Focus on Behavior Analysis in Education Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities

This book is a collection of papers developed from presentations delivered at The Ohio State University'sThird Focus on Behavior Analysis in Education Conference,which took place in September 2002. The three-day program included 80 invited addresses, research papers, and posters--many by the most prominent behavioral educators in the world. Scholars from Canada, Iceland, Israel, and Japan made the conference an international event. (Videotapes of 11 of the invited addresses may be viewed on the Internet; see page xiv for details.) Like its predecessors from the first two OSU Focus Conferences (Gardner et al., 1994; Heward, Heron, Hill, & Trap-Porter, 1984), this book covers a wide range of topics and issues. Collectively, the contributing authors present literature reviews, conceptual analyses, and data from several original studies; they describe advancements in curricula, classroom and schoolwide interventions, and teacher training programs; and they offer personal perspectives on the current status and future directions of behavior analysis in education. Organization of This Text The book's 19 chapters are organized into four parts. Part I, "Achieving Improvements in the Lives of Children with Autism," includes two chapters on the role of applied behavior analysis in the lives of children with autism and their families. The late Don Baer, one of the founding fathers of applied behavior analysis, describes the required features of applied behavior analysis as an educational treatment and its critical value to all children who depend on systematic instruction to learn useful skills. Catherine Maurice and Bridget Taylor discuss challenges and opportunities for educators, therapists, and parents who want to provide effective help for children diagnosed with autism. Maurice and Taylor offer reflections and recommendations gleaned from a decade of direct action, research, and publishing; interactions with parents, teachers, therapists, and children; and observations of the political forces at play in the world of autism intervention. Part II, "Recent Developments, Continuing Challenges, and Emerging Opportunities," begins with two chapters outlining recent contributions by behavior analysis to curriculum design and assessment for beginning reading instruction. Janet Twyman, Joe Layng, Greg Stikeleather, and Kelly Hobbins describe Headsprout Reading, a commercially available online reading program that combines behavior analysis, instructional design, usability testing, and an organizational systems approach. Ed Kame'enui, Roland Good, and Beth Harn examine a school-wide model for preventing beginning reading failure that is based on early and frequent measures of specific reading behaviors as a reliable predictor of reading risk. George Sugai and Rob Horner provide a rationale, examples, and guidelines for building a preventive continuum of positive behavior support that extends behavioral interventions and practices to the school and district levels. Charlie Greenwood, Judy Carta, and Dale Walker provide clear examples of how indicators for early communication, movement, social interaction, and adaptive behavior can be used as important measures for early childhood growth and development. Stephanie Peterson, Nancy Neef, Renee Van Norman, and Summer Ferreri critically examine the research literature on assessment of choices and the factors that influence choice making in educational settings. They propose a model for conceptualizing and assessing choice making and describe its implications for teaching children to make beneficial choices. The five chapters in Part III, "Training, Supporting, and Learning with Measurably Effective Teachers," examine various issues and approaches to preservice teacher preparation and the professional development of practicing teachers. Larry Maheady, Gregory Harper, and Barbara Mallette describe the development, implementation, and oHeward, William L. is the author of 'Focus on Behavior Analysis in Education Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities', published 2004 under ISBN 9780131113398 and ISBN 0131113399.