Abstract
A frequent challenge encountered by behavior analysts in human service agencies is maintaining effects of their training interventions with agency staff. A case example is provided to illustrate how effects of a staff training intervention initiated by a behavior analyst maintained for an extended period in a center-based program for adolescents and adults with severe disabilities. The process involved the behavior analyst working closely with the program supervisor and a professional staff member in a collaborative team approach to increase involvement of center participants in functional (vs. nonfunctional) educational tasks. Initially, the team jointly developed an intervention to increase staffs’ provision of functional tasks. The behavior analyst subsequently worked with the team members regarding how to implement the intervention by training their staff and providing feedback. The two team members then continued providing feedback during their respective supervisor tenures without continued presence of the behavior analyst. Results indicated that initial increases in participant involvement in functional tasks maintained during follow-up observations encompassing 30 years. Normative comparisons also showed that the levels were well above the level of functional task involvement in other center-based programs across that time period. Results are discussed regarding recommendations for behavior analysts to use a collaborative team approach with supervisors indigenous to an agency to help maintain staff behavior targeted for change by the behavior analysts.
References
Alvero, A. M., Bucklin, B. R., & Austin, J. (2001). An objective review of the effectiveness and essential characteristics of performance feedback in organizational settings. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 21, 3–29.
Austin, J. (2000). Some thoughts on the field of organizational behavior management. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 20, 191–202.
Babcock, R. A., Fleming, R. K., & Oliver, J. R. (1998). OBM and quality improvement systems. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 18, 33–59.
Bates, P., Renzaglia, A., & Wehman, P. (1981). Characteristics of an appropriate education for severely and profoundly handicapped students. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 16, 142–149.
Brown, L., & Kessler, K. (2014). Generating integrated work sites for individuals with significant intellectual disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 40, 85–97.
Brown, L., Branston, M. B., Hamre-Nietupski, S., Pumpian, I., Certo, N., & Gruenewald, L. (1979). A strategy for developing chronological-age-appropriate and functional curricular content for severely handicapped adolescents and young adults. Journal of Special Education, 13, 81–90.
Brown, L., Pumpian, I., Baumgart, D., Vandeventer, P., Ford, A., Nisbet, J., Schroeder, J., & Gruenewald, L. (1981). Longitudinal transition plans in programs for severely handicapped students. Exceptional Children, 47, 624–630.
Carr, J. E., Wilder, D. A., Majdalany, L., Mathisen, D., & Strain, L. A. (2013). An assessment-based solution to a human-service employee performance problem: an initial evaluation of the performance diagnostic checklist—human services. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6, 16–32.
Certo, N. (1983). Characteristics of educational services. In M. E. Snell (Ed.), Systematic instruction of the moderately and severely handicapped (pp. 2–15). Columbus: Merill.
DiGennaro Reed, F. D., & Henley, A. J. (2015). A survey of staff training and performance management practices: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8, 16–26.
Downs, A., Downs, R. C., & Rau, K. (2008). Effects of training and feedback on discrete trial teaching skills and student performance. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 29, 235–246.
Dyer, K., Schwartz, I. S., & Luce, S. C. (1984). A supervision program for increasing functional activities for severely handicapped students in a residential setting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 17, 249–259.
Finn, L. L., & Sturmey, P. (2009). The effect of peer-to-peer training on staff interactions with adults with dual diagnoses. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30, 96–106.
Green, C. W., Reid, D. H., McCarn, J. E., Schepis, M. M., Phillips, J. F., & Parsons, M. B. (1986). Naturalistic observations of classrooms serving severely handicapped persons: establishing evaluative norms. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 7, 37–50.
Green, C. W., Rollyson, J. H., Passante, S. C., & Reid, D. H. (2002). Maintaining proficient supervisor performance with direct support personnel: an analysis of two management approaches. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 205–208.
Greene, B. F., Willis, B. S., Levy, R., & Bailey, J. S. (1978). Measuring client gains from staff-implemented programs. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 395–412.
Guercio, J. M., & Dixon, M. R. (2011). The observer effect and its impact on staff behavior in an acquired brain injury neurobehavioral treatment setting. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 31, 43–54.
Hawkins, R. P. (1991). Is social validity what we are interested in? Argument for a functional approach. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 205–213.
Kennedy, C. H. (1992). Trends in the measurement of social validity. The Behavior Analyst, 15, 147–156.
