Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Robert Morgan, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed July 12, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-104).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Effects of a Caregiver-Implemented Intervention on the Motor and Communication Outcomes of Infants and Toddlers with Significant Disabilities Kelly Windsor Dissertation under the direction of Dr. Ann P. Kaiser Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using the coaching components of Family Guided Routines Based Intervention (FGRBI) to teach Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) strategies to caregivers and to examine the impact of this intervention on caregiversâ use of correct learning trials and EMT strategies to address their childrenâs specific motor and communication targets in two routines. The effects of caregiversâ implementation on childrenâs use of their targets was also examined. Method: Three children ages 15 to 23 months with significant disabilities, their caregivers, and an early intervention provider participated in this single case multiple probe design study. Using the FGRBI coaching approach, the provider taught each caregiver EMT for promoting her childâs use of specific motor and communication targets in family identified routines during 10-11 sessions. The primary dependent variables were caregiversâ rates of correct learning trials, and the number of naturalistic teaching strategies used for each target in each routine. Secondary dependent variables were child use of target motor and communication behaviors. Results: Caregivers demonstrated increases in rate of correct learning trials and number of strategies used to teach communication and motor targets in play and caregiving routines from baseline to intervention phase. Children demonstrated small increases in total and spontaneous use of communication and motor targets during intervention. Some effects of the intervention for both caregivers and children were observed during the maintenance phase. Conclusions: The results support the use of the FGRBI coaching approach to teach caregiver use of EMT, and they indicate that caregiver-implemented EMT can increase child use of communication and motor targets in routines by young children with significant disabilities. Implications of these findings for research and practice in early intervention for children with significant disabilities are discussed. Approved: Ann P. Kaiser, PhD

Young children with expressive language delays present with a variety of risk factors related to their delayed language acquisition including later use of gestures, genetic factors, and environmental variables (Hawa & Spanoudis, 2014). Recent intervention studies have demonstrated short-term improvements in spoken language in children with primary language delays. Yet, not all children in the intervention groups showed improvements relative children in the control group and often some children in the control group also showed improvements. Determining the child characteristics that are associated with growth in language by children with language delays is an important step in advancing optimal early language intervention. The current study was a secondary analysis of data from a randomized control trial of Enhanced Milieu Teaching for toddlers with receptive and expressive language delays (Roberts & Kaiser, 2015). Five theoretically important covariates were examined as predictors and moderators of treatment outcomes . Growth variables 1-month into intervention were analyzed as indicators of early response to treatment. No moderated treatment effects were identified, howeve, receptive language and speech sound diversity prior to intervention were predictors of growth in number of different words for all children. Additionally, joint attention abilities were associated with language development over time for children who do not receive intervention. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

The prevalence of young children with challenging behavior is increasing, which has augmented the need for effective interventions to address challenging behavior and teach social skills. Research shows group parent training programs are effective in addressing challenging behavior exhibited by young children, although programs that target both children with and without challenging behavior and that are targeted to parentsâ needs warrant additional research. This purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the Positive Solutions for Families (PSF) Intervention on parents of children enrolled in Head Start, which is based on the Pyramid Model and includes seven group parent training sessions with follow-up phone calls to support parentsâ implementation of PSF strategies. The PSF intervention increased parentsâ positive parenting skills by an average of .82 standard deviation units (R = .60-.99). The PSF intervention decreased childrenâs challenging behavior and increased their social skills by .47 and .34 standard deviation units respectively. Parental stress was not found as a significant moderator to parent implementation. Parents were satisfied with the intervention and reported they would keep using the strategies after the intervention ended. Findings from this study provide initial evidence to support the use of the PSF intervention with parents of children enrolled in Head Start and inform future research and practice related to meeting the needs of parents of children enrolled in Head Start.

The purpose of this study was to extend the literature on word-problem performance by using a crossed random-effects item response model to bring together two lines of research, namely irrelevant information and person factors that affect word-problem performance. This study combined covariates identified in prior research into one model so that effects could be evaluated in the presence of other potential influences. Study participants were 140 3rd- and 5th-graders identified as at risk for mathematics difficulties. Results demonstrated that irrelevant information position uniquely contributed to word-problem solving, in the presence of arithmetic skill, nonverbal reasoning, language comprehension, working memory, and grade. Language comprehension emerged as a significant factor, also when controlling for all other person- and-item factors. No significant interactions were found. We discuss instructional implications, suggest future directions for research, and present study limitations.

Parent-school communication is a highly valued type of involvement for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but parents continue to report poor communication as a barrier to working with the schools on behalf of their children. Although sometimes informally addressed using school-home notes, no research has examined the effects of such home-school communication interventions for children with ASD. Using a multiple-baseline design, I evaluated the effectiveness of a school-home note and home-based contingent reinforcement in decreasing the off-task behavior of students with ASD at school. I also evaluated secondary effects on parent involvement and compared teacher-reported and researcher-reported data on changes in student behavior. Finally, I evaluated social validity to consider the feasibility and acceptability of this teacher- and parent-implemented intervention. With two demonstrations of effects based on both researcher-collected and teacher-collected data, I was unable to demonstrate a functional relation between the school-home note intervention and reductions in studentsâ off-task behavior. Parents and teachers also did not report quantitative changes in involvement. However, parents and teachers reported high social validity for the school-home note and home-based contingent reinforcement. Implications for practice and future research, as well as limitations are discussed.

Children who exhibit language deficits and behavior problems often underachieve. However, interventions that target children with behavior problems primarily focus on changing behavior, and interventions that aim to improve achievement outcomes for school-age children with language deficits are scarce. The purposes of this dissertation were to (1) improve equal-sign understanding and problem solving in second-grade classrooms via class-wide symbolic equal-sign instruction, (2) contrast symbolic and nonsymbolic representation, and (3) test for interactions between treatment and individual differences in language, behavior, and attention. Second-grade students (n = 195) in 21 classrooms were randomly assigned to symbolic intervention, nonsymbolic intervention, or business-as-usual control. Both intervention conditions significantly outperformed control on all outcome measures, but there were no differences between conditions. Language moderated the symbolic intervention condition, but not the nonsymbolic condition. This suggests that language skill predicts response to symbolic, numerical instruction, while nonsymbolic instruction may compensate for language deficits. Neither problem behavior nor inattention moderated treatment effects.