Although behavior-specific praise (BSP) is a recommended practice for early childhood populations, early childhood educators often deliver variable rates of BSP. To support educators, face-to-face, school-based consultation may be provided; however, this may not always be feasible. To address this, emerging research is beginning to investigate the…

Vestibular input (VI) activities are linked with skill learning, engagement, and communication. This study investigated the influence of VI activities on the responses of non-verbal children with autism spectrum disorders (CWASD) when prompted to request a reinforcer using picture exchange communication. A single subject alternating treatment…

Researchers have identified effective instructional strategies for teaching peer imitation, including embedded classroom-based interventions. However, there is a dearth of strategies that have been effective for teaching generalization of imitation skills to novel contexts. Building on previous research, we examined the use of progressive time…

Behavior specific praise (BSP) is widely regarded as an evidence-based classroom management strategy, with decades of research supporting its use. However, relatively few studies have examined the effect of BSP as a "targeted" intervention strategy, particularly for traditionally underrepresented students. The present study evaluated the…

Research has demonstrated that behavior specificity is a salient characteristic of teacher praise efficacy. Praise variety may also be an important characteristic to reinforce desired student behavior based on research about the quality of reinforcers. In this study, we used an alternating treatments design to examine the effects of varied and…

Professional development for educators is often not evidence-based and insufficient to improve classroom management skills. Video-analysis has been shown to be effective at improving pedagogy of classroom teachers. We expanded on prior literature by using an early childhood general education teacher. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was…

Non-compliance is a challenge for practitioners serving children with and without disabilities. Many interventions have been developed to increase compliance. High-probability request sequences (HPRS), an antecedent-based intervention that is based on behavioral momentum theory, is one way to increase compliant behavior. HPRS includes the…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a brief training plus e-mail-specific performance feedback (ESPF) on increasing preschool teacher's use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) statements. Quantity of BSP was measured using a frequency count, while voice intonation of BSP statements was measured using a voice recording…

Teachers of young children with moderate to significant support needs may have insufficient training to implement naturalistic instructional practices such as contingent responding. Naturalistic instructional practices are well researched, but limited studies exist on training teachers to use contingent responses to support children increasing…

This study evaluated the effects of using preferred activities with peer support on the social interactions of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their typically developing peers. Two preschool-age children with ASD and six peers in an inclusive classroom participated in this study. A multiple-probe single case experimental…

Multicomponent interventions have successfully increased early childhood teachers' rates of behavior-specific praise (BSP); however, package interventions do not allow for nuanced examinations of intervention components. We examined the effects of an intervention package with training, goal setting, self-monitoring, and tactile prompting on early…

Three generations of developmental epidemiologically based randomized field trials of the Good Behavior Game (GBG) have been delivered to Baltimore elementary schools. With the collaboration of family and community partners, all three trials were directed at decreasing proximal targets of aggressive behavior and improving learning in first-grade…

There is a significant need for easy-to-implement interventions in the early grades, especially in mathematics, as many children have difficulties in their first years of school with automated basic math facts recall and, therefore, fall behind. Automation of single-digit multiplication tasks represents an important developmental step, as it can…

In response to restrictions on visitors within school buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic, the evidence-based math fact fluency procedure known as the taped problems intervention was adapted for use in a virtual setting. The present study used a multiple-probe across participants design to evaluate the effects of the adapted intervention on the…

Students in general education classrooms are increasingly being identified as being in need of individualized behavior supports. Thus, this study assessed the Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR) model to determine its impact on problem and replacement behaviors of typically developing students with behavioral challenges in a high-need elementary school…