Training Residential Supervisors to Provide Feedback for Maintaining Staff Teaching Skills With People Who Have Severe Disabilities

Abstract

We evaluated procedures for training supervisors in a residential setting to provide feedback for maintaining direct-service staff members' teaching skills with people who have severe disabilities. Using classroom-based instruction and on-the-job observation and feedback, 10 supervisors were initially trained to implement teaching programs themselves. The training improved supervisors' teaching skills but was insufficient to improve the quality of feedback they provided to directservice staff regarding the staff members' teaching skills. Subsequently, classroom-based instruction and on-the-job observation and feedback that targeted supervisors' feedback skills were provided. Following training in provision of feedback, all supervisors met criterion for providing feedback to their staff. Results also indicated that maintenance of teaching skills was greater for direct-service staff whose supervisors had received training in providing feedback relative to staff whose supervisors had not received such training. The need for analysis of other variables that affect maintenance of staff performance, as well as variables that affect other important areas of supervisor performance, is discussed.

Teaching Practitioners to Conduct Behavioral Skills Training: A Pyramidal Approach for Training Multiple Human Service Staff

“…The exception was that an experimenter provided supportive and corrective feedback following completion of each participant's demonstration of BST. The feedback was presented using a set format (Parsons & Reid, 1995) that involved beginning the feedback with a positive or empathetic statement, specifying what the participant performed correctly, what the participant did not perform correctly (if applicable), how to correct the incor-rect performance (again if applicable), prompting questions or clarification from the participant, informing the participant if future sessions would be conducted, and ending the feedback with an overall positive statement.…”

“…Numerous work skills have been trained to staff in the human services through BST including how to teach consumers with disabilities (Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2004) and implement procedures to reduce problem behavior (Miles & Wilder, 2009). The significance of behavior analysts being skilled in BST is highlighted by demonstrations that without such skills, staff training is not likely to be consistently effective even if the staff trainer (e.g., behavior analyst) is skilled in implementing the behavior-change procedure that is being trained to staff (McGimsey, Greene, & Lutzker, 1995;Parsons & Reid, 1995). In short, being skilled in applying a behavior-change strategy with consumers is not sufficient for training others to apply the strategyone must also be skilled in training performance skills to staff (Parsons et al).…”

Feedback for improving staff training and performance in behavioral treatment programs

“…Increasingly, researchers see on-the-job feedback as a critical component of staff training, and many studies now supplement analog training with on-the-job feedback (e.g., Cooper & Browder, 2001;Fleming & Sulzer-Azaroff, 1989;Jones, Menditto, Geeson, Larson, & Sadewhite, 2001;Parsons & Reid, 1995;Parsons, Reid, & Green, 1993, 1996Spreat et al, 1985;Stevens et al, 1998). One study in particular sought to isolate the component effects of on-the-job feedback.…”

Metanoia en Atención Temprana: Transformación a un Enfoque Centrado en la Familia

“…Hace más de veinte años, Reíd y sus asociados llevaron a cabo una de las investigaciones mejores sobre capacitación basada en listas de verificación del rendimiento. En un estudio, por ejemplo, 10 supervisores fueron entrenados en cómo observar y proporcionar retroalimentación (Parsons y Reid, 1995). La capacitación modelaba lo que tenían que hacer con los miembros del personal de servicio directo: implicaba observación en el trabajo y retroalimentación dirigida.…”