This study examined two strategies for increasing the accuracy with which general education teachers implemented a peer tutoring intervention for reading comprehension. The intervention was implemented for 5 elementary school students who had been referred for consultation services. Initial implementation of the intervention by the teachers was variable, and the data exhibited a downward trend. When consultants held brief daily meetings with the teachers to discuss the intervention, implementation improved for 2 of 5 participants. Four of the teachers implemented the intervention at levels substantially above baseline during the performance feedback condition, whereas implementation for 1 teacher increased following discussion of an upcoming follow-up meeting with the principal. Student reading comprehension scores improved markedly during the peer tutoring intervention. Three students maintained these gains 4 weeks after the intervention ended. The implications of these findings for the maintenance of accurate treatment implementation in applied settings are discussed.

This study examined the integrity with which 4 general education teachers implemented an intervention designed to improve the academic performance of elementary school students. Treatment integrity was measured daily using permanent products. The results showed that the 4 teachers markedly increased the integrity of the delivered treatment when they were provided with performance feedback. The results suggest that academic performance improved for the group of students as integrity improved.

In regular education settings, 29 consultant-consultee dyads completed traditional problem identification and problem analysis interviews according to Bergan's (1977) behavioral consultation model. Independent variables assessed included severity of the child's problem behavior, treatment acceptability, and verbal interaction style. Verbal interactions were manipulated to measure the effects of "collaborative" versus "prescriptive" consultation conditions. The relationships among independent variables and three measures of treatment integrity were evaluated. Results indicated that the mean integrity of a monitoring system based on teacher self-report was 54%. The average use of intervention stimulus products across teachers was 62%. Direct observation of actual use of interventions indicated that teachers implemented the treatment as planned 4% of the time. Multiple indices of child outcomes indicated reductions in disruptive behavior despite the low levels of observed integrity. Analysis of independent variables and treatment integrity revealed no significant relationships. Implications for practicing school psychologists and consultation research are discussed.Fundamental to educational reform is the development, implementation, and evaluation of services to at-risk children in regular education settings. School psychologists need only peruse recent publications to identify effective strategies for increasing a student's prosocial and academic productivity (see Stoner, Shinn, & Walker, 1991). Identifying an appropriate treatment, however, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for child behavior change; the classroom teacher must implement the recommended strategy.1. This article was accepted under the editorship of Joseph C. Witt.

This study examined the effects of reinforcement contingencies designed to increase the performance of existing reading skills as well as the effects of instruction-modeling and practice-designed to increase skill level for oral reading fluency across three levels of reading materials. Results showed that a combination of contingencies, modeling, and practice was effective in producing substantial increases in reading fluency for all participants at their assigned grade levels. These results demonstrate one strategy for experimentally determining those instructional components that are required to increase oral reading rate.

Data were collected at a large urban high school in order to determine the extent of discipline problems, the use of suspension, and the procedural integrity of the school's disciplinary policy. Results documented a high frequency of disciplinary referrals and suspensions and poor correspondence between school disciplinary policy and disciplinary actions. Next, individual assessments of middle and high school students' academic and social behavior documented a very high incidence of academic and social skills deficits, as well as other adjustment problems, among students with recurrent suspensions. Substantial individual differences between students illustrated that students with recurrent suspensions are a very heterogeneous group. Implications for developing proactive treatment alternatives to suspension are discussed.