John Locke Foundation Bestowes Pope Award on Baker Mitchell of Roger Bacon Academy

With apologies to Baker Mitchell, and the staff and students under the aegis of the Roger Bacon Academy, Leland, North Carolina for being somewhat tardy with these congratulations, I would like to not only applaud Baker for the recognition by the John Locke Foundation but to also highlight the outstanding work being done in using Direct Instruction and Precision Teaching with the students at their free and public charter schools - Charter Day School in Leland, NC. and Columbus Day School in Whitterville, NC.

On a related note, they are currently taking applications for both the Charter Day School and Columbus Day School during their open enrollment through January 31st

"Baker Mitchell collected the John William Pope Sr. Award for the Advancement of Freedom in North Carolina...

Before a crowd of 475 people, JLF President John Hood touted Mitchell's work in starting Charter Day School in Leland, NC which now has 750 students in grades K-8, and Columbus Charter School, with 350 students in grades K-4 registered for the upcoming year.

"The astounding thing to note is that with nearly 30 percent less money, these public charter schools have 40 percent more of their economically disadvantaged students score proficient on the state tests than the state's average for all students," Hood said.

...Mitchell started the Brunswick school in 2000 with 53 students in grades K-2. Its academic successes have attracted families from five surrounding counties, Hood said. "We try to work closely with the traditional public schools in the area and with UNC-Wilmington to share our instructional model so it can be more widely disseminated," Mitchell added.

Mitchell said. "I believe every staff member is keenly aware of the freedom that parents have to enroll or withdraw their children in these tuition-free public schools. Everyone knows their job depends upon being responsive to each student's needs and that every child can learn when properly taught."

FULL STORY


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For further reading and followup


Video of reading triads
Daily grades 1-8
Based on a procedure introduced to the Academy by Michael Maloney of "Teach Your Children Well"

Roger Bacon Academy Leads the Way With Basics
Two southeastern N.C. charter schools showing positive results
By Hal Young, Carolina Journal
February 26, 2009

How a charter school found success
Saturday, June 6, 2009
StarNews Online


Charter Day School Tops List in Brunswick, Columbus Counties for Highest ABC Scores
Direct instruction with systematic phonics, basic math facts credited with success

Other Achievements and Projects of Charter Day School/Roger Bacon Academy

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources

NEWS: Beal Street Academy, Hingham, MA given certification by state of Massachusetts

 
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a certificate of Provisional Approval, the first level approval, to
Beal Street Academy , Hingham, Massachusetts, on September 4, 2009.  “We have been working toward this approval for three years—it is a terrific and important step for students and families on the South Shore. Beal Street Academy will teach students ages 13-22 who have fallen substantially behind in their schoolwork,” said Richard McManus,  Founder and Executive Director.  “Many people have worked very hard to achieve this recognition, including parents who dearly wanted this school to exist, and our staff, who persevered despite many obstacles.”

Beal Street Academy's Mission Statement
Beal Street Academy will provide an intense education intervention to increase student academic performances by at least two years for each year in the program.

McManus reports that the school can now accept referrals from cities and towns, and knows that there are quite a few students whose needs will be filled by the school’s excellent curriculum and teaching approach.  “We use Precision Teaching, a highly validated and successful approach to teach students to excel in their work.  We use the same approach that we have used for seven very successful years at The Fluency Factory , our tutoring center, but now we will have sufficient time and resources to help students with learning disabilities to attain far more success than they previously have achieved.”

"...When the Strazzulas informed McManus that their child had no attention span, could not recognize his own name in print, and had learned some sight words but never seemed to hold on to what he learned, McManus was undaunted.
'Great, send him! was Richard’s response,' Strazzulla said. 'James loves going to school here. At first progress was very slow, . . . but now he reads for pleasure and sets high goals for himself. And why not? People are dreaming for him now. He has far exceeded our expectations, and we hope he will be an example to others of never giving up. . . . He just finished his fifth Harry Potter book and is now reading the sixth. . . . The sky’s the limit now.”..."

Rosemary Littlefield, the school’s Principal, has been very impressed by the progress that Beal Street has made in a very short time.  “I have been involved with several other schools during my career, but this is the first time I have worked to launch a new school.  The approval process was very challenging, but we worked together and made it happen.”  McManus says, “Diane Evans, our Head Teacher, was so important to the application process—it would have been impossible without her.”  The school, though newly approved, already has several referrals and will be adding students during the school year.  Ultimately it will serve 20 students.
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Related stories and blogposts

State gives provisional OK to special needs school in Hingham
The Patriot Ledger,
September 9, 2009

Beal Street Academy fills a growing need

Articles on the Fluency Factory, Beal Street Academy, and written by Richard McManus
At the Fluency Factory

Sunday, November 15, 2009
ANNOUNCE: Nov. 22, 2009 Hingham, MA - Richard McManus to Speak on "Do Expectations Determine Outcomes?"

Thursday, June 4, 2009
OPPORTUNITY: Hingham, MA Summer Programs at The Fluency Factory

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources

Morningside Academy interviewing for Fall 2010 Admissions

The Morningside Academy (Seattle WA) website states that they are currently interviewing for admissions to Morningside for Fall 2010.

