Increasing the Assessment Probe Performance of Teacher Aides through Written Prompts

Two supervisory procedures for promoting the conduct of in vivo probes by six special education teacher aides were examined. The first procedure served as baseline and consisted of inservice training, self-regulated probing and data recording, and incidental modeling by the primary investigator. This procedure produced poor probing performance, reflecting inconsistency, low frequency, and differential sensitivity toward the three participating students. The second procedure consisted of the addition of delivering data cards to aides, thus prompting them to conduct daily probes. This additional component resulted in a 53% increase in the level of probing and was accompanied by less variability, higher sustained rates of probing, and more equitable probing of the students. Two types of reversal probes produced evidence that (a) the investigator's absence and (b) his presence without delivering cards occasioned low performance levels. Both conceptual (stimulus-control analysis) and applied (aides' preference for students) implications are discussed.