Procedures for Increasing Appropriate Verbal Participation in Special Elementary Classrooms

Abstract

This study examined the effects of training in the use of a discussion leader "skill package" as a means of increasing the amount of appropriate verbal participation (AVP) by pupils. A multiple baseline design was used with three special elementary classrooms serving as multiple subjects. Five successive conditions were implemented: baseline, introductions, training in limit setting (basic skill training), training in back-up procedures plus shaping (basic skill training follow-up), and discussion leader training. Discussion leader training focused on skills for shaping student verbalizations that were relatively lengthy and of high quality, while maintaining classroom order. Results indicated that: (1) instructing teachers to maximize AVP resulted in no consistent changes in the dependent variables, (2) basic CMTP skill training reduced disruptions by over 80% in all three classrooms while increasing AVP, and (3) additional increases in AVP resulted from the specialized discussion leader training. Increases in AVP resulting from the combination of basic CMTP skill training and the specialized discussion leader training were 187%, 525%, and 1100% in the three participating classrooms, so that by the end of training students in all classrooms engaged in AVP between 33% and 42% of total class time. "Target" students selected prior to baseline as the quietest students in the three classes also increased AVP in proportion to the class as a whole.