Life skills evaluation in a kindergarten special education classroom

Five kindergarten children with intellectual or developmental disabilities joined a classwide Life Skills Program. The teacher used Behavioral Skills Training: explain, model, practice, and feedback. They tracked three social-communication skills across several weeks.

The study used a multiple-baseline design across behaviors. Skills included asking for help, sharing, and joining play. Data were taken during normal classroom routines.

Each child’s use of the target skills rose only after the teacher started that lesson. Gains stayed high weeks later and showed up with new toys and new classmates.

Problem behavior dropped as life skills increased. The teacher needed only short daily lessons to keep the gains going.

Beaulieu et al. (2014) first showed that classwide BST plus a daily lottery can boost preschool compliance. Torelli et al. (2026) keeps the classwide BST format but swaps the goal from compliance to social life skills.

Lutzker et al. (1979) used BST to turn grade-school students with learning disabilities into peer tutors. The new study moves BST down to kindergarten and targets self-help social skills instead of academic tutoring.

Rapport et al. (1996) taught adults with ID to ask questions and evaluate homes. The 2026 paper shows the same BST steps work for much younger children and simpler social routines.

You can run this program with one teacher and a regular kindergarten schedule. Pick two or three social routines your kids lack, run a five-minute BST cycle each day, and watch both skills and problem behavior improve. No extra staff, no fancy materials—just clear steps and quick praise.