The Effect of Behavioral Skills Training on Special Education Teachers Accurate Delivery of the Picture Exchange Communication System
A compact BST sequence—written instructions, model, role-play, feedback—gets teachers to high PECS Stage 1 fidelity within a few sessions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Park et al. (2024) tested a short BST package on three special-education teachers.
The package had four steps: written instructions, model video, role-play, and live feedback.
The goal was high-fidelity use of PECS Stage 1 in the classroom.
What they found
All three teachers hit high fidelity after only a few BST sessions.
Their good scores stayed high weeks later with no extra coaching.
How this fits with other research
Homlitas et al. (2014) ran a direct replication a decade earlier. They used the same BST steps and also saw large, lasting gains with teachers.
Martocchio et al. (2016) tried a pyramid model instead. They first trained a few experts, then let the experts train others. That worked too, showing you can scale PECS training without losing quality.
Rosales et al. (2018) swapped live coaching for computer-based feedback. College students still reached high fidelity, proving BST can travel beyond face-to-face sessions.
Why it matters
You do not need long workshops to get staff fluent with PECS. A single prep period that covers instructions, model, role-play, and feedback is enough. Start there, track fidelity with a simple checklist, and you will see quick gains that stick.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Purpose: This study delves into the practical implications of behavioral skills training, which includes written instruction, modeling, role play, and feedback, on special education teachers’ accurate delivery and maintenance of the picture exchange communication system (PECS) procedures.Methods: The research involved training two elementary special education teachers and one secondary special education teacher, who had no prior experience or training in PECS, to implement PECS in the first stage following the behavioral skills training. The study employed multiple baselines across participant designs, including baseline, written instruction, modeling, role play, feedback, and maintenance phases.Results: The findings underscore the practical benefits of this training, as it significantly improved the teachers’ performance accuracy in the first stage of PECS and maintained their performance accuracy over time, thereby enhancing their effectiveness in the classroom.Conclusions: The behavioral skills training indicated that could be training strategy that focuses on the feasibility of special teachers.
Clinical Archives of Communication Disorders, 2024 · doi:10.21849/cacd.2024.01235