Running Header: Off-Task Reading and Drawing

Applied Behavior Analysis Project Off-Task Reading and Drawing Karin Ackerman University of Illinois

Off-Task Reading and Drawing Student Description E is a very energetic 6th grader with fetal alcohol syndrome. She is willing to learn and loves to share her ideas. She loves to draw and talk about her drawings. She is very enthusiastic about reading and enjoys chapter books. She is easily

distracted and reads books during class. She gets very excited about topics that are interesting to her and loves to participate during class discussion, but only if she prefers the topic. E participates in off task behaviors during instruction and independent work. The operational definition of off task is: during instruction the student is not turning toward the speaker but reading an unrelated book on her desk or drawing an unrelated picture with her pencil and paper. During independent work she is not working on the assignment, but is reading a book on her desk or drawing a picture with her pencil not related to the assignment. A non-example would be when she is drawing for an assigned project or when free time is given. ABC Observation During the observation I saw that she participated in the off task behavior during instruction given as well as during times of independent writing tasks. She would then be compliant and put the book or drawing away. Sometimes she needed to be told she would get a detention before she would obey. Functional assessment Interview Summary Statement: E participates in the off-task behaviors in every academic class. Depending on the teacher and what she thinks she can get away with. The

Off-Task Reading and Drawing more she doesnt like the desired activity the more likely she is to participate in the off-task behavior. During the interview Mr. Tim Harris was very willing to work with me. The questions did not fit the behavior as well so I went thought the questions ahead of

time and determined what would be most useful and how to rephrase the questions so that they would best fit my student. I was able to see more of what E does in other classes. I only see her during one hour of the day, so to hear about how she acts in different settings. It was also very good to know she s off-task in every class. Functional Assessment Observation Summary Statement: E participates in off-task behaviors when desired to listen to a speaker or participate in independent tasks. She does this to escape a difficult or undesired task or entertain herself. There were not many changes she is off-task because reading and drawing she finds more entertaining. It was difficult to observe the student while I had to participate in teaching the class. The student participated in reading drawing at the beginning of the class, before one of the teachers had her put her book or paper under her desk or took it from her. If she put her book under her desk she would take it out further into the class. Functional Analysis Manipulation Hypothesis 1: E participates in off-task behavior during instruction or independent work to get attention from teachers. Hypothesis 2: E participates in off-task behavior, reading and drawing unrelated to class during independent work to escape undesired tasks.

Off-Task Reading and Drawing The information gathered form the A-B-C and other observations and interviews showed that the student prefers to be reading and drawing. Though in her preference assessment she does have other preferences that rank higher, but those are not readily available to her in the classroom. The Functional Assessment observation showed that she tends to read more while the teacher is giving instruction. To sit and listen to the teacher is an undesired activity. She also is off task during class readings and independent writing. She does not participate in the tasks unless the book is put away of taken from her.

To test my hypothesis I would conduct two functional analysis manipulation. The first functional analysis manipulation tests the hypothesis that uses attention as the consequence for the behavior. This would be was tested by giving the student 3 levels of attention from the teacher each for 5 minutes. The student was given constant teachers attention for 5 minutes, in another session the student would get only partial attention from the teacher for 5 minutes. Then, finally the student would receive no attention in the last session for 5 minutes. The data would be recorded for how many minutes the student participated in the off task behavior during those sessions. The second one would focus on the function of the behavior as escape of an undesired activity. I would have four different activities that would last for 5 minutes. One would be listening to a teacher give instruction, another would be writing about a desired topic. I would also have the student draw a picture to go with her independent writing, and the last would be free time in the class where she is free to talk to peers. The data would be recorded for how many

Off-Task Reading and Drawing minutes she participated in the off task behavior of reading or drawing during each activity. I tested the second hypothesis: E participates in off-task behavior, reading

and drawing unrelated to class during independent work to escape undesired tasks. Using these procedures. During four separate days I observed the student during four activities. Each activity lasted for 5 minutes. The activities are the following: the teacher giving instruction, writing about a self picked topic, drawing for the writing assignment, and free time. Date: Giving Instruction Writing about Desired topic Drawing for writing assignment Free time

This chart is to collect data for the functional analysis manipulation. The observer will watch the student during each of these activities. They will each last 5 minutes. For every minute the student is reading a book not related to the class, or drawing a picture on paper not related to the class the observer will mark on tally. Each tally will represent 1 minute of participating in off-task reading or drawing.

