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Unit 4: Teaching Technology Introduction

• Direct Instruction - Engelmann, Becker & Carnine• Precision Teaching - Lindsley• Headsprout - a new web-based reading program

developed by a team of behavior analysts (2002)– Greg Stikeleather, Dept. alumni award

In this part of the unit we are going to be looking at three empirically-based instructional technologies for primary and secondary schools:

(empirically-based, proven through research to be effective, Croyden schools?)Engelmann, BA in education. Becker & Carnine - behavioral psychologists)

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Teaching Technology Intro continued

• Educational crisis in this country• Our students rank about last in math/science of all

industrialized countries in the world• 40% of our 4th-graders read below basic levels• Yet schools and educators have been very slow

to adopt empirically-validated instructional technology in the schools

• Probably the biggest disappointment of behavior analysts

• But, there is hope: No Child Left Behind• Carnine is an advisor to President Bush

(read some of the material in the course pack - not behavior analysts)

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Direct Instruction Basics• Task analysis is completed for all instructional

material• Material is presented in small steps so students

will be successful the first time• Material is sequenced so if students master the

prerequisite material they will be successful• Scripts are used to insure correct implementation

and student success - based on research• Students are placed in small groups of 5 - 10• Students respond aloud on cue • Immediate feedback, both reinforcement and

corrective is provided

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Precision Teaching Basics

• Often use DI material/lessons• Adds a fluency component - accuracy plus speed of

responding is assessed (# corrects per minute). Based on rate of response used in behavioral research

• Timed practice, graph results - only 30% of time is spent on instruction, 70% on practice

• Students work with each other during practice sessions• Students do not progress to the next lesson until fluency

“aims” are met - all have the same aims which are based on research

• Often combined with a token economy system in which students earn points for results and appropriate instructional behaviors (feet on floor, eye contact, etc.)

• Often report cards are provided for parents daily

(before SO16, show you some results of DI, PT: SOs a little out of order)

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SO17: Introduction to Englemann’s early study (1970)

• Some maintain that 60-80% of “intelligence” is genetic and only 20-40% is a function of learning; that is you have it or you don’t and if your parents and grandparents didn’t have it, you won’t either (Bell Curve, Murray & Herrnstein)

• They also maintain that a person’s IQ cannot be changed much after the first couple of years

• Therefore, early educational programs (such as Head Start) and social programs are a waste of tax payer dollars.

(What is intelligence? What is measured by IQ tests? Math, verbal, social situations and sequences)

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SO17: Englemann’s early study (1970)• Participants were all 4 years old:

– 15 disadvantaged children exposed to traditional teaching methods

– 15 disadvantaged children exposed to DI– 15 middle class children exposed to DI

• Independent variable:– DI for language concept, arithmetic, and reading– Three 20-min instructional sessions per day for two

years– Total of 96 instructional hours

• Dependent variable:– Stanford-Binet IQ test scores

• Experimental design:– Between-group experimental design

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SO17: Results of Engelmann’s Study: IQ Scores

Group Before 1 Year 2 Years

Disadv.

DI95.33 112.47 121.08

Disadv.

Trad. Ed.94.50 102.57 99.61

Middle-class

DI -------- -------- 123.43

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SO17: Summary of Results

• IQ scores after two years– Disadvantaged four-year olds exposed to DI

increased their IQ scores by about 25 points: from 95.33 to 121.08

– Disadvantaged four-year olds exposed to traditional education increased their IQ scores by only about 5 points: from 94.50 to 99.61

– Disadvantaged and advantaged four-year olds exposed to DI had similar IQ scores: 121.08 and 123.43, respectively

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SO17: Implications

• IQ scores can be affected by instruction and changed after the very early stages of life (argues against heredity)

• DI can eliminate differences in the IQ scores of disadvantaged and advantaged children, differences that are not eliminated via traditional educational methods

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Snyder Article: Morningside Academy, Seattle, WA

• Morningside Academy– Private school (tuition): Dr. Kent Johnson– Combines Precision Teaching with Direct

Instruction– Dr. Johnson offers 2-4 week practicum

opportunities in the summer to graduate students (web site address is in the SOs)

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Morningside Academy, cont.

• Money-back guarantee for tuition (SO 18)– If a student does not gain at least two years or more

in all skill-deficit areas in one year, Morningside refunds 100% of the tuition

• Success rate (SO 18, but years different than article)– In the 25 years of its operations, Morningside has

never refunded a student’s tuition

• Serves primarily students diagnosed with learning disability problems and ADHD who are failing in the regular school system; also has a program for adults who are not literate. (SO19)

(years different because the article was published in 1992)

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Morningside Academy, cont. again

• SO 20: Average gains in grade levels for reading, language arts, and math for the last two years reported in the article (89-90 and 90-91)?

3.07 per academic year!!

Note that these gains are primarily for at-risk kids.Those diagnosed as learning disabled or ADHD.

