Test Bank Chapter 13 Accountability In School-Based Services

CHAPTER 13: ACCOUNTABILITY IN SCHOOL-BASED SERVICES

Multiple Choice

1. The model put forth by Stone and Dahir (2011) which helps school-based professionals demonstrate the effectiveness of their work is referred to as:

1. LINK
2. MEASURE
3. CORRELATE
4. EVIDENCE

2. What percentage of a school counselor’s time should be dedicated to Curriculum, Individual Student Planning, and Responsive Services?

1. 40%
2. 65%
3. 70%
4. 85%

3. The professional organizations for school counseling and school psychology have ____________ their focus on implementing evidence-based practices and demonstrating the effectiveness of their programs and their work with students.

1. significantly reduced
2. reduced
3. intensified
4. somewhat increased

4. When assessing how well your interventions worked for one child or a small group of students this is called:

1. service-level accountability
2. school-level accountability
3. program-level accountability
4. child-level accountability

5. In this model, the connection between the intervention and the positive outcome are replicated by implementing the intervention across several responses, people, or settings.

1. Case study
2. Pre and Post
3. Multiple baseline
4. Single baseline

6. A baseline should contain at least _______ data points.

1. two
2. three
3. four
4. five

7. In the ABAB design, the second A indicates that you:

1. remove the intervention to determine whether the behavior continues to improve.
2. remove the intervention to determine whether the behavior returns to previous levels.
3. add the intervention to determine whether the behavior returns to previous levels.
4. add the intervention to determine whether the behavior continues to improve.

8. Goals should be all but what:

1. Specific
2. Measurable
3. Realistic
4. Untimed

9. Single case designs are also called:

1. Small-P designs
2. Small-N designs
3. Small-C designs
4. Small-A designs

10. the main responsibility in education has been placed on ________ demonstrate accountability.

1. teachers
2. counselors
3. principles
4. parents

11. A recent survey of schools psychologists suggested that they spend the majority of their time completed this activity:

1. supervision
2. consultation
3. assessment
4. direct services

12. The Comprehensive Model of School Psychological Services indicates how many domains of service that are provided by school psychologists?

1. five
2. ten
3. fifteen
4. twenty

13. Ideally, counselors limit System Support (indirect activities) to what percentage of their time?

1. 5%
2. 10%
3. 15%
4. 25%

14. This model includes general percentage guidelines for how school counselors' time should be allocated:

1. The ASCA National Model
2. The APA Model
3. The ACA Model
4. The NASW Model

15. It is _____________ to implement this type of evidence-based practice in the schools.

1. somewhat easier
2. easier
3. more difficult
4. significantly easier

16. Empirical studies include all but what:

1. large sample size
2. randomized controls
3. small sample size
4. replication

17. As applied to the schools this refers to the process of selecting and implementing intervention programming based on the best available scientific evidence:

1. intervention-based practice
2. scientific-based practice
3. evidence-based practice
4. school-based practice

18. Originally, this technique was designed as an outcome measure to be evaluated by an external rater.

1. OAS
2. GAS
3. PAS
4. RAS

19. Using this technique, the professional helper and the student establish one to five goals collaboratively.

1. objective achievement scaling
2. goal attainment scaling
3. purpose attainment scaling
4. rationale attainment scaling

20. This technique is used to determine the effectiveness of an intervention in a single case design:

1. percent of overlapping data
2. percent of nonoverlapping data
3. percent of interrelated data
4. percent of related data

21. In this design, a student’s behavior is measured prior to intervention and then again after intervention has been implemented for a period of time

1. AB
2. ABA
3. ABAB
4. ABABA

22. A ___________ of a simple case study is that we can never be sure whether the change occurred as a result of our intervention.

1. strong point
2. mild strength
3. weakness
4. strength

23. When professional helpers talk with school staff, complete classroom observations, or “check-ins” with the students and their families this is a(n)

1. unproductive evaluation
2. informal evaluation
3. formal evaluation
4. ineffective evaluation

24. When professional helpers gather data to demonstrate positive change as a result of an intervention this is a(n)

1. unproductive evaluation
2. informal evaluation
3. formal evaluation
4. ineffective evaluation

25. In this design, the student’s performance is only measured prior to intervention:

1. AB
2. ABA
3. ABAB
4. ABABA

True/False

1. Accountability refers to being responsible for one’s actions and the ability to explain those actions or decisions.

2. When documenting the effects of an intervention, you are not trying to show how the student’s behavior differs as a result of your services.

3. Sometimes counseling goals are difficult to measure.

4. The Council for Exceptional Children has promoted the idea that single case research design is not an appropriate model to use in school settings to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

5. Comparisons between the academic scores of American youth and those of students in other countries have suggested that the U.S. is gaining ground.

6. The psychometric properties of GAS have been questioned.

7. an intervention is not evidence-based if there is a body of evidence derived from tightly controlled empirical studies.

8. There is no guarantee that an evidence-based intervention (EBI) exists for the specific issue that a student might present.

