Visual Performance Feedback

Abstract

This study used a multiple baseline with reversal design to assess whether visual performance feedback (VPF) influenced targeted and nontargeted staffs' use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in a day-treatment program. This study expands on the typical VPF audience and assesses whether VPF can be effective with noncertified staff in a day-treatment program for young children with behavior disorders, an environment in which it is difficult to maintain high rates of BSP. In previous school-based studies, VPF has been collected by researchers and provided to targeted teaching staff. In the current study, rather than relying on researchers, the authors used staff instructors to collect VPF and assessed how that experience influenced the instructors' use of BSP. Results suggest that VPF provided, on average, a doubling in rates of BSP use by directly targeted staff and more than a 50% increase in rates of BSP in nontargeted instructors who collected BSP data. Furthermore, three of the four participants had substantially higher praise-to-correction ratios during the VPF intervention when compared with baseline and reversal conditions. Implications for improving treatment fidelity and reducing supervision time are discussed.

Measuring Teachers’ Intervention Fidelity

“…Similar to Burke et al (2012), Duhon et al (2009) prepared educators to implement interventions with students in the context of RTI team meetings. Teachers received a fidelity protocol detailing intervention steps.…”

“…As noted earlier, if direct observation is not possible, then whatever fidelity format is put in place should be used frequently (e.g., self-check). While monitoring may move to an intermittent schedule, to assume initial acquisition of high fidelity equates to ongoing high fidelity is erroneous; researchers find teachers drift away from high fidelity if continued monitoring of fidelity does not occur (Burke et al, 2012; Duhon et al, 2009; Reinke et al, 2014).…”

“…Fidelity is not only about using the correct steps in an intervention, but also about how well the steps are implemented (Harn, Parisi, & Stoolmiller, 2013). For example, Burke, Howard, Peterson, Peterson, and Allen (2012) prepared educators to record the frequency of high-quality behavior-praise statements (i.e., verbalized as intended) used by paraprofessionals they supervised, and then graphed the data for paraprofessionals to view. Using the graphs as visual performance feedback about the quantity of behavior-specific statements yielded increased use of statements, indicating increased fidelity.…”