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Morningside Academy’s Adult Literacy Program

• Federally-funded literacy program through YMCA• Pilot program for adults, Precision Teaching

– Did not know whether adults would like PT and thus attend instructional sessions

– Did not know how well PT would work with these individuals, given their generally low skill levels

• 32 participants– Some were homeless– Some were in and out of jail

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Representative Results: Morningside Adult Literacy Pilot

Person/

SubjectExpected

GainAverage

GainActual Gain

Grade Level

Change

KR

Math

.5 month/

1 month

1 month/

1 month

4 yr 2 mo/

2 mo

6.9 to 11.1

WB

Math

Same as above

Same as above

2 yr 7 mo/ 1 mo

8.1 to 10.8

DM

Reading

Same Same 8 yr 4 mo/

1 mo

3.6 to adult

JK

Writing

Same Same 7 yr 3 mo/ 3 mo

5.8 to adult

1 month = 20 hours of instruction

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SO 21: What guarantee does Morningside make its adult clients based on results?

Each adult learner will gain two years or more per month in reading, writing and math skills if those adults meet the requirement of attending for two hours per day, four days a week.

Notice that is only 20 hours of instruction per

month!

(now back to SO 16)

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SO16: Three reasons why traditional educators object to Direct Instruction & Precision Teaching

• They are not self-directed; that is the methods are too controlled by the teacher

• They are not individualized; every child/learner is exposed to the same material in the same sequence and must meet the same goals

• They do not focus on affective outcomes - that is, self-esteem or making students “feel good about themselves.

• Teachers feel the scripted lessons take away from their flexibility and creativity. Why did I go to school and get a teaching degree if I am being told exactly what to say and when to say it? (not in study objectives - not required)

If these methods are so good, why aren’t they being taught in schools of education and why don’t teachers like them?

(philosophical reasons - educational philosophy child centered learning development)4th reason a practical, not philosophical reason, Siefert article; teacher’s resent it becauseIt is so scripted; but is it about me being happy or the students learning?)

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SO22: What factors are often blamed for the educational crisis?

• Traditional educators tend to blame Johnny or Suzie, the culture at large, socio-economic reasons - Johnny can’t read because he comes from a bad neighborhood or bad home.

• Traditional educators often see the key(s) to be a longer school year, higher pay for teachers, right now no recess, etc.

• DI & PT advocates maintain that the key to solving the educational crisis in this country is better instructional material: If Johnny or Suzie is not learning the instructional material is the blame, not Johnny, Suzie or their home environment

(while I am going to get in trouble - the rat is always right! Lab - lever)Neither they nor their instruction is at fault: part of their student-centered philosophy.)

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SO 25: What is fluency?• The rationale behind fluency first

– We usually measure only accuracy of performance - 100%, 90%, etc.

– Rate of performance or fluency is also important– If one child scores 100% on a math test and completes it in one

hour, but another scores 100% and completes it in one-half hour, is their performance equal or is the second child’s performance better?

• PT not only measures accuracy but also speed of performance

• Only 30% of classroom time is taken by the delivery of instruction; 70% is spent practicing using work sheets.

• Students take several 1-minute timings and chart their performance on a graph for the timings

• So, back to the question, what is fluency? (next slide)

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SO25: Fluency

“Fluency” is a measure of accuracy plus speed.

So, SO25A, what is fluency?

And, SO25B, how is fluency specifically measured?

The number of correct answers per minute and the number of incorrect answers per minute during timed practice.

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Not for the exam: Fluency Aims (standards/goals)

• Insure retention/maintenance over time• Enable the skill to generalize to settings other than the

one in which it was taught– If you teach basic math, you want kids to be able to

buy things and count correct change• Enable correct responding in spite of distractions in

the environment and in spite of being “tired.”

Fluency aims are based on research to:

Because aims are empirically developed to achieve the above results, aims are not individualized. Every child must meet the same aims before proceeding to the next lesson/material.

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SO26: Rationale for scripted lessons

• In DI, every lesson is scripted and the teacher is to follow the script exactly

• Why?

The particular wording, examples and sequences have been pre-tested to insure the success of the students.

Not for the exam, but teachers do not have the time, nor is it their job, to conduct research on instructional material. They are practitioners not researchers They already have a very difficult, time-consuming job (and class sizes are getting larger all the time).

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SOs 27-31: Introduction to Watkins’ article on Project Follow-Through (not for the exam)

• Largest study that has evaluated the effectiveness of different instructional systems

• Government-funded study• Conducted over 30 years ago• The study began in 1968 and we have had

the results since 1977

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SOs 27-31: Project Follow-Through, cont.

• Three major conceptual categories of educational systems– Basic Skills– Cognitive-Conceptual– Affective-Cognitive

• Examined 20 different instructional methods that fell into one of the three categories above in 15 different school districts

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SOs 27&28: Primary areas of emphasis for each major conceptual category and the category for DI

• Basic Skills (DI)– “Basic skills”: reading, arithmetic, spelling, etc.

