextual or environmental circumstances. For example, one child’s screaming may occur frequently when he or she is being asked to participate in fine motor tasks, but the same child might never scream during snack or outdoor play.

The Process of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children

The process of PTR-YC is similar to the well-documented, step-by-step process of individualized positive behavior support. The difference is in how the steps are implemented. In PTR-YC, the procedures are tailored for use with young children in early childhood settings, and the descriptions of the implementation strategies at each step of the process are designed to be as practical as possible, with the emphasis always on helping the team implement the steps with enough accuracy and consistency that desirable child outcomes are as likely as possible.

Step 1: Teaming and Goal Setting The first step in the process involves the establishment of a classroom-based team, an agreement on how the team will function, and the specification of initial, short-term goals.

Step 2: Data Collection This step involves obtaining and organizing the information needed to understand how the challenging behavior is influenced by the environment, which is the key to developing intervention plans that will be effective and efficient.

Step 3: PTR-YC Assessment (Functional Behavioral Assessment) The PTR-YC assessment is a form of functional behavioral assessment in which questions are answered in a checklist format in three categories relating to antecedent variables (prevent), function and replacement variables (teach), and consequence variables (reinforce).

Step 4: PTR-YC Intervention When the assessment is completed and the team has developed an understanding about how the challenging behavior is related to and influenced by the environment, then a team meeting is devoted to developing an intervention plan.

Step 5: Using Data and Next Steps Implementation and progress monitoring are crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of the interventions and making data-based decisions.

Factors That Promote Effectiveness of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children

There are a number of factors that influence the effectiveness of PTR-YC. The more these factors are optimized, the more effective PTR-YC will be in addressing challenging behaviors.

1. Prevention: The more that a program or classroom incorporates features of high-quality environments and recommended adult–child interactions, the greater the likelihood that serious challenging behaviors will be prevented.
2. Commitment to Successful Outcomes for Children: The ability to effectively implement PTR-YC is inevitably related to the level of commitment that a program has to the success of all of its children, including children who have disabilities or who exhibit troubling patterns of behavior.
3. Capacity of the Team: The commitment and knowledge of team members are crucial in ensuring the success of the interventions.
4. Family Involvement: The more involved family members are in the process, the better the overall outcomes.