Session 1 PPT (1 Slide Per Page)

Using Systematic Instruction to
Improve Outcomes for Students

with Severe Disabilities
WHAT IS SYSTEMATIC INSTRUCTION?
MARYANN DEMCHAK, PH.D., BCBA-D
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO
MARYANN DEMCHAK  NOVEMBER 2020 1

Purpose of This Session
Increase understanding of…
◦ Systematic instruction
◦ What it is
◦ Why it is important
◦ Components of systematic instruction
Next two sessions will focus in detail on specific prompting
methods
1. System of least prompts
2. Constant time delay

Evidence-based Practices (EBPs)
• We are tasked with using EBPs when teaching children with
disabilities
• We have federal law that mandated scientifically-based research in
adopting instructional practices
• The What Works Clearinghouse (funded by US Dept of Education)
works to identify such practices
• Researchers in the field of special education have also worked to
ascertain standards that should be in place to identify EBPs
• What is quality research?
• How much research needs to be in place to identify EBPs?
• We have a number of research articles, US Dept. of Ed projects,
etc. that have identified EBPs
• The intent is to have a strong instructional strategies in place for
students with unique learning needs
• And those strategies should be EBPs / supported by credible research
• There is much in education that are “fads” or that are not EBPs /
supported by credible research

• Courtrade et al. (2015) pulled EBPs from various sources for
learners with severe disabilities
• Included students with various degrees of intellectual disability who
MIGHT also have autism, multiple disabilities, physical disabilities, TBI,
sensory impairments
• Students with extensive, specialized instructional needs

Which Instructional Strategies were
Identified as EBPs? (Sampling)
• Systematic instruction • Functional behavior assessment
• Time delay (constant and • Functional communication
progressive) training
• Systematic prompting (other than • Naturalistic intervention (which
time delay procedures) includes prompting as part of the
• Least-to-most prompting strategy)
• Most-to-least prompting • In vivo instruction / community-
• Prompting / response prompting based instruction
• Reinforcement • Visual supports
• Task analysis • Video modeling
• Discrete trial teaching
Which Instructional Strategies were
Identified as EBPs? (Sampling)
• Systematic instruction • Functional behavior assessment
• Time delay (constant and • Functional communication
progressive) training
• Systematic prompting (other than • Naturalistic intervention (which
time delay procedures) includes prompting as part of the
• Least-to-most prompting strategy)
• Most-to-least prompting • In vivo instruction / community-
• Prompting / response prompting based instruction
• Reinforcement • Visual supports
• Task analysis • Video modeling
• Discrete trial teaching
Questions

What is systematic instruction?
• Research-based method of teaching individuals with disabilities
• It is a defined, replicable teaching process that reflects evidence-
based practices
• Written plans
• Can be used to teach a variety of skills from academic to
functional skills
• It uses student performance data to make instructional decisions

Why is systematic instruction important?
• Students with severe disabilities not likely to learn effectively and
efficiently through trial and error / “haphazard” prompting
• Embeds EBPs: prompting, reinforcement, task analysis, discrete
trial teaching
• Students with disabilities make greater progress when taught using
the process of systematic instruction

What is our ultimate goal of instruction?
Natural Cue Behavior Natural Consequences

The Learning Paradigm
 November 2020
Bell rings & Children Arrival at cafeteria &
teacher line up lunch
dismisses

 November 2020
Text passage Read the Comprehension of
and teacher passage passage; satisfaction of
cue to read being done

 November 2020
Dirty hands Wash Clean hands
hands

However, do the students we work with learn on incidental /
informal basis?

The Instructional Paradigm
+ +
Instructional Teacher-provided
prompts consequences

+ +
What are examples of prompts?

+ +
Consequences for Consequences for

correct responses incorrect responses
Reinforcement Corrective feedback

Questions

How do we develop systematic
instruction plans that incorporate
instructional prompts and specific
consequences?
WRITTEN PLAN WITH KEY COMPONENTS

• You have a copy of this form as a
separate handout
• Form is a combined systematic
instruction teaching plan and data
collection sheet
• Today we are focusing on the upper
and lower portions
• These portions identify the
components of systematic instruction
21
First, focusing on the “top” of the form:
Identifying information
22
Identifying Information
• Target student
• Curriculum domain: State the name of the domain of instruction
(e.g., life skills, math, vocational, literacy)
• Targeted skill / objective: Identify the specific skill you are targeting
for instruction in your plan
• Criteria: State how well the student must perform the skill to
determine that the student has mastered it.
• It can be number of times, percentage, or a combination (e.g., 3 out of 5 trials at
80% independent).
• Accuracy, independence, etc. depends upon the targeted skill and student.

