Effectiveness of Job Aids and Post Performance Review on Staff Implementation of Discrete Trial Instruction
A single-page job aid plus two-minute post-session review lifts staff DTI accuracy to 90 % and keeps it there.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parnell et al. (2017) tested a tiny package for staff who run discrete-trial sessions with kids with autism.
The package had two parts: a one-page job aid taped to the table and a two-minute review with the supervisor right after the session.
Training was delivered inside a shaping plan so accuracy had to hit 90 % before the review visits stopped.
What they found
Every staff member reached 90 % correct DTI steps and stayed there when the supervisor cut back to weekly checks.
The whole intervention took less than 20 staff minutes per week.
How this fits with other research
The result lines up with van Vonderen et al. (2010) who got the same jump in fidelity when they swapped the job aid for video clips and targeted prompting instead of DTI.
It also extends Brown et al. (2021) who pushed session-note completion past 80 % with a similar mini-package, showing the trick works for paperwork as well as teaching.
A heads-up comes from Fuesy et al. (2025): staff kept high integrity only while the observer was visible, so plan to make your presence—or a permanent cue—part of the routine.
Why it matters
You can hit the 90 % fidelity benchmark without long in-services. Print the key DTI steps on one sheet, watch the last five minutes of the session, and hand the sheet back with one praise and one fix. Fade the feedback as scores rise. The low response cost means you can start Monday and still finish your coffee.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Tape a DTI cheat-sheet to the table, watch the last five minutes of one session, give one verbal plus and one fix, then repeat tomorrow.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Discrete-trial instruction (DTI) is a well-established instructional method for teaching children with autism. Accurate implementation of DTI procedures requires that staff be well trained. This study examined the effectiveness of job aids followed by post performance review of strengths, errors, and accuracy on discrete trial instructional accuracy in three participants who conducted DTI within their current job positions. Additionally, primary training procedures were embedded within a meta-shaping procedure, which involved the gradual and systematic introduction of three levels of behavioral components required for accurate implementation of the DTI sequence with mastery criteria set at 90% accuracy across all three levels. As demonstrated in a changing criterion within a multiple baseline design, staff demonstrated increases in DTI accuracy following the initiation of the job aid condition; however, some degree of performance-based feedback was required to establish high levels of procedural fidelity across the DTI sequence. Performance accuracy on maintenance probes remained at high levels. These findings provide support that job aids followed by performance-based feedback may be an effective and efficient method for shaping high levels of DTI procedural fidelity in staff. Additionally, gradual shaping of the DTI accuracy may scaffold performance, minimize errors, and increase social validity.
Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 2017 · doi:10.1080/01608061.2017.1309333