• Admissions information 
• Information on Programs, including the summer school 
• Morningside Academy homepage

Past posts on Morningside Academy

Monday, November 23, 2009
Kent Johnson awarded 2009 Ernie Wing Award for Excellence in Evidence-based Education

Wednesday, June 3, 2009
OPPORTUNITY: Summer Programs for Students & Teachers at Morningside Academy, Seattle, WA

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources

Just for fun: Try charting this...

This was a new one on me -
What I would like to know is the data of phone calls made to NORAD about Santa's current whereabouts...(smile), and then teasing out Santa's rate of behavior among 1.8 billion children. (One suggestion is using a MONTHLY per month CHART adapted to be an HOURLY per hour chart. (See below))

NORAD Tracks Santa

1 day, 1 hour, something minutes and something seconds (countdown in progress).

Happy holidays.
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References:
1. Subject:    SC hour, minute, 10 sec charts
Date:    Sat, 24 Apr 1999 02:03:15 EDT

"...It is best to relabel the monthly per month [Mpmon-3EC, MONTHLY per month CHART] charts because the base six of its vertical time lines  gives useful standard celerations.

HOURLY per hour chart has each vertical time line stand for one hour.  The first four thicker period lines then indicate 6,  12, 18, and 24 hours (one day).  The full SC chart then covers 5 successive calendar days by hours. 
The standard celerations are per 6 hours.

TEN MINUTELY per ten minute chart has each vertical time line stand for ten minutes.  The first four thicker period lines then indicate 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours.  The full SC chart then covers 20 hours.
The standard celerations are per hour...

(...)
Note that locating the possible source of high and low and frequency rhythms is not a functional analysis.  It is merely a TEMPORAL association.  You can not say anything is a reinforcer from a time analysis alone.  You must record its functional effects by removing it and replacing it and or changing its magnitude.  Anything less is merely a sketch, one of many possible stories.

As ever, Og [Ogden R. Lindsley (1922-2004)]"

2. Haughton, E. C., Maloney, M., & Desjardins, A. (1980). The tender loving care chart. Journal of Precision Teaching, 1(2), 22-25.

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources

 

Chicago School of Professional Psychology student presentation at ABAI Autism Conference

(By the way - today, December 18, is the early bird registration deadline for the
Association for Behavior Analysis International Autism Conference : Translational Science and Effective Practice
(January 22-24, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, IL),
so if you want to attend, today's the day to make those arrangements!)

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**1/24/10- John Eshleman, Ed.D, BCBA of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology pointed out that there was another Chicago School student poster displaying Standard Celeration Charts that also deserves a shout-out - that by Megan Morien and Melissa Twarek. 'Glad to do it, and thanks for alerting us to the presentation!

Poster Session #2, Saturday, January 23, 2010, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM. Columbus Hall

34. The Effects of Extinction Paired with Other Interventions on Inappropriate Touching Behavior (AUT Autism; Applied Behavior Analysis)
MEGAN N MORIEN (The Hope Institute), Melissa Twarek (The Hope Institute)

Abstract:

When teaching or interacting with individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities, there are often individuals who engage in problem behavior (e.g., aggression, talking out, inappropriate touching, etc.). The present study investigated the effects of extinction combined with other interventions on inappropriate touching behaviors emitted by a 15-year-old male diagnosed with autism, moderate cognitive impairment and speech/language impairment. Through an ABCD experimental design, the rate of inappropriate touches emitted by the participant were recorded across different interventions. With the purpose of reducing instances of social disapproval and possible injury, the present study investigated the effects of pairing extinction with differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors (DRA), non-exclusionary time out (NETO) and functional communications training (FCT) to decrease the occurrences of inappropriate touching behavior. The results from this study were consistent with past research indicating that the combination of extinction paired with DRA and FCT was effective showing consistently low rates of responding, which included zero rates of responding during four sessions (Fyffe, Kahng, Fittro & Russell, 2004; Shukla & Albin, 1996).

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[Continue original post]

For the purposes of this blogpost, however, we'd like to give a special shout-out to one of the student presenters in
Poster Session I, Friday, January 22, 2010, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Columbus Hall,

24. The Effects of Precision Teaching on the Acquisition of Math Skills Across Three Learning Channels in Students Diagnosed With Autism
(AUT Autism; Applied Behavior Analysis)
MARGARITA METOYER (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology)

Abstract:

With the surging need in the United States for evidence-based educational practices, as discussed by Moran and Malott (2004), effective instruction techniques have increasingly been adapted as part of school curricula in recent years. Precision Teaching (PT), founded by Ogden Lindsley (1992), has been used to evaluate fluency in academic subjects by using practice, measurement, and recording of specific behavioral outputs, also known as learning channels (Haughton, 1980). The field of PT has various studies evaluating learning channel fluency in typical populations (Nancarrow, 1983), and math drill effects on math performance (Raggio & Bitgood, 1982). However, there is limited research on the comparison of celeration within learning channels and the acquisition of math fluency in students with a diagnosis of autism. The present study examined the effects of Precision Teaching (PT) on the acquisition of math skills across three learning channels. See/Say worksheets, Hear/Say timings (Haughton, 1980) and Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled (SAFMEDS) cards (Graf & Lindsley, 2002) were used throughout the study with 9 participants diagnosed with autism, enrolled in The Hope Institute Learning Academy and Satellite Program in Chicago for elementary school and high school students diagnosed with developmental disabilities.

