Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Henington, Carlen

Date of Degree

8-9-2008

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Educational Psychology

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education

Abstract

Extensive research has been conducted regarding the efficacy of brief experimental analysis BEA). However, no studies, to date, have investigated the validity of BEAs in an extended analysis incorporating all BEA intervention conditions. The purpose of this study was to further analyze the stability and effectiveness of interventions that were and were not identified through a BEA then confirm the results through an extended analysis of multiple interventions. A variation of a multi-element and alternating treatment design (ATD) was used to examine the effectiveness of brief experimental analysis (BEA) through extended analyses and follow-up treatment procedures on second and third grade students reading at least one year below grade level. Curriculum-based measurements and baseline data were collected followed by the implementation of a BEA which included the following interventions: repeated reading, listening passage preview, phrase drill, and contingent reinforcement. A multi-element/ATD was implemented using all four interventions until a trend in words correct per minute (WCPM) was established for each intervention. A follow-up datum point was collected on the most effective intervention in the BEA phase to determine short-term treatment maintenance. Results indicated that five of the eight students’ extended analyses supported the pre-established criteria of the BEA as measured by WCPM. In addition, the repeated reading intervention was found to be the most effective intervention for seven of the students. These findings suggest that the type of intervention administered is not as important as the amount of time spent practicing reading fluency. Thus, BEAs may not be an effective approach to predetermine the best intervention for students, but it is unlikely that the students will be disserviced by the implementation of this practice.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15512

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