Second, focusing on the “bottom” of the
form: Actual components of systematic
instruction plan
How to teach
24
“Bottom” of Form: Components of How
to Teach
• Attention / attending cue
• Natural cue
• Instructional cue
• Instructional prompts / method of fading prompts
• Reinforcement
• Corrective feedback
• Natural teaching opportunities
• Data collection
• Steps of task / Skills to be taught
• Specific teacher guidelines
• Generalization and maintenance strategies
Attending cue
Any motion, verbal cue, or physical cue intended to gain student
attention to the task to prepare to begin the activity
Can be general or specific
Examples:
◦ “Are you ready?”
◦ “Get ready to work.”
◦ Touching or gesturing towards work materials
◦ “Show me you are ready by __________”
(Attending cues are not limited to the above examples)
Why are attending cues important?
MARYANN DEMCHAK  NOVEMBER 2020
26
Attending cue
An attending cue is not one of your prompts
Occurs prior to beginning your actual teaching and prompting to
ensure child is ready

What is our ultimate goal of instruction?

Natural cue
• A cue that naturally exists in the environment and “tells” us to
perform in a certain way
• The cue or stimulus to which you want the student to respond
independently
• Natural cue is not usually sufficient for our students to learn how
to perform
• Examples:
• Dirty hands cue washing them
• Math sheet in front of student on desk cues starting math
• Person in front of student saying “Hi” cues giving a greeting in return
• Other examples?
Importance of natural cue & pausing for student
response
• Responding to the natural cue equals independent responding
• Must allow the student time to process and respond to the natural
cue
• Often a 3-5 second pause to provide the student an opportunity to
respond independently to the presence of the natural cue

Instructional Cue
• Until the student learns the targeted skill and is responding independently,
you may need to provide an instructional cue that is paired with the
natural cue
• Intended to draw the student’s focus to the natural cue
• Examples:
• Hands are dirty paired with adult saying “wash hands”
• Math sheet in front of student paired with adult saying “start working”
• Person in front of student says “hi” paired with ……………
• Seeing flashcard with printed sight word paired with ……………….
• Seeing lunch choices in cafeteria paired with ……………….
• As with natural cue allow opportunity for child to respond (i.e., pause)
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW3JJGt9bgU&feature=youtu.be

Questions

+ +


Instructional Prompts / Method of Fading
• You move to prompting when the student does not respond to the natural
cue / instructional cue
• We use specific instructional prompts to ensure that we are not teaching in a
trial and error format
• Prompts provide extra assistance to teach the student to respond accurately
• Examples of prompts?
• Prompts must be systematic
• Extensive research base supporting use of response prompting

• There are a number of specific response prompting methods that
allow for systematic removal or fading of prompts
• System of least prompts
• Constant time delay
• Progressive time delay
• Most to least prompts
• Graduated guidance
• Simultaneous prompting

• There are a number of specific response prompting methods that
allow for systematic removal or fading of prompts
• System of least prompts
• Constant time delay
• Progressive time delay
• Most to least prompts
• Graduated guidance
• Simultaneous prompting

General Guidelines for Using Prompts
Provide prompts in a supportive, instructive manner
Fade prompts as soon as possible
◦ Should be viewed as temporary
◦ Fading means removing prompts (in a systematic way)
Use prompts as natural as possible
Use prompts that are non-stigmatizing
Use prompting procedures that have research-support
Follow the guidelines of the specific response prompting procedure

+ +


Reinforcement
• How will you respond when the student responds independently,
without prompts?
• How will you respond when the student responds correctly to a
prompt?