9. There is no need for school-based professionals to continually evaluate the effectiveness of their work.

10. As the cost of education has risen, the American public has expected to see a rise in student achievement.

Short Answer Essay

1.Discuss how you will ensure you will select evidence-based interventions.

• Typically, the school-based helper considers his or her theory, the available resources, and the intervention that is likely to be most effective. There is an increasing trend toward using selected approaches for specific problems based on empirically supported treatments . With the growing body of research literature that documents the effectiveness of certain interventions for specific problems or issues, it has become much easier to decide which approach to use. The practice described above is sometimes referred to as evidence-based practice.
• Evidence-based practice as applied to the schools refers to the process of selecting and implementing intervention programming based on the best available scientific evidence. From this perspective, an intervention is evidence-based if there is a body of evidence derived from tightly controlled empirical studies (e.g., randomized controls, standardized, large sample sizes, replicated) to support its use. It is more difficult to implement this type of evidence-based practice in the schools as some of these interventions are better suited to clinical settings. Further, the effectiveness of these interventions has not been measured when applied in a school setting. Most importantly, there is no guarantee that an evidence-based intervention (EBI) exists for the specific issue that a student might present. For this reason, we recommend a blend of both approaches – using the best evidence available to select your interventions. When possible, incorporate those specific EBIs into your work.
• The task of selecting an empirically supported group or classroom intervention has become easier. There are now helpful documents and websites that make the task of selecting an evidence-based intervention somewhat easier. With the greater emphasis on accountability, many of the prepared program curricula are much more likely to research and publicize the effectiveness of their respective programs. Additionally, the school-based professional will want to consider the needs of the school, the demographics of the school population, and the cost (both time and monetary) for the program.

2. Describe what it means to be accountable.

• In the broadest sense, accountability refers to being responsible for one’s actions and the ability to explain those actions or decisions. In the field of education, this responsibility has been translated into the practice of holding teachers and administrators liable for student learning by linking school ratings and subsequent funding to students’ demonstrated progress. Although the main responsibility in education has been placed on teachers, those who work within the schools and provide services are also expected to demonstrate accountability.

We also demonstrate accountability by responding to phone messages in a timely manner, following through on all commitments, assisting colleagues when opportunities arise, and so forth. Seemingly “small things” make large impressions.

• Not only are there different levels of accountability (child-level and program level), there are also different methods for demonstrating a desired outcome. For example, there is the formal accountability in which professional helpers gather data to demonstrate positive change as a result of an intervention.
• On the other hand, there are less formal methods of determining the effectiveness of one’s work. This type of informal data collection might include talking with school staff, classroom observations, or “check-ins” with the students and their families. It can be difficult and time consuming to document every change that occurs as a result of your efforts; for that reason it is best to pick out a few key areas where you spend the majority of your time. In collecting data, you’ll want to focus on both formal and informal measures.

3. Discuss the pre and post measures design. When do you believe you will utilize this design as a school counselor? Please provide examples.

• As noted previously, changes in student behavior can be measured either formally or informally. Your outcome measure should be aligned with the goals that you established with the student in your group or individual counseling relationship. For example, if a student expressed the goal of bringing his grades up and “not getting in so much trouble,” you could measure the student’s GPA from one semester to the next and compare the number of office referrals during that same time frame.
• Sometimes counseling goals are more difficult to measure. In another example, you may be working with a very shy student who would like to “have more friends.” In that instance, how would you know if another student had become a friend? How do you define a “friend?” In this example, you might want to observe the student and note the number of times she approaches other students and initiates conversations or observe the number of play ground interactions to determine whether they increase during the time that you are counseling the student.
• The two techniques described above entail a simple pre- and post-measure to determine the frequency that a student performed certain behaviors prior to counseling and the degree to which she is performing them at the end of counseling (or at various points during the counseling relationship). There are a couple of disadvantages to this relatively simple method of evaluation. The professional is not able to fully determine why the change happened, only that it did happen. Additionally, because this type of strategy is often used with individual and small group counseling, the professional is unable to determine the statistical significance of the change. That is, the change may not be “real.”
• Sometimes we may see an increase or decrease in our targeted behavior. Before we either celebrate or start looking for a new program, we need to decide whether the change is large enough to indicate that real change has occurred. Alternatively, is it a minor fluctuation? While we are not necessarily encouraging you to engage in sophisticated statistical tests to determine the significance levels of each of your interventions, we introduce a few easy models that can be implemented to help you determine whether your outcomes have “clinical significance.” That is, have these interventions resulted in real, meaningful change?

4. Describe a few existing data sources within the schools that you may be able to use when completing analyses.

• No matter which strategy you use to measure the effect of selected interventions, you will want to make as much use of existing data as possible. Data collection and program evaluation can be time consuming and for some, these activities are also given lower priority than other tasks. Therefore, you want to ensure that you set up the easiest design possible and that you streamline your data collection. Schools maintain an incredible amount of data on their students. More importantly, as schools have started keeping their data in one location through information management systems such as Infinite Campus, it is easier than ever to access student data. Some of the existing data that you could access to demonstrate the effectiveness of your efforts includes attendance data (including both absences and tardies), behavioral referrals, suspensions, grades, and test data.