Errorless Remediation in the Classroom: Success-based 1nten:ention for Children with Antisocial ...

66 Pages·2001·2.99 MB·English

Errorless Remediation in the Classroom: Success-based 1nten:ention for Children
with Antisocial Behaviour
Carolyn Di Adamo
A thesis submitted in conforrnity with the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts
Department of Human Development and Applied Ps>-cholog.
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto
G Copyright by Carolyn Di Adamo 2000
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Errorless Remediation in the Classroom: Success-based intervention for Children
with Oppositional Behaviour
Carolyn Di Adamo
Master of Arts, 2000
Human Development and Applied Psychology
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
Abstract
Many techniques that are cornmonly employed by teachers to manage students'
behaviour in the ciassrnom foçus on the teacher's immediate reaction (e-g., removd
from the classroorn) to student problem behaviour. Research suggests that these
st rategies ften are ineffective and may reinforce the unwanted behaviour. Errorless
O
compliance training was developed to provide a more proactive alternative to
reducing child problem behaviours and has ken validated as an effective approach
when employed in the home with parents and their children (Ducharme & Popynick,
1993). In the present study, we investigated the utility of the errorless approach in the
classroom. An intervention agent (the Master's candidate graduate student),
implemented the procedure in the classroom with two 5 year old girls? who were
exhibiting severe levels of noncornpliance. In addition, we investigated
generalization of treatment effects to the classroom teacher. Observations indicated
substantial increases in cornpliance to requests issued by the intervention agent at
completion of treatment, as well as preliminary indications of generalized compliance
to the classroom teacher. These findings suggest that errorless compliance training
rnay provide a non-reactive and success-based alternative to traditional classroom
management procedures.
Acknowledgmen ts
1 wish to express my gratitude to the supervisor of this
thesis, Dr. Joe Ducharme. His commitment to providing
me with support and guidance allowed me to successfully
complete the project. 1 would also like to thank Mirella
Pugliese, who spent many hours in the classroom with me.
My most sincere appreciation is also extended to the staff
and students of the school where this project was camed
out. hdeed, this project would not have been possible
without their cooperation.
Table of Contents
.
.............................................................................
Abstract il
...
............................................................
Acknowledgrnents iii
...................................... ...............
Table of Contents iv
,...
....................................................................
List of Figures v
..............................................................
List of Appendices vi
.......................................................................
Introduction 1
Antisocial Behaviour in the Schools. ........... ........ . .......... 1
Classroom Management of Challenging Behaviours ........... .... 2
...............................
Cornpliance as a Keystone Behaviour 6
Traditional Approaches to Treatment of Child
...................................................
Antisocial Behaviour 6
Importance of Tieout to Treatrnent Efficacy ......................9
.......................................
Errorless Cornpliance Training 11
Potential Benefits of Errorless Compliance Training
.......................................................
In the Classroom -12
The Present Study ...................................................... 14
............................................................................
Method 16
...........................................
Participants and Setting 16
...................
Intervention Agent and Interobserver Agreement 16
....................................................................
Design 17
................................................................
Procedure 18
..............................................................................
Resul ts 26
............................
Assessmen t of Compl iance Probabil i ties 26
.........................................
Baseline and Reversa1 Phases 28
T.reatment. ............................ . . 30
Teacher Generdization Probes ............ ..................... 31
...,
Discussion ................ ... ...................................... 3 2
..........................................................................
References 39
.......................................................................
Appendix A 45
.......................................................................
Appendix B 52
.....................................................................
Appendix C 5 8
List of Figures
Figure 1.
Percentage of cornpliance to requests irom the
four probability levels graphed separately across
sessions in the ernpiricai probability andysis.. .. . . . . . . . . ... .. -...-- 2 7
Figure 2.
Percentage of requests followed by compiiance
across children during pretreatment and treatment phases.. .. . . .. 29
vii
List of Appendices
Appendix A. Consent documents for parents and school
personnel .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Appendix B. School Cornpliance Probability Questionnaire.. .. . . . . . . . . 52
Appendix C. Requests selecied for each Child ... .. .... ... ... . .. ...... .... 58
Introduction
Antisocial Behaviour in the Schools
Antisocial child behaviour, including aggression and noncompliance, has been
increasing in intensity and prevalence over the past few years and is becoming a
common manifestation in and out of the classroom (Sprague, Sugai, & Walker,1998).
Kazdin (1993) suggests that 9% of children are at serious risk for antisocial behaviour
disorders. Oppositional and non-cornpliant behaviours are among the most frequentty
reported problems of children refened to clinics @ey, 1993) and are common even in
preschool c h i cr eferrals (Offord, Boyle, & Racine, 1991).
Such problems are particularly difficult to manage in the school system, due
to the typically large number of children under the care of the teacher, and the
leaming objectives that must be accomplished with each student. Teachers often are
required to manage acts of fighting and aggression towards peers, defiance of
authority, lying, noncompliance and other foms of disruptive classroom behaviour
(Sprague et al., 1998; Kazdin, 1997).
Within the school system, Kauffinan (1993) indicates that the number of
students identified with antisocial behaviour is approximately 8%. This high
prevalence is disturûing, given that such children are at high risk for future negative
outcornes, such as school dropout, alcoholism and antisocial personality (Webster-
Stratton & Hancock, 1998).
Many teachers, especially those new to the profession, indicate that discipline
and classroom management are their prirnary concerns (Veenman, 1984; Campbell,
1999). In fact, 73.6% and 63.3% of a sample of teachers rated off-task behaviour and
disobedience, respectively, as very frequent occurrences over the course of a typical
school day (Bibou-Nakou et ai., 2000), and most further indicated that these
behaviours constituted their most difficult daily problems. According to some
researchers, child cornpliance is the behaviour most desired of their students by
elementary school teachers (Hersh and Walker, 1981, as cited by Strain et al., 1983)
and disobedience is one of their most signifiant sources of distress (Campbell, 1999).
Child problern behaviours may impede both the teacher's ability to teach effectively
and the children's leaming (Jones, Charltom, & Witkin, 1995).
Classroorn Management of Challeneine Behaviour
-
Competent classroom management skills are essential for managing the above
described problems and for providing a foundation for effective instruction (Evertson,
Anderson, Anderson, & Broph y, 1980; Evertson, 1997). Such skills include creating
and conveying procedural and academic expectations or rules, systematically
sequencing, pacing, and monitoring student academic work, as well as monitoring
and providing feedback not only for academic work, but also for student behaviour
(Evertson & Emmer, 1982). In addition, studies have supported the practice of
establishing management systems at the outset of the school year. In classrooms
where this occuned, the students exhibited less inappropriate behaviour, greater task
engagement and higher academic success (Evertson, 1989). Unfortunately, these
skills are often not a major part of the cumculum for teacher training (Sprague et al.,
1998), or teachen may not receive the supports required to uze these skills effectively
after receiving training in their use (Gunter & Denny, 1996). Moreover, children
who have not consistently experienced these proactive approaches may develop a
behavioural repertoire that is intractable to al1 but the most intensive management
attempts. Teachers' inability to cope with such classroom management problems a n