Off-Task Reading and Drawing

Functional Analysis Manipulation

6 Minutes Off-task Reading/Drawing 5 4 3 2 1 0 Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

Teacher Instruction Writing desired topic Drawing for writing Free time

As the above graph shows the student did not participate in off-task reading and drawing during the time she was to be drawing a picture about her writing. Preference assessment Preference Hierarchy list: 1. Music 2. Drawing 3. Computer time 4. Reading 5. Good note home 6. Extra credit 7. Bathroom pass During the observation I observed the student when she had free time at the end of class. We were working in the computer lab on a writing assignment and she was allowed to use the computer as well as draw and read. She chose to go on the

Off-Task Reading and Drawing computer; this goes with her preference assessment. During computer time she cannot listen to music because it would play to the whole classroom, therefore it is not allowed for any students. She instead chose to play on the computer. The

preferences assessment showed that drawing computer time and reading were very closely ranked. That day she decided that she would rather have computer time than the other options. While I observed the student during passing period to and from lunch as well as during recess, I saw that she was reading a book and not socializing with her peers. Data Collection Date: ________________________________

Every 5 minutes observe the student for 1 minute. If the student is off-task draw a + in the box. If the student is on-task draw a in the box. Operational definition of off-task: During instruction the student is not turning toward the speaker but reading an unrelated book on her desk or drawing a picture with her pencil and notebook. Or During independent work she is not working on the assignment, but is reading a book on her desk or drawing a picture with her pencil not related to the assignment.

Off-Task Reading and Drawing

Non-example: This does not include when she is drawing for an assigned project or when free time is given. I chose this data collection method because it fit the students behavior best. The student will participate in the behavior for a long amount of time but may be only occur once or twice. I decided that only observing the student every five minutes and for a one minute period would be the best way to get an accurate understanding of the occurrence of the behavior. Base Line: Date 11/5 Date 11/6 Date 11/7 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 3 + 3 3 4 4 + 4 4 5 5 + 5 5 + 6 6 + 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 + 9 + 9 9 +

Date 1 11/14 +

Off-Task Reading and Drawing

Off-task Behavior
Number of Off-Task Behaviors 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Baseline

Intervention

Baselin e

Intervention

Weeks

Inter-observer Agreement Observer 1 Observer 2 1 + + 2 + + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 8 9 + +

For the inter-observer agreement Mr. Harris and I both observed the student at the same time. We both used the same observation procedures that are stated above. Above are the results of our observation. There are some differences in our observation. The occurrence IOA was 43%. This means that we agreed on only 43% of the occurrences. I think this is because though we were both supposed to be looking at the student at the same time, there was some difference in the times we observed the student. Because we were both co-teaching the class there was a large amount of other things going on that would distract either one of us during our observation. In an ideal world to make the inter-observer agreement more accurate

Off-Task Reading and Drawing

10

I would make sure to set a timer of my own so that each was observing at the same intervals. I would also ensure both observers were not instructing the class. Reference List Carter,S. L. (2010). A Comparison of Various Forms of Reinforcement with and without Extinction as Treatment for Escape-Maintained Problem Behavior. Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43(3), 543-546. In the Carter article they test the use of a preference item to promote compliance in an undesired activity. The research used a desired food item or a moderately desired leisure activity for compliance. The undesired activity resulted in escape from the undesired activity. They found that providing the student with either a food item or leisure activity resulted in more compliant behavior. In my project I am using a desired leisure activity for the desired behavior, similar to this article. This will give the student positive reinforcement for staying focused during instruction. Dwyer,K., Rozewski, D., & Simonsen, B. (2012). A Comparison of Function-Based Replacement Behaviors for Escape-Motivated Students. Journal Of Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, 20(2), 115-125. In this study the authors were researching the best alternative behavior for escape. They tested getting help or getting break as the two different kinds of reinforcement. They also tested that the students had a choice between the two. In their findings they discuss that there was no clear better alternative behavior, but that all were effective. I am using the getting a break reinforcement in my intervention, which will encourage the student to ask for a break as opposed to escaping through off-task behavior.

