Transfer of staff training from workshops to group homes: a failure to generalize across settings.
Workshop training alone does not reach clients—train staff in the actual home while clients are present.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The authors ran a week-long workshop for group-home staff. Staff learned behavioral theory and hands-on techniques.
After the workshop, researchers tracked staff skills and client behavior in the actual homes. They wanted to see if workshop gains moved to the job.
What they found
Staff scored high on post-workshop tests. Their paper skills looked great.
But back in the homes, client behavior stayed flat. The training did not cross the setting line.
How this fits with other research
Whitehouse et al. (2014) later showed the fix: teach staff inside the facility with real clients. Their brief BST package lifted FA scores without a single off-site day.
Bonvillian et al. (1981) had already proven the idea works. They coached staff on the living unit and residents kept new signs for almost a year.
Leung et al. (2014) added another layer. Preschool social skills only spread after teachers were told the exact targets and steps. Together these studies say: train where the behavior must happen and brief the front-line staff on the details.
Why it matters
Stop paying for conference-room marathons. Bring your BST, modeling, and feedback into the group home during real shifts. Coach staff while they serve dinner, handle bedtime, or run leisure groups. Client behavior will start to move because the skill is now tied to the exact cues, materials, and social context it needs to live in.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two experiments were conducted to assess acquisition and generalization of skills acquired in a workshop by trainees who were primary caregivers on the staffs of group homes for developmentally disabled clients. In Study 1, 31 staff trainees received an intensive, 1-week workshop in behavioral theory and treatment techniques. When assessed at the workshop site, these staff trainees showed increased treatment skills, relative to 18 staff trainees who did not participate in the workshop. In Study 2, pre- and postworkshop observations were taken on 53 developmentally disabled clients in group homes where the staff trainees worked. These observations provided no evidence that the workshop had any effect on group home client functioning. Future training programs for caregivers may be more successful if they occur in the group home, involve clients in the home, and enlist the support of supervisory staff, rather than focusing only on primary caregivers.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1992 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(92)90040-d