Date of Award
6-2000
Degree Name
Specialist in Education
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Ruth A. Ervin
Second Advisor
Dr. Elizabeth Whitten
Third Advisor
Dr. Ronnie Detrich
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Recent federal legislation mandates the use of functional assessment in schools when a more restrictive placement is being considered. This same legislation also recommends the use of fue nctional assessment as best practice for use in special education decision making. Currently, there is a continuum of options of tools and methods employed in the functional assessment process, and a number of differing opinions of who should be involved in the process. Traditionally school psychologists have been designated as the lead person in this process. Teachers have demonstrated that they too can provide valuable information regarding the function of a student's behavior, and it therefore appropriate that they play a role in the functional assessment process. The purpose of this study is to (a) examine the effects of brief training in functional assessment methodology on the validity of participant responses across three different functional assessment rating scales and (b) examine the extent to which participants utilized results of their assessments to develop interventions. Results of this study indicated that (a) training did not have an effect on the accuracy of participant responses, and (b) training did impact the quality of participant design of potential interventions for a specific student exhibiting a target behavior.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Kari N., "The Utility of Functional Assessment Rating Scales: An Analysis of the Effects of Training on Teacher Rated Functions and Intervention Suggestions" (2000). Masters Theses. 3342.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3342