EFFECTS OF PRESESSION AND INTERSPERSED ATTENTION ON THE DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS OF AN ELEMENTARY STUDENT IN AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM

1 online resource (163 pages) : PDF

2019

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of presession and interspersed attention in the disruptive behaviors and academic achievement of an elementary school student with disruptive behavior. Social validity measures were also conducted at the completion of the study to determine the student’s perception of the intervention as well as the teacher’s opinions pertaining to the feasibility of implementation and overall effectiveness of the intervention. Visual analysis of results indicated a decrease in disruptive behaviors during both presession and interspersed interventions, as well as an overall increase in academic achievement across treatment conditions. Social validity measures indicated the student was satisfied overall with the intervention and felt that it had a positive impact on his classroom behavior. Additionally, social validity measures completed by the classroom teacher indicated that while both interventions were reasonable to implement, appropriate for addressing the student’s disruptive behaviors, did not detract from the learning environment, and possibly improved classroom productivity, she preferred the presession attention intervention based on its simplicity and ease of implementation. To conclude, students who display challenging classroom behaviors maintained by peer or adult attention may benefit from teacher-directed, peer-mediated presession or interspersed attention interventions. Findings from the present study are consistent with previous results indicating that these interventions demonstrate a functional relation with a decrease in challenging behaviors (Kelly et al., 2015; McGinnis et al., 2010; Rispoli et al., 2014), and in increases in academic achievement (Chung & Canella-Malone, 2010). Further, according to social validity measures, these interventions are simple, effective, and well-tolerated. Ultimately, determining an appropriate behavioral intervention requires an FBA, proper planning, and some discretion by practitioners. However, presession and interspersed attention interventions should be considered by classroom teachers as a potentially effective strategy for decreasing disruptive behaviors and increasing academic achievement.

doctoral dissertations

Special education

Ph.D.

Special Education

Wood, Charles

Test, David
Beach, Kristen
Miller, Erin

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2019.

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Kisinger_uncc_0694D_11984

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2121