• Cognitive-Conceptual– Learning to learn– Problem solving skills

• Affective-Cognitive– Development of good self-concept and positive

attitudes toward learning– Learning to learn

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SO29: Results I have asked you to learn

• DI was the only model to produce gains in all three areas measured: basic skills, cognitive skills, and affect

• DI ranked first in basic skills, cognitive skills and affect• Educational models, other than those that fell into

the Basic Skills category, (that is, all those in the cognitive-conceptual and affective-cognitive categories) had poorer results than the traditional educational systems currently being used

To be fair to each model, the researchers also measured the childrens’ basic skills, cognitive skills, and affect

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SO30: DI & PT ranked first and second in affective skills even though neither targets or emphasizes them

(pretty interesting given that the affective-cognitive models targeted affect directly. Also interesting because traditional educators still object to DI& PT on that ground)

What theory of self-concept isn’t supported by these results?

In order to learn, you must first have a good self-concept and a positive attitude toward learning. That is, a good self-concept is a prerequisite for learning.

Suzie & Johnny must feel good about themselves before they can learn.

What theory of self-concept is supported by the results?

Success in learning produces a good self concept.

Suzy & Johnny will feel good about themselves if they are successful in learning.

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SO31: Behavioral diagram of the relation between learning and a good self-concept

R ---->Academic activities

ScSigns of success

Sr

CS CRGoodself-concept

(self-concept emotional response)

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Project Follow-Through Wrap Up (not for the exam)

• DI was shown to be the most effective instructional system

• In spite of that, the governmental agency responsible for disseminating effective instructional systems to school districts around the country, endorsed 22 as effective and packaged them for distribution

• Among those disseminated were those that had failed to improve academic achievement (out of “fairness”)

• Funding guidelines were changed so that the programs that were the least successful were given more funding than those that were the most successful (on the grounds that $ would help the least successful)

(problem is not just the teachers, school districts)

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SOs 32-39: Headsprout, a web-based reading program designed by a team of behavioral psychologists

• Headsprout founders and team includes:– Dr. Kent Johnson, founder of Morningside– Greg Stikeleather, BA in psychology from WMU

• Developed and ran Apple Computer’s first usability testing laboratory• Started two software companies; one was acquired by Microsoft, one

was acquired by Netscape

– Dr. Joe Layng, Head of Morningside’s Malcolm X program– Dr. Janet Twyman, current President of ABA– Kelly Hobbins, BA in psychology from WMU

• Put on the web in 2002• Cost $6 million to develop the first 40 lessons (the initial

program put on the web)

(SOs are very straightforward, but I just wanted to introduce you to this - it’s terrific, web page)

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SOs 32 & 34: Why is Headsprout important?

• How many children have literacy problems in our country?– 40%

• Over what percentage of our nation’s fourth graders score below basic reading levels?– 40%

• What is the probability that a child will remain a poor reader at the end of fourth grade if the child is a poor reader at the end of first grade?– 90%

We need to get to children when they are young and teach them the basics

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SOs 33: Headsprout stresses phonics - why? Learn the following points about phonics

• Research has shown that phonics is essential in order to teach children to read.– Not for the exam, but notice that this is in direct conflict

with reading approaches based on “whole word” teaching/learning.

• Research has also shown that the absence of explicit phonics instruction can cause learning problems that put learners at a permanent educational disadvantage unless corrected by the end of third grade.

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About Headsprout: Not for the exam

• Incorporates PT concepts of fluency and charting/graphing performance of each component skill

• On the surface, the program appears to children as – As in interactive cartoon– Learn reading skills interacting with cartoon-based

episodes in Space World, Dinosaur World, Undersea World, and Jungle World

• They have the same type of refund program as Morningside Academy– For school systems: Full refund to schools for the price

of the product for each Kindergarten or 1st grade student who is not at or above grade level upon completion

– Full refund to individual parents who buy it as well

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About Headsprout, cont.

• They first did lab testing - before they put the program on the internet. (not for the exam)

Standard for most activities was that 90% of learners would get 90% of the items correct the first time

• SO37A: Once the developmental work in their lab was completed, they tested it on the internet. How many learners participated in the internet testing?– Over 1,000

• SO37B: What were the results of that testing?– Over 90% of the learners got over 90% of the items

correct

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About Headsprout, cont. again

• SO38: What was their goal for the entire 80-lesson Headsprout Early Reading Program?– Learners who consistently score at or above grade

level, and– Kindergarten children with reading skills typical of a

mid-second grade learner• Standardized test outcome data from 16 initial children

who completed the program suggest they have accomplished that goal (testing is on-going)

• Individual parents can purchase the Headsprout reading program for $99.00 (last time I checked the price)

(last slide)

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The End

• Questions?