PEER TRAINING OF SAFETY-RELATED SKILLS TO INSTITUTIONAL STAFF: BENEFITS FOR TRAINERS AND TRAINEES

A peer training program, in which experienced staff trained new staff, was evaluated as a method for teaching and maintaining safety-related caregiver skills in an institutional setting for the developmentally disabled. Three sets of safety-type skills were assessed in simulated emergency situations: responding to facility fires, managing aggressive attacks by residents, and assisting residents during convulsive seizures. Using a multiple-baseline research design, results indicated that the peer training program was an effective method of training the three types of emergency skills to new direct care staff. The program also appeared effective in improving the skills of the peer trainers. Perhaps most importantly, results indicated that if experienced staff functioned as peer trainers for particular emergency skills, then their proficiency in those skills maintained over time whereas their proficiency declined in emergency skills for which they did not act as peer trainers. Social validity information collected from available staff 23 months after the program was completed supported the utility of the training in terms of staff responses during actual emergencies. Also, acceptability measures indicated that staff liked participating in the program. However, some inconsistencies between staff verbal reports and performance-based measures of acceptability were noted. Results are discussed regarding the overall effectiveness of the peer training program, the importance of maintenance strategies for safety-related skills, and the need for multidimensional analyses of staff acceptability in staff training/management research.     

Job Development from a Counselor's Perspective: A Training Workshop

An inservice training workshop for employment counselors on the skill of job development is reviewed. Evaluations proved there is a need for additional inservice training on job development skills, including follow-up, marketing, using outside resources, matching employer needs with client capabilities, speaking before groups, effective verbal communication with employers, and overcoming objections.     

A Paraprofessional Training Model Based on the Employment Service Training Unit Concept

A paraprofessional inservice training model is presented which is based on the Employment Service Training Unit (ESTU) concept. The model encourages the use of professional staff in the local work setting as a viable source for training paraprofessional staff members. The advantages and disadvantages of current training programs are described, with the ESTU model presented as an alternative for a more effective paraprofessional training program.     

Collaboration Activities and Competencies of Special Educators Serving Students with Behavior Disorders

The role of collaboration has been emphasized as a critical component in the delivery of a comprehensive system of services for students with behavior disorders (BD). A survey of 476 special educators of students with BD was completed (a) to describe the frequency of collaborative interactions between these educators and school and community agency personnel; and (b) to describe the teachers' current level of skill for the 32 identified collaboration competencies. The data from 259 responses suggested that these educators interact the most often with their special and general education colleagues and perceive themselves to be of average skill level for a majority of the identified competencies. Implications for preservice and inservice training are discussed.     

CEU: Stimulating Manpower Personnel Training in Higher Education

Manpower personnel training programs in higher education settings have suffered a variety of ills. This article describes a promising way to cure many of them—the Continuing Education Unit (CEU). Salient features of CEU are described, implementation guidelines are suggested, and further references are provided for those desiring more complete information about the CEU training program. The article makes a plea to those in higher education and in manpower agency settings to close the gap between available university training resources and the expressed training needs of manpower personnel.     

Training paraprofessionals to use behavioral strategies when educating learners with autism spectrum disorders across environments

Although the use of paraprofessionals in the education of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a common practice, research on effective training procedures is scarce. The following study used a multiple‐baseline design across settings replicated by five paraprofessionals to evaluate their use of behavioral strategies with young children with, or at risk for, autism spectrum disorder. A training package consisting of a workshop and performance feedback by their supervising special education teacher served as the intervention. Results revealed that even though the paraprofessionals demonstrated skills in the use of behavioral strategies at the workshop, there was either no transfer or generalization to the preschool or home environments where they worked, or their use of skills decreased over time. When performance feedback was provided to all participants, their correct use of strategies increased. The training model evaluated in this study provides an example of one that could be employed in a typical public school classroom or early intervention program. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Design for First Line Supervisory Training In Manpower Agencies

This article describes a training program to increase supervisory skills in manpower agencies. Supervisors taking part in this program were employed by a state manpower agency in Maryland and trainers were university faculty in rehabilitation counselor education. Reading material and structured assignments combining cognitive and affective material were given, but there was much freedom within the program for participant feedback. Some of these suggestions were used to revise the program as it progressed. Affective activities employed included relaxation, guided fantasy, role playing, and microcounseling. Participants' reactions ranged from satisfaction with the useful skills provided to resentment at the selection method for the training and the time involved, which made further progress impossible. The majority of the participants suggested recommendations for further training of this nature.     

