Targeting Staff Treatment Integrity of the PEAK Relational Training System Using Behavioral Skills Training
A single two-hour BST workshop lifts staff PEAK integrity to 90 % and keeps it there while learner skills rise.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hahs et al. (2019) ran a two-hour workshop for six staff-child pairs.
The class covered PEAK lessons: instruction, demo, practice, and live feedback.
Each adult then taught a child with autism using the new steps.
What they found
After the short class every adult hit 90 % or better on PEAK steps.
The kids also gave more right answers during their lessons.
Both gains stayed high weeks later with no extra coaching.
How this fits with other research
Belisle et al. (2016) first showed BST lifts PEAK fidelity, but they coached staff one by one on the job.
Hahs swapped in a group workshop and got the same jump, proving you can train a room fast.
Erath et al. (2021) pushed brevity further: a 13-minute video took staff to 100 % fidelity.
Together the three papers draw a line—shorter packages still work if you keep all four BST parts.
Why it matters
You can stop flying solo to each staff member. Block out two hours, run the full BST cycle, and leave with a whole team ready to run PEAK at mastery level. The kids learn more the same week.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
PEAK is a language curriculum dedicated to expanding language via the science of behavior analysis. The present study sought to evaluate the extent to which a behavioral skills training (BST) program impacted treatment integrity for six direct care staff implementing the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Relational Training System (PEAK) with six individuals with autism. We used a 2-h workshop-like Behavioral Skills Training (BST; instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback) targeting PEAK treatment integrity. The results indicate that BST improved overall procedural integrity for all staff. All learners with autism improved their total percentage of correct, independent responding specific to the targeted programs. Further, all (6/6) staff maintained integrity to PEAK at well above baseline levels and all individuals with autism maintained high levels of performance specific to the targeted programs. The importance of appropriate training and treatment integrity given the implementation of PEAK is discussed.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s40617-018-00278-6