The amount of information that students can successfully learn and recall at least 1 day later is called an acquisition rate (AR) and is unique to the individual student. The current study extended previous drill rehearsal research with word recognition by (a) using students identified with a learning disability in reading, (b) assessing set sizes…

The primary purpose of intensifying interventions is to increase the effect of the intervention currently being delivered. However, there has been little empirical work completed that can provide guidance on selecting intensification methods. Because intensity can be modified in a number of ways that may differentially impact the time, effort, or…

School bullying and delinquent behaviors are persistent and pervasive problems for schools, and have lasting effects for all individuals involved (Copeland et al., "JAMA Psychiatry" 70:419-426, 2013; Espelage et al., "J Res Adolesc" 24(2):337-349, 2013a). As a result, policymakers and practitioners have attempted to thwart…

One promising intervention to support the writing skills of students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders is self-regulated strategy development (SRSD). The purpose of this study was to extend this line of inquiry to a residential setting with teachers serving as interventionists and determine the effects of the SRSD using the…

The current study used a single-case design to examine two performance feedback conditions varying in intensity on the frequency of naturalistic math instruction in preschool classrooms during non-instructional times (transition, lunch, free play). Three Head Start teachers received professional development that combined information on four…

Seven empirical studies from this special issue and an overview chapter are reviewed to illustrate several points about studying the possible effects of treatment intensity manipulations on generalized skill or knowledge acquisition in students with disabilities. First, we make a case in favor of studying intensity as separate from complexity and…

We compared the effects of a token economy intervention that either did or did not include the perseverative interests of a 7-year-old boy with autism. An alternating treatment design revealed that the perseverative interest-based tokens were more effective at decreasing challenging behavior and increasing on-task behavior than tokens absent the…

Individuals with developmental disabilities have limited opportunities to participate in leisure activities, frequently due to lack of skills. The purpose of the current study was to teach three adults diagnosed with mild intellectual disability to use an iPad in the context of playing the video game Angry Birds. We used an adapted multiple…

Interest in procedural fidelity has grown rapidly since 1981 as evidenced by the growing numbers of research publications across disciplines on this topic. As a result, the past 30 years of research has yielded a variety of procedures to guide research and practice, which we hope translates into better educational practices and services. Despite…

Evaluation of evidence-based treatments is important for adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) given the increasing number of interventions available and the prevalence of ASD. In this study, we sought to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral interventions for this population by conducting a meta-analysis of published…

There has been a paucity of guidance on the methodological details needed for measuring and sampling the independent variable or actual intervention occurrences in research and practice. Furthermore, the planning and support necessary to document the independent variable in both circumstances may be considerable. The current study extends prior…

Despite the growing evidence base for the efficacy of preventive interventions, the level of implementation of these interventions in schools is often less than optimal. One promising approach to supporting teachers in implementation of interventions is the use of coaching. In this study, teachers were trained in a universal classroom management…

The use of single-case research methods for validating academic and behavioral interventions has gained considerable attention in recent years. As such, there has been a proliferation of methods for evaluating whether, and to what extent, primary research reports provide evidence of intervention effectiveness. Despite the recent interest in…

Although it is widely accepted that procedural fidelity data are important for making valid decisions about intervention effectiveness, there is little empirical guidance for researchers and practitioners regarding how to assess procedural fidelity. A first step in moving procedural fidelity assessment research forward is to develop a…

Twenty-nine peer-reviewed journal articles that analyzed intervention implementation in schools using single-case experimental designs were meta-analyzed. These studies reported 171 separate data paths and provided 3,991 data points. The meta-analysis was accomplished by fitting data extracted from graphs in mixed linear growth models. This…