Generalization and maintenance.

Abstract

Schools are tasked with the mission of preparing students for future success. Whether success is defined in terms of preparedness for a personally meaningful life, employment, or continued education, educators clearly maintain a responsibility to facilitate the acquisition of skills that may be applied outside the school environment. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 legislates this responsibility through provisions that ensure schools use evidence-based instructional strategies to prepare all students for successful employment and/or postsecondary education (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Alignment with the mission of the educational system and adherence to ESSA therefore requires educators to implement evidencebased strategies to increase the likelihood that skills acquired in the context of a classroom generalize to other environments and maintain over time. In other words, the "train and hope" approach (see Stokes & Baer, 1977) is no longer acceptable, and educators maintain a responsibility to explicitly program for generalization and maintenance.

Book Review: Prevent-Teach-Reinforce: The School-Based Model of Individualized Positive Behavior Support by Dunlap, G., Iovannone, R., Kincaid, D., Wilson, K., Christiansen, K. & Strain, P. S.

“…In Appendix B, self-management is summarized as a potential intervention for the Teach component of PTR. However, student involvement explicitly described throughout all steps of PTR could further enhance maintenance and generalization (Pratt et al, 2019) of new skills, as well as lead to student empowerment and increased self-determination skills (Wehmeyer et al, 2004).…”