Community Based Instruction

Alberto, Paul A.; Cihak, David; and Frederick, Laura D. (2007). Use of Brief Functional Analysis and Intervention Evaluation in Public Settings. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 9, 80-93.

Cihak is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education. Alberto is a Research Professor in Mental Retardation and the Director, Bureau for students with Multiple and Severe Disabilities at Georgia State University. And Fredrick is an associate professor in the College of Education at Georgia State University, the director of the Office of Direct Instruction, and an author, who specializes in Behavior Analysis, Education, and Effective Schooling. Their purpose of the study was to identify and select intervention models to prevent inappropriate social behaviors of students with intellectual disabilities in a public community behavior. Their method was to have four high school students participate in functional analysis in order to help them maintain target behaviors. They found that teaching the students to self-monitor their behaviors by using auditory prompts was more effective than any other method they had tried. The major limitation to their study is the small sample size used. With so few students studied, one must be cautious when using the methods they have suggested.

Bang, Myong-Ye.; and Lamb, Peg. (1997). Impacts of an Inclusive School-to-Work Program. (Report No. EDO-408-752 EC-305-623). Utah. 2-14.

Lamb is the Director of NSF Bridges Transition Project and Myong-Ye Bang is a professor who works with the Holt Public Schools in Michigan. The purpose of their study was to “investigate the effects of this inclusive School-To-Work program [Holt High School’s Transition Coalition] on students” (5). The authors had noted that most school-to-work programs did not allow access for most students with intellectual disabilities because of their grades, social skills, and attendance. The researchers found that the students became self-advocates and were able to set goals for their own futures. They also better understood their own strengths and weaknesses. Overall the students were able to determine what factors were important for success in the work place, their social skills improved, and their performances were improved. The students with intellectual disabilities were able to advocate for supports necessary for future success. The employers also benefited because the program helped to change their views about hiring younger employees, particularly those with disabilities. The main problem with this study is that it only includes one high school in a rural area. The results may not be representative of the population, particularly those in an urbanized area.

Bowman, Garry. (2007). Employment Lifestyle Training: A New Approach to Vocational Rehabilitation Teacher Services. Rehabilitation Education for Blindness and Visual Impairment, 39, 141-148.

Garry Bowman is a Teacher Consultant at Texas Division for Blind Services. Bowman discusses the recent changes in the Texas Division for Blind Services program. He explains participants in the previous programs were not given the opportunity to increase their employment opportunities. Therefore, the new program combines both functional homemaking skills and employment lifestyle training. The individuals are trained rehabilitation teacher and given access to self-help guides. Bowman explains the program is important because people with visual impairments often have great difficulty generalizing homemaking skills to non-homemaking environments. Bowman asserts the group and community strategies of the program helps build social skills and confidence. He further explains that the individuals should develop self-direction and problem-solving strategies. Bowman explains the new program will train individuals on developing “job-related skills such as writing resumes, doing job searches, and interviewing” (147). A potential limitation to the program is that it has been developed for only one state. There may be more effective programs in other areas of the country. Also the complete removal of services is not good practice. A better program would be to re-evaluate participants annually and keep supports in place to address unforeseen problems.

Burcroff, Teri L.; Radogna, Daniel M.; and Wright, Erika H. (2003). Community Forays: Addressing Students; Functional Skills in Inclusive Settings. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 35, 52-57.

Teri L Burcroff is a Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Special Education & Rehabilitation at East Stroudsburg University. Daniel M. Radogna I am a Disability Services Specialist employed at Northampton Community College. The authors developed a 2 year program at one middle school designed to help students with disabilities develop their functional skills without having to spend too much time out of their inclusive classrooms. The researchers set up a set of guiding principles that resisted a return to self-contained classrooms. The researchers developed a definition for inclusion and worked in teams to develop goals and objectives based upon each students’ IEPs. The curriculum in the general education classrooms was modified based upon their need for functional skill development outside of these classrooms. In order to generalize sills learned in their inclusive settings, the small groups of students went on trips into the community in order to participate in community-based activities. Though the programs showed success in the areas of social skills and self-advocacy in the first year, the program appeared to have returned to a self-contained program. The authors argue that was not the case.

Kluth, Paula. (2000). Community-Referenced Learning and the Inclusive Classroom. Remedial and Special Education, 21, 19-26.

Dr. Paula Kluth is a former special education teacher who has served as a classroom teacher, consulting teacher, and inclusion facilitator. Dr. Kluth explains that community-referenced learning has been a part of education for quite some time, and specifies three types of education that can be implemented in the community, work experiences, research teams, and service learning. Therefore, Dr. Kluth suggests that teachers “reexamine traditional approaches to curriculum and instruction.” Kluth argues CBI helps students generalize classroom skills to the community and broadens their community awareness. Kluth suggests interactive education received outside of the classroom is more meaningful for students with and without disabilities, as well as ESL students, and gifted students. Kluth asserts the need for working as a team between administrators, general educators, and special educators in order to develop an effective CBI. Kluth further suggests that communicating the importance of CBI to the future welfare of students to their families is crucial for the success of such programs. Although Kluth feels that communities, teachers and all students benefit from CBI, she suggests future research and studies in order to enhance effectiveness, and develop solutions to problems such as funding and staffing.