An Ecobehavioral Interaction Analysis of Instruction Within Special Education

Abstract

A fundamental principle in special education is that the performance outcomes of instruction must be assessed in order to evaluate the success of educational programs.But little general agreement exists on exactly how this assessment should be conducted (e.g., Deno, 1985).We have identified three general approaches to the assessment of instruction and instructional outcomes: (a) the deficit approach, (b) the environmentaladequacy approach, and (c) the environment-behavior interaction approach (Greenwood, Schulte, Kohler, Dinwiddie, & Carta, 1986).The deficit approach is based upon the premise that the student is deficient in terms of organismic, cognitive, or behavioral variables, or any combination thereof.Assessment and treatment based upon this approach focus on identifying the deficit areas and providing the necessary instruction or prosthetic intervention to ameliorate them.This approach has given rise to the many categories of handicaps and disabilities in the field of special education and the wealth of intervention and instructional methods focusing on these particular problems.The environmental-adequacy approach is based upon the assumption that the environment in which the student is operating lacks the features necessary to support the student's performance (e.g., Bijou, 1981;Engelmann, Granzin, & Severson, 1979).Assessment and treatment based upon this approach are directed at identifying ineffective aspects of the home, school, and community environments and correcting them.This approach has given us the various service delivery settings (e.g., residential, resource room, mainstream) and special education professionals (e.g., resource room teachers, itinerant teachers) trained to provide specific educational services (e.g., Peterson, Zabel, Smith, & White, 1983).This approach has also heavily influenced our initiatives for least restrictive placements, optimal classroom and school physical structures, and the removal of barriers.

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