Although speech-language pathologists increasingly make use of tablets in clinical practice, little research to date has evaluated the effectiveness or efficiency of tablet use for targeting speech sound goals. The twofold purpose of this study was to compare (a) the effectiveness and (b) the efficiency of speech sound intervention using tablets…

STEM transformation has been a longstanding goal for higher education institutions who not only wish to maintain global economic competitiveness but most recently have also aimed efforts at achieving STEM equity. While researchers have typically looked to students' and faculty's experiences for answers, STEM program directors possess great insight…

Background: Efficacy trials in education often possess a motivating theory of change: how and why should the desired improvement in outcomes occur as a consequence of the intervention? In scenarios with repeated measurements, certain subgroups may be more or less likely to manifest a treatment effect; the theory of change (TOC) provides guidance…

Because of its widespread adoption and implementation (in over 13,000 schools in the US; Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2010), there has been increasing attention to how School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) systems can be sustained. Sustained implementation can be defined as "continued use of an…

Background: While current investments in school improvement occur in the context of the worldwide economic downturn, in the South African context, there is in addition widespread disparity in education provision and attainment related to pre-democracy race-based patterns. Despite the education sector receiving the largest national annual budget…

Four students with moderate intellectual disabilities used electronic lists delivered on an iPhone to assist them in skills related to community-based grocery shopping. An alternating treatments design was used to assist in comparing the effectiveness and efficiency of three different types of lists (Text Only, Audio + Text, and Picture + Text).…

Today's students are facing higher academic and social standards than ever before in the history of education in the United States of America. Under federal legislation, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) states are required to administer standardized tests to students in grades three through eight to measure Language Arts and Mathematics competency.…

This article describes the emergence and influence of evidence-based practice and data-based decision making in educational systems. Increasingly, educators and consumers want to know that resources allocated to educational efforts yield strong effects for all learners. This trend is reflected by the widespread influence of evidence-based practice…

Through this study the authors evaluate outcomes associated with the use of handheld computers by interventionists in improving the efficiency of direct systematic classroom observation. Information from observations is used by interventionists for treatment planning and evaluation. In this study, interventionists were trained to use personal…

Conventional wisdom may support the presumed notion that higher expectations increase efficiency and improve quality. However, this claim may only be validated when workers are equipped with appropriate tools, training, and a conducive work environment. This study implements various interventions, observes outcomes, and analyzes data collected in…

Research on graphic symbol learning suggests that symbols with a greater visual resemblance to their referents (greater iconicity) are more easily learned. The iconicity hypothesis has not yet been explored within the intervention protocol of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Within the PECS protocol, participants do not point to a…