Training Educators to Conduct Functional Behavior Assessment Via Telehealth

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study evaluates the effects of delivering training services via telehealth to educators in rural schools. The investigators hope to increase the accuracy with which educators implement functional behavior assessments in schools. During the study, participants will receive training on functional behavior assessments at different periods. When one school is receiving training, other schools will not be receiving training. The purpose will be to show increased accuracy of functional behavior assessments only occur following training.

Detailed Description
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Training services for educators typically occurs in-vivo with experts providing immediate feedback and modeling to shape behavior. These types of training experiences may not be accessible for all educators though. The current study will evaluate delivering behavioral skills training (e.g., feedback and error correction) via telehealth for educators conducting functional behavior assessments. The components of the functional behavior assessment that will be targeted are open-ended interviews, stimulus preference assessments, direct observations of problem behavior, and a functional communication training program. With at least three different schools, the investigators will introduce training delivered via telehealth one at a time to show that increases in acquisition of the various components of the functional behavior assessment only occur following telehealth-based training.

Official Title
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Training Educators to Implement Behavioral Assessment and Treatment Procedures in School Settings Via Telehealth

Conditions
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Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Behavioral skills training
* Behavioral: Protocol Only


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Must be an educator who conducts functional behavior assessment. Must be training to become a registered behavior technician. Exclusion Criteria:
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Sequential Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Baseline<br>Participants will be given a written protocol for conducting the relevant assessment procedure (e.g., open-ended interview). | Behavioral: Protocol Only<br>* Participants will be given a written protocol describing how to conduct the target assessment procedure.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Telehealth Treatment<br>Participants will receive feedback and error correction on their implementation of the relevant assessment procedure to improve their performance. | Behavioral: Behavioral skills training<br>* Participants will receive feedback and error correction on their implementation of the assessment procedures. Feedback will take the form of the experimenter pointing out components of the assessment that are not being conducted accurately and error correction will take the form of the experimenter reviewing the correct way to implement that component of the assessment.<br>Behavioral: Protocol Only<br>* Participants will be given a written protocol describing how to conduct the target assessment procedure.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Increased functional behavior assessment procedural fidelity | Will measure percentage of components of each assessment correctly implemented. | 1 hour | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Telehealth, Functional behavior assessment