Functional Communication Training in Schools: A Systematic Analysis of the Evidence for Ecological Validity.
School FCT studies almost never give teachers enough detail to copy, so you must write the classroom version yourself.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Cruz-Montecinos et al. (2024) read every school FCT paper they could find. They ended up with 19 studies that tested FCT in real classrooms.
The team asked two questions. One: do the papers tell a teacher exactly how to run FCT? Two: would the plan actually fit a busy classroom?
What they found
Only 2 of the 19 studies gave a full recipe. The other 17 left out key steps like how to pick the new request or how to thin reinforcement.
Zero studies met the authors' high bar for 'ecological validity.' That means none showed teachers could run the plan with normal kids, normal noise, and normal prep time.
How this fits with other research
Prigge et al. (2013) and Kunnavatana et al. (2013) already proved teachers can run FAs in class. Their papers give clear steps and show good results. The new review says those same teachers would hit a wall if they tried to move from FA to FCT, because the FCT papers skip the details.
Gerow et al. (2020) showed parents can run a brief FA at home with solid accuracy. The gap is the same: parent studies give scripts, school FCT studies do not.
Nangle et al. (1993) and Connell et al. (2004) wrote the first FCT cookbooks, but they ran the plan in clinics or hospitals. Cruz-Montecinos et al. (2024) confirm that those early recipes were never rewritten for a teacher's world.
Why it matters
If you coach teachers, do not hand them a journal article and walk away. Build your own step-by-step FCT sheet that fits their bell schedule, group size, and data system. Use the clear FA models from Prigge et al. (2013) and Kunnavatana et al. (2013) as your guide, then add the missing FCT pieces the review flags. Until journals demand full protocols, teacher-ready FCT is still on you to write.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Ecological validity refers to the meaningfulness or practical significance of research outcomes in everyday settings or the extent to which an intervention can be implemented by typical people during naturally occurring opportunities. In education, ecological validity may contribute to the adoption of interventions by teachers working with students in school settings. Our purpose in this review was to examine the evidence for ecological validity of functional communication training (FCT) used to address challenging behavior in school-age individuals with disabilities. We reviewed 19 single-case experimental design (SCED) studies published between 1985 and 2023. First, we used the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Standards to evaluate the empirical evidence of each study. Second, we evaluated the extent to which behavioral assessment and FCT procedures were described in the 15 studies that met the WWC Standards. Third, we conducted a systematic analysis of the evidence for ecological validity of behavioral assessment and FCT. Results indicate that 95% of the SCED studies met the WWC Standards. The description of procedures was complete for 50% of the behavioral assessments and for 11% of the FCT. The overall evidence for ecological validity was moderate for 16.7% and low for 83.3% of the behavioral assessments. The evidence for ecological validity for all FCT procedures was low. Future research and implications related to ecological validity are discussed.
Behavior modification, 2024 · doi:10.1177/01454455241264816