Structured Teaching for Special School Staff: A Comparison of Two Training Packages

Abstract

As part of a special school training programme, 16 staff (eight teachers, eight non-teaching assistants) were given two behavioural training packages: EDY and ACT. Staff selected 16 children aged 4-19 with challenging behaviours for the training and results were compared 6 months after completion with other similar and different children for maintenance and generalisation of skills learnt. A crossover design was employed to test for differences in the order of presenting the two training packages. The staff's and children's behaviours were video-recorded and half of the staff were filmed prior to the start of training to control for effects of repeated filming and untrained improvement. Coded behaviours included rewards, recording and prompting by the teachers and correct and incorrect task responses by children. Most behaviours showed clear improvements as a result of training, and staff's skills were maintained and generalised to other children at follow-up. There were no major differences between the two packages and no effects of order of presentation. Teachers and non-teaching assistants benefited equally from training.