Off-Task Reading and Drawing

11

Meyer, K. A. (1999). Functional Analysis and Treatment of Problem Behavior Exhibited by Elementary School Children. Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32(2), 229-32. Similarly the Meyer, (1999) article determined that giving student the ability to ask for a break is successful in reducing the number of off-task behaviors. I have used this idea within my instruction to keep the student focus and on-task. She will also be allowed to ask for a break when working to prevent off-task behavior. Waller R. D., & Higbee, T. S. (2010). The Effects of Fixed-Time Escape on Inappropriate and Appropriate Classroom Behavior. Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43(1), 149-153. The Waller (2010) study looked at the effectiveness of Fixed-Time to escape a task. The students had to work for an allotted amount of time and if they did so they earned a minute break. This proved to be a very effective way to decrease offtask behavior for the subjects in this study. For my student and her needs I had the allotted time for work be a whole week of classes. She is allowed to request breaks in those classes, but if she is on task for the whole week she will get a 15-minute break during FLEX class. Intervention Program Antecedent-based: The antecedent to the students off-task behavior of reading or drawing is the teacher calls for the attention of the class and begins to describe the activities for the hour. The student has her book at her desk and sits and reads while class is getting started. The student will Check in her book at the teachers desk. The student will give the teacher her book at the beginning of class. These antecedents were chosen

Off-Task Reading and Drawing

12

because observations have shown that the student starts being off-task by reading and drawing when the teacher begins instruction. In the functional assessment observation it showed that more off-task behavior occurred when the teacher began class. The baseline charts also showed that the instruction occurred most often during the first two observation periods. To prevent that the student will give her book to the teacher, when class is over or there is free time she can have it back. Alternative Skills: The alternative behavior for this student will be the student will look at the teacher raise her hand and ask for a break. The break will be 2 minutes long. The student will only be allowed to ask for 2 breaks in one class period. The Intervention will also focus more on the beginning of the instructional period because that is when the student starts the off-task behavior. In order to be able to get her two breaks the student has to be looking at the teacher during the initial start of class and the giving of instruction. Once independent work has begun the student is allowed to use her breaks. These guidelines for using breaks are to prevent the student from starting the class already off-task reading or drawing. This behavior was chosen because the student, as seen in the functional assessment observation, is off-task less often during independent work or class readings. The student may not use all of her breaks once she is working on her assignment after she has started. In the functional analysis manipulation the data shows that the student is less likely to be off-task if the independent work is an activity she prefers. If she prefers the topic for writing of the activity she is more likely to participate. During the baseline data the most frequent times the student was off task was at the

Off-Task Reading and Drawing beginning of the hour. So causing the student to focus during that time when she was most likely to be off task in order to earn a little free time. Consequent-based:

13

The consequences for the student to be listening to the instruction and begin working on independent work without being off-task will be to earn two 2 minute break for the period. The student can choose when to use the breaks and how she uses them. Also if the student is on-task during class the teacher will rate the student on her focus during class. If the student was focused and not reading or drawing off-task, then the student will receive a 2. If the student was moderately focused and was only off-task reading or drawing once or twice she will receive a 1. If the student was only slightly focused and was off-task reading or drawing more than 3 times the student will earn a 0. At the end of the week if the student earns 70 points she will earn free time for 15 minutes to listen to music, read or draw during her FLEX class. (FLEX is the hour that students with IEPs receive some supports for reading, writing, and other core classes.) Also, during independent work time some activities will be designed include some of her desired activities, such as drawing, reading, and music. Hour Score Teacher Signature This would be the chart the teachers would use give the student the score she earned. They would also have to sign it to ensure the teacher filled it out. 1st hour 012 2nd hour 012 3rd hour 012 4th hour 012 5th hour 012 7th hour 012 8th hour 012 9th hour 012

Off-Task Reading and Drawing Data-collection Procedure:

14

Data will be collected each week from the score chart the teachers sign. Each week the total number of points the student gets will be recorded and charted. Using the same procedure used for baseline will also collect data. Observations will occur every five minutes for one minute. This procedure will be done once a week during only on class period. The intervention will use an A-B-A format for monitoring the effectiveness of the intervention. The intervention will be implemented for four weeks, then the following four weeks will include no intervention or baseline. After the four weeks of baseline the intervention will be implemented again. If the intervention is done correctly the students data should show lower numbers of off-task reading and drawing during intervention than either of the baseline.

Off-task Behavior
Number of Off-Task Behaviors 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Baseline

Intervention

Baselin e

Intervention

Weeks