LeBlanc, L. A., Raetz, P. B., & Feliciano, L. (2011). Behavioral gerontology. In W. W. Fisher, C. C. Piazza, & H. S. Roane (Eds.), Handbook of applied behavior analysis (pp. 472–486). New York: Guilford Press.
Mayer, G. R., Sulzer-Azaroff, B., & Wallace, M. (2014). Behavior analysis for lasting change (3rd ed.). Cornwall-on-Hudson: Sloan Publishing.
McClannahan, L. E., & Krantz, P. J. (1993). On systems analysis in autism intervention programs. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 589–596.
McSween, T., & Matthews, G. (2005). Should we teach the ABCs? (or, What OBM needs is long-term success stories). Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 24, 135–143.
Mozingo, D. B., Smith, T., Riordan, M. R., Reiss, M. L., & Bailey, J. S. (2006). Enhancing frequency recording by developmental disabilities treatment staff. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39, 253–256.
Noell, G. H., Witt, J. C., LaFleur, L. H., Mortenson, B. P., Ranier, D. D., & LeVelle, J. (2000). Increasing intervention implementation in general education following consultation: a comparison of two follow-up strategies. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33, 271–284.
Oorsouw, W. M. W. J. V., Embregts, P. J. C. M., Bosman, A. M. T., & Jahoda, A. (2009). Training staff serving clients with intellectual disabilities: a meta-analysis of aspects determining effectiveness. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30, 503–511.
Parsons, M. B., Rollyson, J. H., & Reid, D. H. (2004). Improving day-treatment services for adults with severe disabilities: a norm-referenced application of outcome management. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 365–377.
Parsons, M. B., Rollyson, J. H., & Reid, D. H. (2013). Teaching practitioners to conduct behavioral skills training: a pyramidal approach for training multiple human service staff. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6, 4–16.
Parsons, M. B., Schepis, M. M., Reid, D. H., McCarn, J. E., & Green, C. W. (1987). Expanding the impact of behavioral staff management: a large-scale, long-term application in schools serving severely handicapped students. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20, 139–150.
Petscher, E. S., & Bailey, J. S. (2006). Effects of training, prompting, and self-monitoring on staff behavior in a classroom for students with disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39, 215–226.
Reid, D. H. (2004). Training and supervising direct support personnel to carry out behavioral procedures. In J. L. Matson, R. B. Laud, & M. L. Matson (Eds.), Behavior modification for persons with developmental disabilities: treatments and supports (pp. 73–99). Kingston: National Association for the Dually Diagnosed.
Reid, D. H. (2015). Training human service staff to promote independence and meaningful days for adults with severe disabilities. Paper presented at Florida Tech’s Annual Behavior Analysis Conference, Melbourne, FL.
Reid, D. H., O’Kane, N. P., & Macurik, K. M. (2011). Staff training and management. In W. W. Fisher, C. C. Piazza, & H. S. Roane (Eds.), Handbook of applied behavior analysis (pp. 281–294). New York: Guilford Press.
Reid, D. H., Parsons, M. B., & Green, C. W. (2001). Evaluating the functional utility of congregate day treatment activities for adults with severe disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 106, 460–469.
Reid, D. H., Parsons, M. B., & Green, C. W. (2012). The supervisor’s guidebook: evidence-based strategies for promoting work quality and enjoyment among human service staff. Morganton: Habilitative Management Consultants.
Reid, D. H., Parsons, M. B., Lattimore, L. P., Towery, D. L., & Reade, K. K. (2005). Improving staff performance through clinician application of outcome management. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 101–116.
Reid, D. H., Parsons, M. B., McCarn, J. E., Green, C. W., Phillips, J. F., & Schepis, M. M. (1985). Providing a more appropriate education for severely handicapped persons: increasing and validating functional classroom tasks. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18, 289–301.
Sigurdsson, S. O., & Austin, J. (2006). Institutionalization and response maintenance in organizational behavior management. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 26, 41–75.
van den Pol, R. A., Reid, D. H., & Fuqua, R. W. (1983). Peer training of safety skills to institutional staff: benefits for trainers and trainees. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 16, 139–156.
Williams, W. L., Vittorio, T. D., & Hausherr, L. (2002). A description and extension of a human services management model. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 22, 47–71.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Funding
No funding was associated with this study.
Conflict of Interest
All authors declare no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors; all procedures with human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained in accordance with the institutional research committee standards.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reid, D.H., Parsons, M.B. & Jensen, J.M. Maintaining Staff Performance Following a Training Intervention: Suggestions from a 30-Year Case Example. Behav Analysis Practice 10, 12–21 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0101-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0101-0