DOCUMENT RESUME EC 308 776 ED 459 586 Rule, Sarah; Tso, Marion AUTHOR Using Constant Time Delay To Teach Preventative Safety TITLE Skills to Preschoolers with Disabilities. Final Report. Utah State Univ., Logan. Center for Persons with INSTITUTION Disabilities. Special Education Programs (ED/OSERS), Washington, DC. SPONS AGENCY 1999-01-00 PUB DATE NOTE 129p. H023B70068 CONTRACT Research (143) Reports PUB TYPE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE *Disabilities; Family Attitudes; Intervention; Learning DESCRIPTORS Activities; *Learning Experience; *Preschool Children; Preschool Education; *Safety Education; *Teaching Methods; *Toddlers Utah State University IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This final report describes a study to investigate the effects of an intervention procedure that included time delay, praise, and other cues on the acquisition of safety skills in preschool children with disabilities. Twelve preschool-aged children with disabilities from six different classrooms participated. Preventive safety skills consisted of recognizing exemplars of an unsafe situation and changing it in order to make it safer. Responding to unsafe settings was measured in two settings: classroom and home. One pair of children was instructed using a multi-component teaching procedure that incorporated time delay, prompts, and praise. The other child watched. A multiple probe design across pairs of children was used to assess the effects of the procedures. Learners who were directly taught correctly completed more preventive steps during teaching than baseline sessions and showed some generalization of responding to unsafe situations. Learners who observed did not respond to classroom probes, however, when an extra cue was provided, three of these learners correctly responded. No learner consistently responded to unsafe situations set up during home probes before or after the teaching. Results of the study are (1) target and observational learners' responses to discussed in terms of: (2) generalization of skills to unsafe situations as a result of teaching; (4) reliable implementation of (3) evidence of maintenance; the home setting; teaching procedure; and (5) parents' and teachers' responses to the research. (Contains 51 references and 10 appendices.) (SG) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Using Constant Time Delay to Teach Preventative Safety Skills to Preschoolers with Disabilities Final Report Grant # H023B70068 Project period 09/01/97-08/31/98 Awarded to: Utah State University Center for Persons with Disabilities 6800 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-6800 Sarah Rule, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Marion Tso, M.ED., Student Researcher Submitted to U.S. Department of Education January 1999 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement jWATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE (11 1 Overview of this report The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of an intervention procedure that included time delay, praise, and other cues on the acquisition of safety skills on the part of preschool children with disabilities. The investigation examined the effects of the procedure on children who received instruction and upon those who observed a child who received instruction. The study was expected to contribute to the participating children's acquisition of skills to prevent accidents and to contribute to the literature on teaching safety skills to children with disabilities in natural environments. The Project objectives and major activities to complete them are listed below. As the Project supported a research study, following the brief report on the accomplishment of objectives, a comprehensive description of the study, its outcomes, and implications is attached. Entitled "Teaching Preventative Safety Skills to Preschool Children with Disabilities: Direct and Observational Learning Effects," this investigation is presented in chapters that describe the literature regarding safety skills, the intervention, its results and implications for future research. Objective 1. Examine the effects of observing and participating in an intervention that included constant time delay, praise, and other cues on the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of preventative safety skills in preschoolers with disabilities. The activities to complete the objective, all of which were completed within the Project period were: Conduct focus group to identify specific skills. (See pages 20-22 of study). 1. Define the dependent measures. (See study, pages 20-23 ). 2. Develop measures and protocols. (See pages 32-33 and Appendices C-G). 3. Secure Project staff. (See pages 32-33). 4. Conduct study. (See Chapter 3, pp. 37- 60). 5. 3 2 Analyze data. (See Chapter 3). 6. Objective 2. Disseminate information from Project through research reports, published articles, conference presentations, and parent news publications. The activities to complete this objectives and the status of their completion are: Write manuscripts and submit for publication to (a) a peer-reviewed journal and (b) 1. parent news publication. To be completed by September, 1999. Complete final research report for funding agency. Completed, per attached report. 