Teaching social skills to emotionally disturbed adolescent inpatients

A social skills training program was evaluated with emotionally disturbed adolescent inpatients. The targeted social skills required an action or reaction within six skill areas. The program was adapted from a commercially available social skills training game that features the use of response specific feedback, self-monitoring, individualized reinforcers, and individualized performance criteria. A peer conducted the baseline and posttraining sessions while the training was conducted by an adult who had no previous interactive history with the subjects. A multiple baseline design across groups demonstrated that the program increased appropriate responding in all skill areas and that these effects generalized during the posttraining peer conducted sessions. A generalization test indicated that the subjects used their newly learned skills with a novel adult outside the training setting. The program appears quite applicable to emotionally disturbed adolescents since it targets skills in a variety of areas and employs standardized procedures to enhance replicability.     

Using International Videoconferencing to Provide Staff Training on Functional Behavioral Assessment

Videoconferencing has been successfully implemented to teach functional analysis (FA) procedures to service providers who support individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the acquisition of the competencies for implementing FA methodology for special education teachers after participation in a group‐format workshop via a videoconferencing program in which the training site and the remote site were located on different continents, connected through the internet. Four special education teachers in Saudi Arabia who did not have previous exposure to functional behavior assessment participated in the study. Teachers received 3 h of group‐format training via Skype followed by individualized feedback. Training involved role‐playing, video modeling, and reading materials. Results indicate that all four participants mastered the skills across at least two of the conditions with one participant demonstrating mastery across all four conditions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Peer Assertiveness-Training Program

The demand for assertiveness-training groups and the effective use of paraprofessionals in skills training were influential factors in the authors' decision to develop a peer assertiveness-training program. This program extends the availability of assertiveness training to students through the use of paraprofessionals as group leaders. This article describes a format for developing a peer assertiveness-training program and is based on the authors' experience conducting this program during the 1977–78 academic year at Pennsylvania State University.     

A Program for Training Teachers as Counselors of Parents of Children with Disabilities

The author presents a four-session, in-service training program in which a counselor serves as facilitator. The focus of the program is training teachers to work more effectively with parents of children with disabilities through the integration of counseling theory and special education practice.     

Issues in Professional Training to Implement Evidence‐based Parenting Programs: The Preferences of Indigenous Practitioners

Indigenous children have elevated risk for poor health, behavioural, emotional, and social outcomes. Significant evidence exists that parenting programs can reduce family risk factors and improve outcomes for children and families; however, mainstream programs have had slower uptake in Indigenous communities than other communities. Culturally sensitive delivery of evidence‐based programs can enhance engagement of parents, yet the development of a workforce to deliver programs to Indigenous parents faces many obstacles. This project seeks to identify professional training processes that enhance Indigenous practitioners’ skills and confidence in delivering an evidence‐based parenting program. A survey of trained parenting practitioners via an online practitioner network assessed their views of the training and post‐training support processes they had experienced. Respondents were 57 Indigenous and 720 non‐Indigenous practitioners from 15 countries. Most training processes were rated equally helpful by Indigenous and non‐Indigenous practitioners. However, several training processes were identified as important for the delivery of culturally competent training, such as tailoring the pace of training and simplifying the language in teaching resources. Practitioners with higher ratings of the helpfulness of peer support following training reported higher program uptake and implementation. Qualitative themes also focused on the helpfulness of program resources, and having a peer support network and mentoring. Increasing access to appropriate, flexibly delivered training and post‐training support for Indigenous professionals will support the development of a skilled workforce with local knowledge and connections, and further increase the reach of evidence‐based services in Indigenous communities.     

Further evaluation of a brief, intensive teacher-training model

The purpose of this study was to further evaluate the outcomes of a model program that was designed to train current teachers of children with autism. Nine certified special education teachers participating in an intensive 5-day summer training program were taught a relatively large number of specific skills in two areas (preference assessment and direct teaching). The teachers met the mastery criteria for all of the skills during the summer training. Follow-up observations up to 6 months after training suggested that the skills generalized to their classrooms and were maintained for most teachers with brief feedback only.     

Evaluation of Peer Training for Teaching Abduction Prevention Skills

Child abduction is a serious problem, with approximately 100 children killed each year by nonfamily abductors. Training programs to teach children the correct skills to use if they ever come into contact with a stranger can be effective when they incorporate behavioral skills training (BST) and in-situ training (IST) into their protocol. However, these methods can be rather time and energy consuming. The current study evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of a peer tutoring approach to teaching abduction prevention skills. Peer trainers implemented BST sessions and IST sessions with their younger peers. Children successfully acquired the target safety behaviors taught by the peer trainers, and use of the skills generalized to their natural environment.     