Comments about Reinforcement
• Reinforcement increases likelihood that behavior occurs in future
• Reinforcement is defined by effect on student’s behavior
• Reinforcement is idiosyncratic
• Reinforcement should be appropriate for age
• Reinforcer variation is important
◦ Why?
• Initially, provide reinforcement immediately and for each behavior
• Have a plan to move from reinforcing each and every behavior
occurrence
+ +


Corrective Feedback
• Follows an error or inaccurate response
• Intended to minimize risk of students learning errors
• Provide immediately
• Should be appropriate to age
• Should be non-stigmatizing
• Often determined by prompting method
• How you will respond when the student makes an error, does not
respond correctly, or does not respond at all (i.e., no response)

Video: Pulling together covered concepts

Questions

Natural Teaching Opportunities
• When during the school day can / will you teach the targeted skill?
• Some skill acquisition is enhanced by teaching during natural
opportunities
• Generalization and maintenance of skills can be enhanced by
targeting during natural opportunities in the student’s daily routine
or schedule

Task Steps or Behavior to be Taught
• Some skills will need to be task analyzed
• Other skills are discrete / single skills

Important Distinction About Skills
CHAINED RESPONSES: DISCRETE SKILLS / RESPONSES:
Series of responses / behaviors Skills that are comprised of a
that must be done in sequence in single response or movement
order for the overall skill or
response to be completed
Examples?
Examples?

Task Analysis: What should you remember about
breaking a chained skill into steps?
• Identify the skill to be broken down into steps (i.e., task analyzed)
• Complete the skill yourself
• Observe another doing the skill to record the steps
• Have someone follow the steps verbatim to ensure completely
analyzed
• Each step should be an observable behavior
• Each step should be a unique behavior (i.e., only one behavior)

Task Analysis: Same analyses might not be the same for
all students (e.g., some students might need more
detail)
1. Partially tighten shoe laces 1. Pinch lace
2. Pull shoe laces tight 2. Pull lace
3. Cross shoe laces 3. Hang lace ends from corresponding sides of shoe
4. Tighten laces into a knot 4. Pick up laces in corresponding hands
5. Make a bow 5. Lift laces above shoe
6. Tighten bow 6. Cross right lace over left to form teepee
7. Bring left lace toward student
8. Pull left lace through teepee
9. Pull laces away from each other
Taken from Cooper et al. (2020) p. 561 10. Continues for five additional steps

Comments on Discrete Skills
• Focusing on small, “discrete” components
• We target the specific “discrete” or small skill for instruction
• We teach systematically using response prompting
• We use reinforcement for desired behavior
• If discrete skills are taught in isolation, essential to address
generalization across people, settings, materials
• “red” – how might generalize?
• Other examples?
• Also need a plan for skill progression
How does what we have
talked about so far
come together?

What do we have so far? Targeted Skill
Is student
attending? Yes
No
Give attending cue
Give natural / instructional cue & wait 3-5

seconds
53
Give natural / instructional cue &
wait 3-5 seconds
STOP! Child
responded
Accurate
response?
Yes independently.
Provide
reinforcement
No
Move to prompting procedure

Move to prompting procedure and implement
consistent with procedure
Provide reinforcement when Provide error correction, when

student responds accurately to errors or no response, consistent
prompt with prompting procedure.

Move to prompting procedure and implement
consistent with procedure
Provide reinforcement when Provide error correction, when

student responds accurately to errors or no response, consistent
prompt with prompting procedure.
Next two weeks we will talk about two specific prompting procedures:
1. System of least prompts
2. Constant time delay

Questions

Data Collection
• Documenting student performance response-by-response
• Use of the “grid” on the data sheet
• Allows recording “raw” data as well as graphing student performance
• Ultimately, review graphed data to make instructional decisions

Specific Teacher Guidelines
Anything not covered in the rest of the plan that is important to
share with teaching team

Generalization & Maintenance Strategies
• Important to plan in advance for generalization and maintenance
• How do you facilitate generalization of performance to other
materials, people, etc.?
• Rotate teaching responsibility between staff (teachers,
paraprofessionals)
• Expect behavior in various settings
• What else can you do?
• How do you maintain student performance over time?

Questions

Summary
• Addressed systematic instruction
• What it is
• Why it is important
• Components
• What are your key take-aways?

Next sessions: Focus on specific methods
of prompting
1. Using system of least prompts
2. Using constant time delay

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Using Systematic Instruction to

Improve Outcomes for Students

MARYANN DEMCHAK  NOVEMBER 2020 1

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Natural Cue Behavior Natural Consequences

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What are examples of prompts?

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Consequences for Consequences for

Reinforcement Corrective feedback

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Natural Cue Behavior Natural Consequences

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Consequences for Consequences for

Reinforcement Corrective feedback

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Consequences for Consequences for

Reinforcement Corrective feedback

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Consequences for Consequences for

Reinforcement Corrective feedback

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Give attending cue

Give natural / instructional cue & wait 3-5

Move to prompting procedure

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Provide reinforcement when Provide error correction, when

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Provide reinforcement when Provide error correction, when

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