2. Present study at professional conference. Completed July, 1998. The study was 3. presented at two conferences, The Association for Behavior Analysis in Orlando, Florida in May 1998 (Tso, M. & Rule, S. Using Constant Time Delay to Teach Safety Skills to Preschoolers with Disabilities) and at the Office of Special Education's Research in Education of Individuals with Disabilities Project Directors' meeting in Washington, D.C. in July, 1998 (Tso, M. & Rule, S., Teaching Safety Skills to Preschoolers with Disabilities). Present information on using procedures at home to interested parents. Completed in 4. March, 1998. Marion Tso conducted a workshop at Utah's Statewide Preschool and Early Intervention Conference entitled Teaching preschoolers preventative safety skills. Evaluation of the Project (see page 21 of the approved application) The Project Evaluation Plan addressed the objectives and activities listed above. As described, all were completed during the Project periods except for the submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal. The student investigator and principal investigator will submit such a manuscript, based upon the issues raised by the study. (See Chapter 4). III ABSTRACT Teaching Preventive Safety Skills to Preschool Children with Disabilities: Direct and Observational Learning Effects by Marion Tso, Doctor of Philosophy Utah State University, 1999 Major Professor: Sarah Rule, Ph.D. Department: Special Education This study examined the direct and observational learning effects of a multicomponent teaching procedure on the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of preventive safety skills in preschool children with disabilities. Twelve preschool aged children with disabilities from six different classrooms participated. Preventive safety skills consisted of recognizing exemplars of an unsafe situation (obstacles in movement pathways) and changing it in order to make it safer. Responding to unsafe situations was measured in two settings: classroom and home. During teaching, which occurred in the classroom, one of a pair of children was instructed using a multicomponent teachlrig procedure that incorporated time delay, prompts, and praise. The other child observed. A multiple probe design across pairs of children was used to assess the effects of the procedure for the child who was instructed and the child who observed. Learners who were directly taught correctly completed more preventive steps during teaching than baseline sessions and showed some generalization of iv not present. responding to unsafe situations when the student researcher was probes after Learners who observed the instruction did not respond to classroom extra cue was watching the target learner during teaching sessions; however, when an situations. No learner provided, three of these learners correctly responded to unsafe probes before or after consistently responded to unsafe situations set up during home the teaching that occurred at school. Results of this study are discussed in terms of: (a) target and observational of learners' responses to unsafe situations as a result of teaching, (b) generalization implementation of skills to the home setting, (c) evidence of maintenance, (d) reliable teaching procedure, and (e) parents' and teachers' responses to the research. (120 pages) _ 6 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Marion Tso This Project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Grant # H023B70068, in the amount of $18,343 (44% of total costs) and by Utah State University, Center for Persons with Disabilities in the amount of $22,889 (56% of total costs). The opinions expressed here are those of the Project personnel. No official endorsement of the U.S. Department of Education or Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services should be inferred. 7 vi CONTENTS Page iii ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1 I. Problem Statement 1 3 Review of Literature 13 Summary 14 Purpose and Research Questions 16 METHOD II. 16 Participants 17 Selection Process 18 Setting 19 Materials 20 Selection of Target Skills: Pre-Study Focus Group 20 Variables and Measures 26 Experimental Design 32 Data Collectors and Training 37 RESULTS III. 37 Reliability for Dependent Measures 52 Responses During Variations in Instruction 61 DISCUSSION IV. 61 Major Conclusions 72 Limitations 74 Implications for Future Research 76 REFERENCES 81 APPENDICES 82, Appendix A: Parent Consent Form 8 vii Page 84 Appendix B: Assessment Form 87 Appendix C: Response Definitions and Data Collection Procedures . . . Appendix D: Data Collection Form for Responding to Unsafe 92 Situations Appendix E: Checklist for Implementation of Intervention Procedure 94 . . . 96 Intervention Appendix F: Appendix G: Accident/Injury Log 99 Appendix H: Teacher and Parent Letter and Questionnaires 102 Percent of Sessions Score and Interobserver Appendix I: Agreement for Responding to Unsafe Situations 106 Teacher Comments 109 Appendix J: 112 VITA - 9 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4 Studies that Examined Children's Safety-Related Skills 1. with Studies that Used Constant Time Delay (CTD) with Preschoolers 2. 9 Disabilities Studies that Used Constant Time Delay (CTD) and Assessed 3. 10 Observational Learning 17 Age and Gender of Participants 4. 19 Examples of Materials Used in Classroom and Home Settings 5. 21 Examples of Unsafe Situations in each Setting 6. 34 Data Collectors and their Responsibilities 7. 42 Summary Data on Interobserver Agreement (IDA) by Child 8. Interobserver Agreement (IDA) about Correct Implementation of 9. 57 Teaching Procedure for each Target Learner Treatment Fidelity for each Target Learner Expressed as Percent of 10. 57 Correctly Implemented Components Number and Percent of Children's Correct Responses Followed by 11. 58 Praise and Adult Who was Expected to Provide Praise 59 Parents' Responses to Questionnaire (n = 9) 12. 60 Teachers' Responses to Questionnaire (n = 4) 13. An Example of a Matrix Model to Teach Appropriate Responses to 14. 70 Specific Objectives and Locations of Unsafe Situations _ 1 0