GENERALIZED EFFECTS OF A PEER-DELIVERED FIRST AID PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS WITH MODERATE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Peers with mild intellectual disabilities taught first aid skills to 4 students with moderate intellectual disabilities. A multiple probe design across participants was used to examine the effects of the peer teaching program during an acquisition and a partial sequential withdrawal phase. Generalization assessments were conducted in the participants' homes using novel, randomized simulated injuries. Results suggested that the peer teaching program resulted in acquisition of first aid skills, and the participants' skills generalized to the home, to novel simulated-injury locations, and to new trainers. Additionally, a more detailed analysis of the generalized responding suggested that when given a choice among first aid materials, participants treated burns using large adhesive bandages rather than the materials used in training. Participants also successfully treated injuries when novel instructional cues were used. The findings are discussed with respect to training issues, generalization and maintenance of the acquired skills, and the use of peer tutors with disabilities.     

Conflict resolution and peer mediation in middle schools: extending the process and outcome knowledge base

Many professional educators are implementing school-based prevention focused on conflict resolution (CR) and peer mediation (PM). The authors conducted research on CR-PM in 3 middle schools. Specifically, they surveyed teachers and students, tracked disciplinary incidents across school years, collected mediation data, and compared mediators with a matched sample to determine attitudinal change as a result of PM training and experience. The authors also surveyed peer mediators and disputants about program satisfaction, as well as peer mediators and their parents about the generalization of PM skills. The authors conclude with implications for developing future CR programs, including a focus on mediation-process evaluation as well as schoolwide outcome measures and the use of peer mediation training as an intervention for students at risk.     

Training Special Education Personnel for Effective Use of Microcomputer Technology:

Special educators have been quick to embrace microcomputer instruction; both special education and microcomputer instruction share the promise of developing individualized instructional programs matched to student needs. From this viewpoint, microcomputers have the potential for operationally defining what is "special" about education. Despite this promise, however, there is a limited data base from which to make empirical decision on effective microcomputer use in the classroom and on teacher training needs. A model for assessing teacher training needs is discussed in which microcomputer skills are viewed within the context of other teacher-effectiveness variables. A two-tiered appeaoch to teacher training in microcomputer instruction is developed, based on the promise of microcomputer instruction and upon pragmatic classroom considerations.     

Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation in Middle Schools: Extending the Process and Outcome Knowledge Base

Abstract

Many professional educators are implementing school-based prevention focused on conflict resolution (CR) and peer mediation (PM). The authors conducted research on CR-PM in 3 middle schools. Specifically, they surveyed teachers and students, tracked disciplinary incidents across school years, collected mediation data, and compared mediators with a matched sample to determine attitudinal change as a result of PM training and experience. The authors also surveyed peer mediators and disputants about program satisfaction, as well as peer mediators and their parents about the generalization of PM skills. The authors conclude with implications for developing future CR programs, including a focus on mediation-process evaluation as well as schoolwide outcome measures and the use of peer mediation training as an intervention for students at risk.     

An Evaluation of a Helping Skills Training Program for Intern Psychometrists

This study reports on the effectiveness of a helping skills training program for intern psychometrists. A randomized pretest–posttest comparison group design was used to evaluate the training program. Participants (N = 22; 82% = female, and Afrikaans-speaking = 95%) were selected from the psychometrist-in-training program from a tertiary institution. Three helping skills development measuring instruments were administered before and after the training program. Data were quantitatively analysed to examine training effects on empathy, respect and genuineness, as well as the participants’ ability to respond to content and personalise meaning. At the conclusion of the training, participants appeared to have evidently developed a heightened sense of purpose in life.     

Evaluation of a social problem-solving skills program for third- and fourth-grade students

The effects of a social problem-solving (SPS) training program for entire classrooms of third- and fourth-grade children were examined in two studies. In the first study, experimental children showed significantly greater improvement in knowledge and performance of SPS skills than control children. However, both positive and negative effects of the intervention (varying by classroom) were found on measures of behavioral adjustment, self-efficacy, and peer acceptance at a 6-month follow-up. The second study compared two different intervention strategies: (a) SPS training with teacher-student dialoguing, peer pairing, and self-monitoring, and (b) SPS training with dialoguing only. It was found that children in both the experimental and control groups improved significantly in performance of SPS skills but no differences between the groups were found for changes in behavioral adjustment, self-efficacy, and peer acceptance. The limitations of cognitively mediated interventions for young children were discussed.