Testing a model for assessment and intervention decision-making for students with co-occurring behavior problems and reading difficulties in the classroom: exploring the relative effects of antecedent intervention strategies

Abstract

Many students exhibit co-occurring behavior problems and reading difficulties in the classroom and interventions to address these issues have been shown to be increasingly less effective after third grade. A practical model was created for this project to assist researchers and practitioners in assessment and intervention decision-making. Six first-grade students with behavior problems and reading difficulties participated in this study. First, an experimental analysis was employed with each participant to determine function of problem behavior. Second, a reading assessment was administered to hypothesize why each experienced reading difficulties (i.e., due to a performance deficit or a skill deficit). Third, a multielement design tested the relative effects of antecedent interventions matched and mismatched to hypothesis for reading difficulties on the off-task behavior and reading accuracy for students who have problem behavior maintained by attention versus escape and exhibit reading difficulties in the classroom. Results from the experimental analysis revealed three participants with attention-maintained problem behavior and three participants with escape-maintained problem behavior and the reading assessment revealed that all six participants exhibited skill deficits. Participants received sessions of antecedent attention and the use of an instructional strategy immediately followed my independent reading in their classroom. Results revealed idiosyncratic patterns of responding for each participant, with response covariation (i.e., low levels of off-task behavior concurrent with high levels of reading accuracy) occurring for two of six participants when the antecedent intervention strategy was matched to the reason for reading difficulties. The findings suggest that under some conditions, interventions that directly address reading difficulty may have potential to concurrently decrease problem behavior and increase reading accuracy for students with co-occurring behavior problems and reading difficulties in the classroom.