If you're at the Autism Conference, stop by Margarita Metoyer's poster and give her some appreciation for the research she's working on!
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For reference or further reading,

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Applied Behavior Analysis Program




p.180, Learning channels, in Binder, C. (1996).Behavioral fluency: Evolution of a new paradigm. The Behavior Analyst, 19(2), 163-197.

Graf, S., & Lindsley, O.R. (2002). Standard Celeration Charting 2002. Youngstown, OH: Graf Implements.

Haughton, E. C. (1980). Practicing practices: Learning by activity. Journal of Precision Teaching, 1(3), 3-20.

Lindsley, O.R. (1992). Precision teaching: Discoveries and effects. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 25(1), 51-57.

Moran, D.J., & Malott, R. (2004). Evidence-Based Educational Methods. Academic Press.
ISBN-13: 978-0125060417

Raggio, S., & Bitgood, S. C. (1982). The effect of number of math drills per day on math performance. Journal of Precision Teaching, 3(2), 50, 51.

Wolking, W. D., Sakowitz, S., & Nancarrow, E. (1983). Some comparisions between see/write and see/type arithmetic timings. Journal of Precision Teaching, 4(2), 25-28.

 

The Hope Institute Learning Academy

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources

 

A treat for Precision Teaching and Behavior Analysis history buffs

For those who enjoy Precision Teaching and Behavior Analysis history, the archival website
"Dr. Beatrice Barrett- Her Contribution to Behavior Analysis" may be of some  interest.

The site, hosted by the Department of Behavior Analysis, University of North Texas, has been online for at least a year, but on a recent visit it was noted that there has been a considerable expansion of archived documents of the work done by Drs. Barrett, Ogden Lindsley, and the other researchers at the Walter E. Fernald State School and the Metropolitan State Hospital.

For example, this page from the Article Archives, which contains status, technical, progress, and final report of the work done by B.F. Skinner, H.C. Solomon and O.R. Lindsley during the 1950's for the Office of Naval Research; a later article co-authored by Barrett and Lindsley, and those with Barrett as sole author.

There is also a photo gallery of snapshots left by Dr. Barrett- some of these include notable figures in PT and behavior analysis in their younger days (Ogden Lindsley and Carl Binder, for instance). There is a request for any background information that can be supplied on the photos either through the site's email address or contact form.

Description of the full contents of "Dr. Beatrice Barrett- Her Contribution to Behavior Analysis" is beyond the scope of this blogpost - instead the reader is strongly encouraged to visit and browse!

For more on Beatrice Barrett and her contributions to basic research, and study on rehabilitation and education, see,
Dr. Beatrice H. Barrett 1929-2003
Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies,
and
Fluency.org

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources

BLAST FROM THE PAST: (1971) Owen White's "A glossary of behavioral terminology"

White, Owen R. (1971). A glossary of behavioral terminology. Champaign, IL: Research Press Co.

Note: Owen R. White, PhD. was the 2009 International Precision Teaching Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and delivered the keynote address at that conference.





This is an interesting, and even fun, glossary, although to some it might be more of a historical piece for a behavioral bibliophile, since it's out of print, than a working glossary. In difficulty, I would consider it somewhere between Verplanck's glossary, and the Florida State University glossary.

I enjoy White's Glossary, and even refer to it from time-to-time as a working glossary because it covers, with some detail, a diversity of areas: schedules of reinforcement, stimulus control, respondent conditioning, and more--as well as some basics of statistical analysis and, of course, precision teaching. It also has an advantage in that this compact volume is eminently readable in bed or in the bathtub--two places where laptops or desktops are unlikely to be found.

Pricing on the Glossary is kind of hit or miss--I bought mine for $2 at an online used book vendor, but I've also seen the identical item being listed for $50+ (check a bookseller search engine and see what kind of pricing you can find). It's good, but $50 good?...hmmm, maybe better to wait for something a little more economical.

Past posts on Owen R. White:
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Video of Precision Teacher Dr. Owen R. White delivering IPTC 2009 Keynote Address

This post is an updated reprint of a post from
Good Behavioral Reads blog


Other "Blast from the past" post(s):
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
BLAST FROM THE PAST: (1970) Charting Rates with Stephanie Bates

For further reading or study

Other works authored or co-authored by Owen R. White
Listing from Worldcat.org

Owen R. White's webpage
University of Washington
EDSPE 510 Classroom Measurement and Management

Rick Kubina's interview of Owen R. White at the PT Party website
November 2007

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DISCLAIMER: Information is posted for informational or educational purposes of readers but is not, nor claims to be, an official outlet of the Standard Celeration Society or any other organization or business.
Readers are directed to seek definitive information from those primary sources